How welcoming is your business to new ideas?

A conversation with lady X prompted me to write about entrepreneurial culture in businesses. Lady X is a very innovative lawyer who worked in one of the “old school” law firms.

She hated her job because it was not challenging. She held a meeting with her boss and suggested to him that they could venture into new areas of law practice.

“Like which ones?” asked her clueless boss. “We could try artificial intelligence and emerging laws,” she replied.

The boss looked at her through his thick-rimmed glasses and told her, “ we do not practice those kinds of law here! Get out.”

Lady X wrote her resignation letter as she could not bear the thought of crisscrossing Kenya and defending petty criminals in courts all over the country. She got a job in another law firm and shared her ideas with the founder.

The founder was very excited to hear her views and asked her to write down a concept paper with her ideas. After reviewing them, he asked her to spearhead the implementation of the ideas.

This is how Lady X ended up being the head of the emerging laws department at a mid-sized firm and was later promoted to partner.

The law firm has grown to be one of the leading technology law firms in Kenya. About 30 percent of its revenue comes from technology practice.

The entrepreneurial culture is an organisational culture that encourages entrepreneurship. According to experts, there are four main indicators of such a culture in any business.

These include openness, adaptability, a reward system, and being a learning organisation. Such a business will survive and constantly re-invent itself to keep up with the times.

My mentor keeps telling me that nobody has a monopoly of knowledge, that one can even be taught by their staff members, a concept called reverse mentoring is encouraged.

This is where a junior employee mentors a more senior employee in areas where they have a gap. I believe in reverse mentoring especially in this age of technology. I have been taught emerging technology and issues by my staff members.

Now that we have described what an entrepreneurial organisation is, how does one get there?

The key is in having human resource practices and systems that support the culture. During recruitment, the recruiters should look out for candidates who carry an entrepreneurial spirit.

A question to ask would be, what new ideas will you bring to the table if successful?

The culture is also facilitated by having rewards and incentives. Do you have a talent management policy? A business can decide to reward enterprising staff through revenue-sharing models or intellectual property rights.

This calls for policy-making within the organisation and legal agreements. Granting enterprising staff ownership rights is bound to motivate them and further cement the entrepreneurial spirit.

There are several ways of doing that. One is by issuing employees management shares. These are a special class of shares that carry limited rights.

Employees can make certain decisions and participate in profit sharing. However, they cannot vote on certain other aspects such as the strategy and objectives of the company.

In recognition of her enterprising contribution, Lady X was given a stake in the company. She got five percent and was allowed to make certain decisions and earn five percent of profits.

However, she was locked out of the 'big boys’ club where the founders discussed big boys’ issues behind closed doors. Lady X has given her energy to the law firm for the last 10 years. She loves her job.

Ms Mputhia is the founder of C Mputhia Advocates | [email protected]