Why should employees work like an entrepreneur?

Employees are the biggest assets for an organisation. Great employees make a great workplace, and a great workplace makes a great organisation. Employees should work for the company with the same zeal and vigour as that of an entrepreneur does for his company, and think like entrepreneurs and understand that their success is intrinsically linked with that of the organization they work for.

Every employee should take ownership of the responsibilities and duties assigned to him. It is rightly said, responsibility is a privilege; not everyone is lucky to get it.

Organisations can play a pivotal role in encouraging employees to push boundaries, innovate and work towards a shared vision. It underscores the need for an all-encompassing nature of the HR function in fostering a growth-oriented culture in the organisation. Here are a few things that HR can do to foster an entrepreneurial mindset in employees.

Stating the vision and goals of the organisation

The onus is on the HR function to communicate the vision and goals of the organisation and motivate employees to work towards it. Every employee must be clear about his roles and responsibilities, and understand the significance of his role in influencing business outcomes.

The concept of 'Objectives and Key Results' (OKR) has emerged as a potent tool for companies to set ambitious goals and measure outcomes. OKR scores over conventional models due to its ability to set highly ambitious, tangible and measurable goals. It is a way forward for teams to work collaboratively towards a common vision and achieve tangible outcomes.

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Improving productivity and mapping performance

Productivity and work are two different terms. It is only when you generate output that you are considered productive. Companies should define productivity and ensure that it aligns with their metric and contributes towards achieving shared goals.

The HR function can play a pivotal role in improving the productivity of employees through life skills sessions, self-improvement workshops, seminars and training programmes. HR technology is an answer to improving productivity by freeing people from the daily repetitive tasks and allowing them to concentrate on their core functions.

It is equally important that the performance of employees is mapped and documented accurately to identify the gaps and plan the way forward.

Every employee must be communicated about the achievement and key potential areas for improvement in his performance and motivated to constantly raise the bar and outperform every time.

Communication and collaboration

Communication has emerged as a vital tool to stay connected with the workforce. Amid extended work from home, communication has emerged as a panacea for managing remote workforce across geographies. Employers should adopt an 'open door' policy leaving room for incorporating employee feedback and suggestions, and redress their grievances in a timely manner.

Similarly, collaboration has become imperative to inspire employees to work towards a shared vision. It requires the need for seamless coordination across departments, teams and geographies. In the digital era, tools such as zoom, skype, workday, etc. play a significant role in fostering a collaborative ecosystem.

Employee engagement

Employee engagement is key to foster an employee-centric culture in organisations. High attrition rate and remote working due to COVID-19 has underscored the significance of employee engagement in attracting, retaining and managing the workforce.

Firms are now willing to go the extra mile to engage with their employees and impart a sense of belongingness among them. It implies adopting several innovative methods such as annual off-site, day-off, gamification, among others besides conventional approaches such as bonuses and increments.

Learning and development

The dynamic economic scenario and Industry 4.0 has underscored the need to unlearn and relearn to stay relevant amid the competition. The onus is on the HR to foster a culture of lifelong learning and equip employees with new-age skill sets such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and design thinking among others.

Equally important is mentorship by top management to encourage employees to take initiative, think-out-of the box and go the extra mile to achieve organisational goals.

Rewards and recognition

Putting in place a rewards and recognition system is known to keep employees inspired and motivated, leading to better retention. Performance discussion feedback has emerged as a viable option to realise the reward and recognition system. The reward and recognition system must go beyond bonuses and increments. Every employee must feel valued and respected in the workplace.

Amid a dynamic economic scenario and unprecedented times, HR functions in organisations have assumed a paramount role in preparing the workforce to tackle an uncertain future. They also play a significant role in aligning employee goals to that of an organisation.