To Build a Better Business, Hire Ramen Eaters

To build a corporate culture that’s as energized and agile as a startup, hire ramen eaters.

“I meet these ramen eaters everyday,” says Amy Neale, VP, senior business leader with Mastercard. “These people are tough, ready to hustle and eager to make their startups work. They’re exactly the type of employee corporates ought to be looking for.”

Before we get to why the ramen analogy, let’s set the stage. Neale made her comments last fall at a DisruptHR meeting in Dublin, Ireland. She titled her 5 minute talk “Raising Talent On Avocado Toast Or Ramen,” so naturally, she opened by mentioning that the record price for that symbol of millennial profligacy was $100. It was for avocado toast with poached salmon, truffle oil and gold flakes.

But the teams she works with are “ramen profitable.” These are the men and women who live on $3,000 a month, eating 80 cent packages of ramen noodles while laboring to build a successful business. What she’s noticed about these teams are:

1. They are “very comfortable with ambiguity.”
2. They are “very comfortable with variety.” They work on all parts of the business.
3. They are “very frugal. They do a lot with very little.”

To be more like these startups, corporations need to skip the avocado toast and try some ramen. Click into the presentation to hear how you might start to do that.

In partnership with DisruptHR, TLNT presents some of the best Disrupt presentations from events across North America and now the world. Disrupt talks are modeled on the TEDx concept: Short, to the point talks on all things HR — talent, culture and technology.