HopStop CEO Takes a Laissez Faire Approach toward Employees

Image via Wikipedia

When managing a company, there are often traditional guidelines a CEO will follow in his/her employee interaction. For Joe Meyer, CEO of HopStop, the NY-based mass-transit information website, these traditional practices do not gel with his less-is-more mentality. Hopstop, whose revenues are expected to be approximately $5 million in 2011, maintains about 20 “highly engaged, conscientious and efficient” employees, according to Crain’s New York Business. Employees receive real-time feedback throughout the day; they also have the autonomy to take a generous amount of vacation time.

“My philosophy is to bring in really strong people who are good at what they do, give them some direction, a lot of responsibility and the objectives we’re trying to achieve—and then let them run with it,” Meyer told Crain’s .

Debra Condren, a business psychologist based in NY and San Francisco, believes that Mr. Meyer’s policy is conducive to directing and maintaining self-motivated high achievers. “They don’t need somebody looking over their shoulder and holding their hand,” she told Crain’s NY Business. Such self-starters might revel in the opportunity to receive coaching on the spot, whereas other employees could find it an intimidating practice. To better prepare for the future, according to Dr. Condren, Meyer might consider providing more formal management training to promising employees “so they’re prepared in case the company suddenly needs to double in size,” she added.

Crain’s New York Business