When a potential recruit asks if there is a “lack of opportunity” with a smaller business, I highlight some of the advantages. Smaller marketing businesses often promote entrepreneurship, vision and innovation at an individual level. In this type of culture, employees are encouraged to leverage their unique skills and take initiative to further develop an area of the business, and ultimately forge their own destiny within the company. Since many smaller companies experience and pursue high rates of growth, employees have the ability to create and fill new positions as they develop.
Similarly, exceptional employees at smaller companies are encouraged to experiment and take more risks. Many large companies offer stability, but they don’t necessarily offer their best employees the opportunity to truly use their creativity or lead an important project. Essentially, we don’t believe that a title or bureaucracy should restrain employees and their interests. Also, smaller companies often work in smaller teams, which can make it easier for high achieving employees to shine.
Lastly, simpler hierarchies lead to fewer office politics and stronger bonds between employees at all levels. In an environment where there are fewer “rungs” to climb, employees can interface frequently with the company’s decision-makers, owners and other stakeholders to work collaboratively and gain valuable experience. Perhaps more than anything else, in our culture and business, getting results carries more weight than politics, face time or tenure.
