Andrew is a veteran human resources leader and Chief Human Resources Officer at BVI, a leading global ophthalmic medical device manufacturer.
Getty
Who comes to mind when you are asked to name an entrepreneur? Silicon Valley icons like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Apple’s Steve Jobs or Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg? Or maybe it’s Jane, the person who opened a much-needed, constantly crowded, line-around-the-block restaurant in your hometown? All these are perfectly fine answers that have one thing in common: They founded their own businesses, taking on all the risks and, thus, are reaping most of the rewards.
While that is an accurate picture of some entrepreneurs, it is outdated and far too limited in its scope for today's constantly evolving business landscape.
The proper definition of an entrepreneur should be “anyone who identifies a new business opportunity — whether it be a product, service or way to save time and money, for example — and is passionate about putting that idea into action, no matter the risk or reward, whether he or she founded the company or works for a multinational conglomerate.”
Take Brooke Mills, our company’s Northeast Regional Sales Manager, for example. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a national call for personal protection equipment (PPE). Masks and other gear were in short supply, so demand was high. Brooke realized we had a lot of surgical gowns in storage and, with the greatest expedience, had our engineers modify the gowns to meet FDA standards and the growing demands of frontline medical personnel. This initiative delivered more than 50,000 isolation gowns to local hospitals. But the story doesn't end there. As a result of her altruistic endeavor, Brooke came up with the idea of creating a PPE patient pack for surgeons and surgical centers looking to safely welcome patients back as lockdown protocols ease, giving our ophthalmic partners peace of mind.
Today more than ever, it is essential for companies to instill and develop this kind of entrepreneurial spirit in their employees. You don’t want a PowerPoint culture. You want to build a team of doers, people who come to work with the aim of innovating and building your company’s portfolio. People who are excited and energized to work at the company. People who want to stay agile. People who want to be the drivers of innovation and are excited to talk about the future of your company because they have a say in how it unfolds.
Those who have successfully fostered such an environment agree that no single practice is the magic bullet. Instead, it is a collection of empowerments that foster an environment that promotes the type of creativity that allows employees to identify and capture new opportunities, new areas to expand your business.
Here are eight guiding principles that have served me well while helping to foster an entrepreneurial mindset and culture within the workplace:
1. Hire the right people. Build a team that embraces the ideals of entrepreneurialism and the values of your company. But make sure they don’t fit too tightly into any mold. They must be flexible and able to work in the gray zone.
2. Empower them. Bureaucracy only stifles a person’s creativity. Establish an environment where people can harness their passion, identify opportunities, make decisions, take calculated risks and inspire others to follow suit. When every employee feels empowered to be creative, experiment with new ways to approach their jobs and question the status quo, it leads to more impactful ideas and increased productivity.
3. Listen to them. Employees must feel like they have a voice. If they don’t feel their ideas are being heard, they have the right and responsibility to let us know.
4. Reward them. I don’t necessarily mean financial rewards or promotions, although these are important. Simply acknowledging and publicly showing your appreciation for the accomplishment will go a long way. Never forget the power of saying thank you.
5. Coach them. There's a difference between doing something and then being part of it and feeling it as you go through the process.
6. Keep them accountable. Constructive feedback is a good thing, but it can easily be mistaken for criticism. Saying “that's not how we do things here” or “we just do things differently” doesn't make people feel empowered. Just because you've been doing something the same way for years doesn’t mean it can't be improved. Nothing is perfect, and evolving is essential.
7. Get the job done first. You want employees to develop new products and technologies to serve your customers better, not spend every hour pursuing the next big thing. You need to ensure that the company’s strategic and financial objectives are met.
8. Give them guardrails. Innovating is risky, and failure is commonplace. You need to mitigate that risk. You don't want people to fail. It would be best if you had them stay within preset limits. Don’t lose sight of the bottom line.
The benefits of building an entrepreneurial culture, anchored by the belief that employees should not be afraid to share new ideas and suggestions that could benefit the company’s well-being, can be transformative. Less turnover, gains in productivity and more positive experiences and outcomes are just a few of the benefits that I’ve experienced.
Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?
