Working hard to be innovative in business is always about looking for something beyond the horizon. But sometimes the key is closer to home than we think. Employees hold the key to a progressive business. But when we start to look for the right employees we are looking for a specific breed. Autonomy is one of those components that is crucial in modern business.

We need to remember that a group of autonomous employees will mean that they are self-resilient, resourceful, but also have the energy to keep going. So what do we need to do to ensure that a business can hire autonomous people but also retain this quality?

Hire Individuals

We have to remember that when creating a business that retains a sense of autonomy we need to hire people possessive of that entrepreneurial spirit. As managers, we have to weed out the types of people that are able to remain autonomous. Hiring individuals is one simple way to get there. And we have to remember that when we’re running a business that we keep an eye on the bigger picture.

Getting different pieces to play the game means that we are able to cover more ground. Sometimes this means that we end up outsourcing components.

We have to look at ourselves, address the components that we don’t have in ourselves or in the business, and look at filling the gaps. While something like business law is a complex component and we could very well consult attorneys like Alex R. Hernandez Jr. to address these aspects, if we are looking for people on-site, an individual with a very specific set of skills or history can keep us on the right side of the law.

Hiring individuals means that they could very well have their own approach to work and may not be team players but you can still harness your own abilities to foster a company culture of togetherness.

Nurturing Creativity

These days when we’re looking at improving collaboration we need to look for those people that have that ability to create. It can be a chicken and egg situation when you’re trying to find someone that has an entrepreneurial vision but also has creativity at their core. Sometimes they don’t work hand-in-hand. But within the business, we must remember that nurturing creativity is going to foster collaboration.

We can hire individuals that operate with a very individualistic mindset but it’s your chance to start bringing people together on projects you think will result in an outcome that will push the business in a completely different direction.

Creativity is something that can make a business and its employees thrive. We can get bound by the rigors of routine and when we start to implement a big project for employees to bite into, we should let them run with it.

When creatives come on board they can become so attached to a project the concept of time goes out the window. A very good example is when you take freelancers on board; they can run with an idea and give you more than you expected. This is one of the major positives of nurturing creativity because creativity feels fantastic.

Avoiding Micromanaging

Any autonomous employee needs that entrepreneurial freedom. While we are conscious that we have got to focus on the entire business as a whole, when we start to manage our employees very closely not only will we struggle to see their entrepreneurial flair but we will stifle their creativity which can result in a lot more dissatisfaction from their part over time. This naturally will inhibit their productivity and motivation.

The best approach to handling employees in this fashion is to step away. Sometimes it’s not so easy to implement this because we’ve got our own specific visions but we must remember that an autonomous employee will seek us out to share their visions of growing the business.

Micromanaging can be so easy to do but we must remember that it doesn’t improve productivity, it inhibits it. When we start to micromanage, autonomous employees will view this as nitpicking. Instead, it’s far better to take a step away and to address concerns on a regular basis in a more informal environment, such as a weekly catch-up.

Look For People That Take An Interest In Their Own Development

People that are keen to improve themselves, professionally and personally, are a boon to have in any business. It can depend on your own perspective of the person. You may think that they are striving for something better than what you can offer them but this approach to developing their abilities means that you can harness this to improve the business.

We have to remember that it’s not just about skills that the employees have but it’s about their own abilities to harness other aspects of their personality to improve the company in the round. If you see someone who is a natural leader or they’re looking to improve their leadership skills give them an extra task like managing a team. This takes the pressure off you in the meantime!

Keeping an autonomous business is having that knowledge of the bigger picture but also being brave enough to give people the opportunity to express themselves without your watchful eye. When a business is starting out we can think we’ve got to operate with every single area covered.

But we have to remember that it’s not about telling people exactly what to do; it’s ensuring that we know what the end product is and subtly guiding them in that direction.

If we encourage autonomous employees they will feel a sense of freedom which keeps morale up, but it’s also going to improve the business over time. Some employers may try the autonomous approach but it doesn’t work for them so they start to impose more and more rules.

If you want a business to stay autonomous it’s partly to do with hiring the right people but it’s also trusting your own judgment to step away from the process.

© New To HR