Think big? Think again! Start-up companies will often address the issue of human resources in a creative way, focusing on employee autonomy, customer satisfaction, and social networks to share information. What HR lessons can we learn from start-ups?
Intrapreneurship
Promote from within. Develop from within. Innovate from within. Make full use of the intrapraneurial vision of a start-up. It is often the best way to develop and foster talent and innovative processes inside corporate structures.
Emphasis on communication
In this digital age, employees, just as much as consumers, have endless platforms on which to voice their opinions. Make your employees’ ideas and views count … just like a start-up would!
“The new CEO of Rogers Communications, Guy Laurence, for instance, has been traversing the country to meet the company’s employees to get a front-line perspective on the business,” says Ian Cullwick, Vice-President, Leadership and Human Resources Research of The Conference Board of Canada.
Keep it small
Are there too many cooks in your kitchen? A bigger decision-making team doesn’t necessarily mean a better team. Keep your core team small, make decisions quickly and move on. Above all, make sure you have an organization with loyal employees that are then willing to roll up their sleeves and get the job done. A premise the mega organization Apple lives by.
Community involvement
Take cues and seek input from local entrepreneurs for product improvement and project ideas. Online giant Google has developed Start-up Grind, a program which helps a global network of start-ups grow their business by using Google tools. In a sense, Google is creating a worldwide collaborative community.
Try things!
Don’t be afraid to just try things. Change your process once in a while, try getting your employees to step out of their roles sometimes, and collaborate on new projects. Experiment and track your success. Trial and error is a fundamental method of growth!