Hi Reader,

II’ve just returned from a weekend at the Kelso Workshop at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. This annual symposium brings together researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts to dive deep into various forms of employee ownership, including workers’ cooperatives and profit-sharing plans. The event was thought-provoking, leaving me with plenty to reflect on—and I’d love to share some of it with you.

Employee Ownership: A Key to Engagement?

At the event, employee ownership and profit-sharing were often touted as ways to revolutionize workplace dynamics. By giving employees a stake in the company, these approaches align incentives, foster loyalty, and tap into the potential of intrinsic motivation. The research presented at the workshop reinforces this notion: employee-owned firms tend to outperform their traditional counterparts in productivity, profitability, employee satisfaction, and resilience.

But there’s a crucial caveat.

The “How” Matters as Much as the “What”

The data’s clear: employee-owned companies often thrive, but how you implement it matters just as much as whether you implement it. Shared profits and ownership alone don’t solve the deeper problems of hierarchical workplaces.

Imagine this: you’re an employee-owner of your company, but your manager still treats you like an interchangeable cog. You’re micromanaged, dismissed, and ignored. How would that feel?

Probably worse than working for a traditional company. Why? Because it’s personal. It’s your company, and you’re still being treated like a kid—or worse, like an outsider. Employee ownership without real autonomy and respect isn’t just ineffective—it’s demoralizing.

This was a recurring theme at the workshop: shared profits and ownership need to go hand-in-hand with practices that provide employees the necessary autonomy to actually act like owners.

Self-Management: A Key to Unlocking Engagement?

During one session of the workshop, we explored the latest research on self-managing organizations. Here, it was discussed that self-managing organizations, although not necessarily employee-owned, consistently report higher levels of employee engagement.

That got me thinking: Is the secret sauce of employee-owned companies really the ownership itself? Or is it the fact that employee-owned companies are often more likely to embrace self-managing practices?

Maybe it’s not the shared profits and ownership that drive engagement. Maybe it’s the autonomy—the ability to have a real say in how things are done. Shared profits and ownership become the cherry on top when paired with freedom and trust.

Where I’ve Landed

I don’t have an answer to those questions. But here’s where I’ve landed after the workshop: Shared profits and ownership, on their own, are good. Self-management, on its own, is good. But together? That’s where things get exciting.

Combine profit-sharing, autonomy, and a clear sense of purpose, and you’ve got a recipe for a workplace that doesn’t just perform well—it actually makes sense.

Too many companies treat work like a transaction: “You do X, we’ll pay you Y.” But the best companies understand that work is about alignment. Align purpose, align values, align incentives. When you do that, engagement becomes a byproduct, not a goal.

If we want to build organizations that last, we can’t just talk about shared ownership. We have to talk about autonomy. That’s the future of work—and it’s a future worth fighting for.

Updates from Corporate Rebels HQ

Here's a quick overview of everything happening at Corporate Rebels:

• Bootcamp: Our Self-Management Bootcamp kicks off next week! The last spot has been filled, and we’re excited to get started. Stay tuned for updates. More info here.
• Masterclass: Our next Running and Scaling Self-Managing Organizations Masterclass cohort starts in March/April 2025. Find all the details and claim your spot here.

New article

A new article has been published on our blog earlier this week:

• From Overwhelmed to Ownership: My Self-Management Journey ​
  Our colleague Emma joined Corporate Rebels a few years ago. In this article, she brilliantly describes her transformative journey in our self-managing company, highlighting the mindset shift and practical skills needed to embrace autonomy and ownership effectively. Check out the full article here.

What inspired us

Here's something noteworthy we discovered this past week that you’re going to love:

• Documentary: We The Owners
  ​At the Rutgers conference, I was pointed to the documentary We The Owners. This one-hour film shows what it’s like to work in an employee-owned company through the stories of American companies like New Belgium Brewery, Namaste Solar, and DPR Construction. It reveals what it really means when profits and ownership are shared. Check it out for free here.

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