Do you believe in unicorns? I do. It’s hard not to when I see them at work every day.
While they may not be valued at the multi-billion dollar valuations of the companies and startups we often refer to as “unicorns,” these individuals contribute to their organization in a way that you wouldn’t. valuable. Office “unicorns” are outstanding employees who actively contribute to organizational improvement. When there are problems, they offer solutions to their managers, seize the opportunity to help with projects, and come up with ideas to improve the company.
Like mythical creatures, office unicorns are also rare. So, when managers spot a unicorn, they need to realize the employee’s potential as an active contributor and actively invest in their growth. Let’s put it this way — if you don’t swaddle your unicorns, they can go back into the wild, i.e. to one of your competitors.
I have had the privilege of nurturing many office unicorns at my workflow platform company, Catalytic. With planning, you can develop unicorns into leaders and experts who drive creativity and innovation for your organization. Here are some guidelines I followed during my time developing the office unicorn:
Don’t limit your unicorn’s creativity
With unicorns’ knack for going above and beyond in their work, their creative thinking should be encouraged, not discouraged — even when it comes to age-old organizational processes. Unicorns don’t work well in a “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” culture. They want to know that new ideas are always welcome if they benefit the business.
This scenario happened to my team recently. The three unicorns determined that we needed to better track sales from trade shows. The team turned the idea into reality by building an improved workflow for it on our code-free platform, making it a long-term solution that our entire sales team is now following. follow.
Encourage unicorns to build their own brands
Build your unicorns as thought leaders and role models for the team to follow. This provides a twofold solution — it allows unicorns to develop a leadership experience at your company and can inspire other potential unicorns to follow in their footsteps. Without the opportunity to build their own brand, unicorns may not feel they can thrive as leaders and experts in your organization.
Give unicorns internal and external opportunities to create their own brand among your colleagues and with your customers. One of the most effective branding exercises I’ve used on team unicorns is to have them present with clients at an event.
Show unicorns their career path
In my experience, unicorns want a clear career path. You need to regularly talk to the unicorns about organizational growth opportunities, chart a general timeline for promotions, and map out the steps they can take to get to the next level. If you can’t deliver this framework to unicorns, there’s another company waiting for it that’s entirely possible.
Meet your unicorn’s expectations by prioritizing them. Continually engage the unicorns about what they want to be when they “grow up” in your company. This attention to detail can keep unicorns running at a high level and help them achieve long-term success at the organization…
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