Hiring Entrepreneurial Employees: Too Risky?
By Randy Quarin
Increasingly, employers are looking to tap into the entrepreneurial talent pool when hiring, particularly for pivotal leadership roles. The entrepreneur’s characteristics are highly desirable in contributing to driving growth, innovation, and competitive advantage. There’s no denying that this is a risky bunch though.
The very traits that drive the entrepreneurially-minded can raise concerns about their fit in the corporate structure and culture. There is a general assumption that an independent business owner or self-employed professional is not likely to be a good corporate fit. In fact, individuals with enterprising characteristics can be significant contributors in any organization.
Why Hire an Enterpriser?
Candidates with an entrepreneurial bent can be very effective in leadership roles, are important agents of change, and they produce results. A key entrepreneurial trait is the ability to conceptualize and communicate a vision. Individuals with this trait are influential leaders and great motivators. Their big-picture focus ensures a strategic view of how to grow their business.
Entrepreneurial characteristics translate into great business results. Enterprisers are driven by a need to succeed and be viewed as high performers. They have a bottom-line orientation that keeps them driving themselves and their teams to produce results. They are resourceful and persistent. Personal accountability is a source of pride.
Corporate enterprisers are important drivers of change. They are creative and innovative-thinkers, are able to paint a picture and follow it through to a practical solution. They work well on cross-functional teams and are less likely to be confined by the status quo.
The Next Shiny Thing
Of course, the very attributes that make the entrepreneurial candidate appealing to an organization can raise the biggest red flags. The fear in hiring an enterpriser is that the siren song of the next shiny opportunity will lure them away. There is also the concern that this type of individual will be easily bored and may need constant challenges to stay motivated, introducing the question, how long will they stay?
Compensation may also be a concern if financial reward is an important motivator. And because they are typically independent thinkers, doubts may be raised about their ability to take direction and tow the line.
How to Keep Them
A critical factor in keeping these types of individuals in the corporate fold is to hire right in the first place. You really need to understand their motivation up front. If they have strong entrepreneurial leanings, why are they entertaining thoughts of a corporate job?
Maybe they are at a life stage when they are unwilling to bear the financial risk of self employment and need more stability. Maybe they would like to benefit from being in a team environment and learning from others. Maybe they are just tired and would like the benefits of being part of an organization where they can take advantage of a good brand, product, and additional resources.
The key to retaining enterprisers is to create alignment between their goals and yours:
- Give them an upside. Create an uncapped compensation structure that rewards performance (bonus, profit sharing, or equity share). The house cat vs. street cat analogy is useful to remember here. Enterprisers are motivated by hunting for their supper, not having it served to them.
- Let them make decisions. Agree on the end result and let them tell you how they are going to get there.
- Encourage them to flex their creative muscles and provide innovative solutions (and let them try the sane ones!)
- Be flexible. When it works, give them some of the perks of self-employment like flex hours or working from a home office.
Create the right environment - freedom, reward, and challenge – and watch these team members thrive and your business reap the benefits. It might take some work to create the right atmosphere and to allay the fears or your stakeholders, but if you embrace the difference, you’ll find the payoff is well worth the risk.
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Randy Quarin, Senior Partner, has an intuitive sense of how to solve a client's business issues with the best resources.
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