Mark Hawkins knows what it’s like to be challenged. The senior business analyst joined Capital One a few years ago and has been pushing his potential ever since. “The first few weeks you are playing catch-up, learning about a new industry and organization,” says Hawkins, who works at the credit card company’s British operations. “But pretty soon you are making decisions about how to take the company forward. There are so many opportunities and you are free to pick up as many projects as you can run with.
Capital One knows how to motivate employees. The Falls Church, Virginia-based firm starts by carefully screening job applicants and selecting those with an inherent entrepreneurial need for achievement. Then, as Mark Hawkins discovered, the company stretches them with challenging goals. “We expect associates to get out of their comfort zones and look for those ‘stretch assignments,’ ” explains a Capital One executive.
Employees are formally evaluated twice each year by supervisors and peers against specific behavioral competencies. They also receive plenty of informal feedback and encouragement. “You have to spend a lot of time working with people and giving them constant feedback,” says a Capital One executive. “It makes people feel valued and involved.” Employees are also motivated by financial incentives based on individual and organizational performance.
But Capital One’s dramatic growth over the past decade creates a challenge for co-founders Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris. “As we become bigger, we have to make sure we preserve the spirit and the magic of Capital One,” Fairbank says. “Now we’re at 20,000 [employees], and it still has that entrepreneurial spirit. But it won’t be easy.”
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