Why I Encourage Side Hustles.
This topic is going to ruffle some feathers — employers, brace yourselves for a rather unpopular opinion. And hear me out, because the true value in this way of thinking as a leader is that you will finally have the motivated, financially stable, entrepreneurial minded staff you’ve always dreamt of.
Here it is: Encourage the side hustles.
If this were a TED Talk, I’d ask you all to give me a show of hands on whether your top performers learned their skills through real-life experience, or education. And I’m willing to bet that the majority vote will go to real-life experience. This post isn’t intended to knock a college education — I happen to think there’s a lot of value there too. But when it comes to professional experience, there’s absolutely nothing that trumps getting out there and doing the work.
Having a side hustle is arguably the best form of continuing education in the real world. Sure, there’s a chance that one of your employee’s side hustles eventually takes them away from your company and they go on to do bigger and better things for themselves — So what?! As employers we need to be ok with the idea that not everyone’s life-long dream is going to work for US. We should be supportive of our employee’s personal and professional growth, wherever it may take them.
Look at your team. Who are the most valuable players? I don’t need to know your business, or your staff to know the answer. It’s the over-achievers, the self-starters, the idea people… the entrepreneurial minded people. And let me tell you — those people are ambitious, often in ways that you are not in a position to compensate! (ie. It’s not promotion season all year round). But guess what?! You can feed that ambition in a way that doesn’t come out of your pocket, and I can almost guarantee will have a positive impact on your bottom line over time. Support the side hustle!
If your Marketing Director also has an Etsy shop where she sells embroidered baseball caps and candles, that’s more time that she spends marketing. More time spent learning industry trends and picking up new ideas!
If your Support Rep bartends 3 nights a week and has to leave a little early Monday, Wednesday and Friday to make that work, let him! That’s 3 nights every week that he is exposed to more opportunities to sharpen his people skills or navigate escalated situations.
In both scenarios, those team members will be able to contribute new ideas, inspiration, and perspectives that they learn by being out in the real world. Those experiences will make them ultimately more valuable to you, and bonus — they will likely feel more valued and fulfilled at work because their contributions will continue to be more and more significant as they grow as professionals in their respective fields.
In a nutshell, people become well rounded professionals through experiences and opportunities to sharpen their skills. And you, as their leader, should encourage just that.
Additional benefits to your team members having their own side hustles:
External inspiration / creativity
Deeper understanding of the various aspects of running a business
Sharpened time management and organizational skills
Financial stability that doesn’t rest solely on your shoulders
Happy, healthy workplace where no one feels “stuck”
Of course, it’s important to have boundaries and make sure that everyone on your team is delivering on their responsibilities to you as well. But at my company, I don’t only encourage side hustles for my team. I’m willing to help them pursue their dreams! Interestingly enough, this way of thinking seems to make my staff all the more dedicated to what we do.