One of the most common frustrations I hear from business owners sounds something like this: “I just wish my employees would take more ownership.” The owner wants people to make better decisions, notice problems before they're asked, understand what needs to happen next and care about the details as much as they do. It's an understandable frustration. But whenever I hear it, I think there's another question worth asking: Have we actually told employees what we expect, or are we expecting them to figure it out?

Business owners have an enormous amount of information stored in their heads. We know why certain customers need to be handled differently. We know which jobs are most profitable. We know what happened three years ago that caused us to change a particular process. We know which expenses we're trying to reduce and which opportunities we're trying to pursue. We know what “good customer service” means to us because we've spent years developing our own definition of it. Then we hire someone, give them a job description, show them where their desk is and expect them to somehow understand all of that.

When they don't, we can easily conclude that they aren't paying attention or don't care enough. Sometimes that's true. There are certainly employees who aren't a good fit. But before deciding you have a people problem, it's worth asking whether you might have a clarity problem.

Consider something as simple as telling an employee, “Take good care of this customer.” What does that mean? Should they return the customer's call within an hour? The same day? Within 24 hours? Can they give the customer a discount if something goes wrong? How large of a discount? Can they replace a product without asking a manager? Should they follow up after the problem is resolved? What should they do if the customer is still unhappy? The owner may have clear answers to all of those questions, but unless those expectations have been communicated, the employee is left to make assumptions.

This becomes even more important as a company grows. When there are three employees, the owner can stay involved in almost every conversation. When there are 10, 20 or 50 employees, that's impossible. The company has to begin transferring the owner's expectations into something the rest of the organization can understand and repeat.

That doesn't mean every business needs a giant employee manual containing instructions for every possible situation. In fact, trying to create a rule for everything can create a completely different problem. What employees really need is clarity around outcomes, responsibilities and decision-making authority. What are they responsible for? What does success look like? What decisions can they make themselves? When do they need to involve someone else?

Managers need the same clarity. One of the worst situations in a growing company is giving someone the title of manager without actually giving them the authority to manage. They're told they're responsible for a department, but every meaningful decision still requires the owner's approval. Employees quickly figure this out and begin bypassing the manager. Soon everyone is back in the owner's office asking questions, and the owner wonders why nobody takes responsibility.

If you want people to take ownership, you have to give them something they can actually own.

Communication also isn't something you do once. Business owners sometimes assume that because something was mentioned at a staff meeting six months ago, everyone should remember it forever. Meanwhile, the owner has probably changed their mind about three other things since then without realizing they never told anyone. As businesses change, priorities need to be repeated. Expectations need to be reinforced. Employees need opportunities to ask questions and understand why decisions are being made.

One of the simplest things a leader can do is explain more of the “why.” Instead of simply telling someone what to do, explain why it matters. If employees understand that the company is trying to reduce customer response time because customers have been waiting too long, they can begin making decisions that support that objective. If all they know is that they're supposed to answer emails faster, they'll probably follow the instruction without understanding the larger goal.

This is also where owners need to become comfortable hearing questions they think employees should already know the answers to. If one employee misunderstands something, it might be an employee issue. If five employees misunderstand the same thing, leadership probably hasn't communicated it clearly enough.

There is a useful test for this. Ask several employees separately what the three most important priorities are for the company right now. Then compare their answers with yours. You might be surprised. If everyone gives roughly the same answer, you've probably done a good job communicating direction. If you get completely different answers, that's valuable information too. It tells you where the work needs to begin.

As a business grows, leadership becomes less about personally making every decision and more about creating an environment where other people can make good decisions. That requires clear expectations, good information and enough authority for employees to actually do their jobs.

Your employees may never think exactly like you do, and they probably shouldn't. Good people will bring their own experience, ideas and perspectives to the company. The goal isn't to create copies of the owner. The goal is to make sure everyone understands where the company is going, what their role is in getting there and what success looks like when they arrive.

Before getting frustrated because someone didn't do what you expected, ask yourself one question: Did I actually make the expectation clear?

Your employees can't read your mind. Great leadership makes sure they don't have to.

Question of the Week: What is something you expect your employees to know that you've never actually explained to them?