With an ever-evolving business environment and growing expectations of the Gen-Zs entering into the workforce, business, as usual, is not an option anymore. The future of work is obviously on a roller coaster of emergence. So then, how well are you prepping for it?

Did you ever think that having an entrepreneurial mindset would be a significant aspect of the future work puzzle? Yes, this mindset will very much help you maintain a holistic approach while managing business operations, embracing new challenges, pursuing initiatives, channeling your focus, and of course, when taking risks.

Entrepreneurial ways of working are in the limelight these days. It is becoming important, not just for small startups, but also for large corporations as well. Whether you are just a beginner or a well-established player in the market, you need to nurture and sustain an entrepreneurial mindset across your organization.

How Can You Do That?

Having an aesthetic and elegant setup doesn’t foster an entrepreneurial culture. Continuous motivation and the extent to which leaders can inspire and drive high performance are crucial.

Research tells us that the quality of leadership and management is the key to success and it can be best improved when the enterprise is understood as a living organism; a community based on relationships. Success comes from the quality of management, mindset of leaders and employees, and the type of organizational culture.

HRs being at the core of organizational culture development ought to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Having said that, you are not expected to be a pro at it just in the first go, but to push yourself to think innovatively as well as in a future driven perspective.

Who Is An HR Entrepreneur?

Ideally, there is no perfect definition of an HR entrepreneur! But, of course, after thorough research, I found a few qualities that are a must-have for you as an HR Entrepreneur:

  • You efficiently manage the basic HR operations
  • You have a holistic understanding of organizational goals and strategies
  • You understand the market dynamics in which your business operates
  • You are well aligned with the operational and technical functions of your business, just as the line managers are
  • You constantly look out to benchmark your organization against industry quality and standards
  • You have an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset:
  • To execute risk analysis and develop strategies to overcome those
  • To proactively look for opportunities to drive better business results
  • To facilitate a future driven approach across your organization

The ultimate objective is to enhance organizational performance by focusing on the outcomes rather than the roles assigned to an individual.

How Can You Become Entrepreneurial?

To start with, here are some roles through which you can drive an entrepreneurial approach and aim towards business growth:

Lead The Change

The workplace is going through quick changes and being an HR leader, you don’t have to wait for change to happen in order to take the required action.

Forecasting and analyzing the upcoming changes will play a key role in identifying the potential challenges that you may have to face in the future. When you are aggressive about pursuing these changes as an opportunity, you have the ability to shape how the future unfolds.

Make Your Way Through Constraints

Being an HR leader, you are already aware of various roles you need to play in your organization. If in case you are a solo practitioner, then it becomes even more difficult for you to manage time and functions.

However, you can spur innovative and entrepreneurial thinking to get through these challenges. You may have noticed that when resources are limited, people tend to be more prolific and try to overcome the issues by aggressively exploring the available alternatives.

Don’t Restrict Yourself To People Management

Long gone is the time when HR personnel was just responsible for executing administrative and people management functions. I am sure you would agree that having a solid understanding of business operations will greatly support you as an HR to connect seamlessly with various departments.

Right from reaching out to your employees at the ground level to connecting with clients for business information, it is now easier for you to relate and actively engage in driving business growth.

While these approaches will help you build a perfect strategy to start off, it’s also important to analyze and forecast the challenges of being an HR entrepreneur.

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Challenges Of An HR Entrepreneur

One of the most common challenges of promoting an entrepreneurial mindset or becoming an HR entrepreneur is the resistance to change. This, of course, may not come across as a surprise, as often people imagine HRs to be managing the basic HR operations and engaging employees.

This has resulted in HRs limiting themselves to these boundaries and hence, being resistant to change and holding back on revitalizing their role as an HR leader.

The next impediment is the lack of an open ecosystem between organizations. The organizational functions and practices are restricted within the company under strict confidentiality.

But if some strategies are turning out to be very beneficial to your business, then why keep them under wraps? Why don’t we have an open ecosystem that promotes sharing and collaboration, which will in turn generate higher value creation? When people from different organizations come together and share ideas, you will see that the value creation is much more than ever before!

The Future Road Map

Every industry has a set of different policies and procedures to operate a business. Before initiating the process of being a successful HR entrepreneur, you need to first analyze, evaluate, and carry out thorough research on your industry and market. Your primary objective should be redesigning the role of an HR leader and align the role to improve organizational performance and growth.

This outcome-based approach will support you to foster a culture of creativity, innovation, and dynamism! As there is no such permanent best practice to be a prominent HR entrepreneur, the simple mantra is “Embrace changes coming your way and pave your path towards generating better outcomes.”