Employee share ownership and work attitudes

Employees taking part in employer-based share ownership schemes do not believe participation in such schemes has much effect on their feelings of psychological ownership of the company for which they work, according to a new study. This is contrary to conventional wisdom behind the operation of share ownership schemes, which suggests that participating in one inevitably causes employees to feel a sense of ownership over the company, the authors suggest. They find that share ownership has ‘very little to do with ownership in the minds of employees,’ but is instead more about financial investment and returns.

‘Employee Share Ownership, Psychological Ownership, and Work Attitudes and Behaviours: A phenomenological analysis”, by David McConville, John Arnold and Allison Smith, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, doi: 10.11.11/joop.12146. For more information, please visit: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joop.12146/abstract