Source | www.bbc.com | Dougal Shaw | Business reporter, BBC News
Greg Jackson is the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, a UK start-up valued at more than £1.4bn ($2bn), selling green energy. Despite now having more than 1,200 employees, he says he has no interest in traditional things like human resources (HR) and information technology (IT) departments.
There is a tendency for large companies to “infantilise” their employees and “drown creative people in process and bureaucracy”, says Jackson.
HR and IT departments don’t make employees happier or more productive in his experience, he says.
So he doesn’t have them.
Octopus Energy was set up in 2015, specialising in renewable energy for households. It has enjoyed huge growth, taking on the “big six” traditional energy firms, and now supplies more than 1.9 million homes in the UK and is expanding into other countries with its proprietary, energy-managing software.
It is now valued at more than £1.4bn ($2bn) by private investors, with permanent staff owning 5% of its shares.
