Dan Schawbel* says that in the wake of the pandemic, employees are searching for organisations that offer a new way of working.
According to Google, “how to start a business” was a more popular search term last year than “how to get a job”.
With everyone from chief executives to receptionists feeling fatigued by the 21-month long pandemic, it’s no surprise that people want to take more control of their lives.
This trend, coupled with the Great Resignation where 65 per cent of workers are seeking a new job, means talented employees are departing for higher pay elsewhere.
If your organisation is struggling to retain talent right now, I know just how challenging and disheartening this situation is.
My suggestion? Give your employees the independence that comes with working for themselves.
Do so, and your workers will enjoy the freedom of entrepreneurship without its inherent risks and challenges.
Too often, when employees show entrepreneurial initiative, it’s quashed. Initiative sometimes makes others on the team bristle.
“How does he get to break the rules?” jealous co-workers may ask.
By making entrepreneurial risk-taking part of the culture by rewarding it, you will encourage breakthrough ideas.
More importantly, your most talented employees will actually want to stick around.
Here are some ways to make employees feel more like entrepreneurs.
Trust workers to set their own schedules
Many entrepreneurs first strike out on their own as a way to avoid having a boss.
These workers don’t appreciate being micromanaged, so remember, unless a task absolutely requires a group to work on it together in real-time, there’s no reason to set a step-by-step schedule for task completion.
Give your workers the deadline. Then, give them the freedom to determine their own schedules.
Be task oriented, not process oriented
Meetings, meetings, and more meetings deplete workers’ enthusiasm.
Zoom meetings pose new challenges — it’s exhausting to keep an eye on colleagues and oneself at the same time.
Consider focusing on task completion rather than requiring employees to go through the motions of constant meeting attendance.
Consider creating ‘core hours’ for meetings
According to one study, 78 per cent of workers feel that their meeting schedule is “always or sometimes out of control”.
As a leader, you have the power to change that.
Some organisations are creating ‘core hours’ for meetings — typically four-hour blocks in the middle of the day — so employees have more time to focus.
It’s also a tactic employers are using to help their people disconnect. As a result people will feel more in control of their time.
Encourage mental health breaks during the day
One benefit of being an entrepreneur is that you can take a mental break whenever you feel like it.
Studies show that office workers who take micro breaks throughout the day are more productive and more engaged.
So, let workers know you approve of breaks.
Invite a mindfulness coach to lead a group meditation session once a week.
Workers will have a chance to close their eyes, catch their breaths, and regain their equilibriums on office time.
Create an atmosphere that encourages structured experimentation
Entrepreneurs enjoy inventing new products and services.
However, it’s rare for an idea to arrive perfectly formed at inception, so work with your people to tweak and shape entrepreneurial ideas that could help the organisation.
For example, show them how to back up their ideas with deep market research, using techniques like focus groups and surveys.
Give your people the resources to act
Entrepreneurs tend to have a ‘leap first, look later’ approach.
If you can provide your people with resources to pursue their ideas, you’ll encourage their entrepreneurial spirit and you’re bound to enjoy a more successful track record.
Consider creating an innovation contest where workers can submit new ideas to help the organisation, and the winners receive funding to pursue them further.
Treat each worker like a consultant
Encourage your employees to hone an area or two of expertise and become a ‘consultant’ in those areas — someone who can provide expert opinions, analysis, and recommendations.
Then let them have the final word in that specialty area.
Respect too, that when consultants work overtime, they get paid for it.
While you don’t need to put everyone on an hourly wage, you do need to recognise when one of your workers is putting in extra time or supreme effort.
With both the pandemic and the Great Resignation in full swing some business forecasters predict that in the future, most people won’t work for organisations at all.
We’re already starting to see this long-term trend manifest with the rise of alternative forms of earning, such as influencers, creators, and participants in the gig economy.
Workers are becoming immensely dissatisfied with ‘business as usual’ so consider treating your employees more like entrepreneurs if you want to prevent at least some of them from joining the Great Resignation.
Many of the suggestions I’ve provided don’t require any cost inputs, so there’s nothing stopping you.
*Dan Schawbel is a bestselling author and Managing Partner of Workplace Intelligence, a research and advisory firm helping HR adapt to trends, drive performance and prepare for the future.
This article is part of his Workplace Intelligence Weekly series.
