When it comes to the ideal employee, there are a few things that spring to mind. Someone who’s a self-starter, someone who can own and drive projects forward, someone who’s accountable, ambitious and results-oriented, someone who knows how to get the best out of their team. These qualities tend to be entrepreneurial.

Most founders think that these are innate qualities, that people just either have them or they don’t. But what if I told you that your organisation can encourage these types of personalities to emerge in their business? That these qualities aren’t just given to ‘superstar’ employees, but are instead produced as a result of three main factors: job satisfaction, personal ambition and company culture.

Creating an entrepreneurial culture in your organisation is a great way to encourage personal ambition and improve job satisfaction – enabling employees to take responsibility for their development and success.

Give your employees flexibility and autonomy in their role

If you want great people, then you have to give them room to be great. Strict job roles, rigid systems and an inability to be creative will make a brilliant employee bored and unmotivated. Of course, there are some roles that require employees to follow strict guidelines and ways of doing things, but for the roles where things don’t have to follow rigid procedures, give your employees wiggle room to make the role their own and see what works. Be firm on the results but flexible on the method.

Create an environment where it’s okay to make mistakes

Nobody sets out to make mistakes but sometimes that’s how we learn what works and what doesn’t. As long as everyone is learning from the mistakes they make and they’re not repeating them, you should look at mistakes as a mentoring opportunity, not something that’s wholly negative. Having a space where people feel they can make mistakes and learn will encourage them to try new ways of working, be adventurous and push beyond their comfort zone. And some of the best outcomes are made by taking those bold steps.

Forget individualism, everything is about teamwork

Of course it’s great to have superstars, but no employee should be indispensable. Instead, encourage strong performers to mentor other people in the team, so that you can have a team of strong performers and success isn’t just down to one person. Additionally, when creating teams at work, ensure each person can play to their strengths. Whether that’s project management, idea generation, or risk assessment – make sure teams are created of people with different qualities so everyone has a chance to prove themselves. The Wealth Dynamics profiling tool is a great way to simply find out the profiles of each team member.

Reward employees adequately

In an age where talent is so hard to find and retain, employees are wise to the fact that loyalty doesn’t necessarily pay, and are more likely to job-hop for a better offer. The way to keep the employees you value is to make sure you’re attuned to their wants and work to those. Benchmark salaries and offer benefits that don’t necessarily have to cost – flexible and remote working, peer mentorship, a clear career path with what they have to do to get to that next level, and a good work-life balance.

Creating an entrepreneurial culture is not something you can do overnight, and will take time to foster. Making sure your team is happy and engaged in their work, and nurturing an open, supportive culture, will go a lot further than you think.