A 30-Year Study Followed Students Into Their Careers. Here’s What It Revealed About the Power of Investing in People.

Entrepreneurs make investments every day. Some produce results quickly: Advertising generates leads, equipment increases capacity, and new software saves time. Investing in people works differently. The person you support today may not do their most consequential work for another decade.

A new whitepaper, Opening Doors Through Education: The William Louey Effect, examines this through a 30-year study of scholarship recipients from China. The research follows students supported by the William S.D. Louey Educational Foundation from relatively modest financial backgrounds into careers in business, finance, academia, engineering and education.

Instead of ending the assessment at graduation or employment, the study looks at their later careers, leadership roles, economic circumstances, mentoring and support for others.

The findings offer five ideas for entrepreneurs deciding how to identify, develop and support people.

1. Look for potential before the résumé proves it

All survey participants reported household incomes below the national benchmark used in the study when they received their scholarships. Their circumstances restricted the opportunities available to them, but did not determine what they were capable of achieving.

Entrepreneurs make a similar judgment when hiring. The safest candidate often has the strongest résumé, recognizable employers and experience doing almost exactly the job on offer. Choosing only on that basis can exclude people who have ability but have not yet been given the chance to demonstrate it.

Potential shows up in other ways. How quickly does someone learn? What have they achieved with limited resources? Do they ask good questions? What happens when they are given work they have never done before? Those signals can tell an employer more than another prestigious company name on a CV.

2. Give people experiences, not only training

The scholarship recipients received financial assistance, but their relationship with the Foundation did not necessarily end when the funding did. Former scholars described continued mentorship, professional guidance and personal support after their formal education.

Companies spend heavily on courses, conferences and professional development. These can teach useful skills, but some parts of business are learned more effectively through participation. Watching an experienced executive negotiate, reject a deal or handle a difficult employee exposes someone to judgment that is difficult to reproduce in a classroom.

A founder can create those opportunities without establishing another training program. Invite a promising employee to an important meeting. Give them responsibility for a project that stretches their experience. Ask them to recommend a course of action rather than simply carrying out instructions. The objective is to let people practice making decisions while experienced colleagues are still close enough to help.

3. Pay attention to what people become capable of doing

The careers of the scholars changed considerably over time. Eleven of the 12 respondents had held leadership, management or decision-making responsibilities, while five had become business owners or entrepreneurs.

Companies often judge employee development through convenient measures such as courses completed, promotions received or annual performance scores. Those figures say little about whether somebody can now handle a situation that once required assistance.

A founder can look for more practical evidence. Can this person make a difficult decision without escalating it? Can they manage disagreement between colleagues? Can they explain why they rejected an attractive opportunity? Can they take responsibility when something goes wrong? Greater independence is one of the clearest signs that development has changed how someone works.

4. Notice who starts helping other people

Every survey respondent reported mentoring at least one person. Two-thirds had mentored more than six people, while one-third said they had mentored more than 50. By that stage in their careers, some recipients were spending their own time helping people who were earlier in theirs.

Growing companies need employees who can make other people better. A strong individual performer can produce excellent work, but a manager who teaches five people to make better decisions can affect far more of the organization.

Founders should therefore notice what experienced employees do with what they know. Some protect information because expertise gives them status. Others explain their reasoning, introduce younger colleagues to useful contacts and allow someone less experienced to take the lead. The second group makes it easier for a company to grow without every problem returning to the same few people.

5. Build a culture that can continue without you

One of the study’s most interesting findings came from an initiative that was not part of the original scholarship program. Members of earlier cohorts created and funded the Pay It Forward Scholarship to support future Oxford students. The whitepaper says the initiative was conceived, organized and funded by former scholars and was neither requested nor directed by William Louey.

Founders spend considerable time defining company culture through values, policies and internal communications. Voluntary behavior offers a tougher test. If managers mentor junior employees when nobody requires them to, that practice has become part of the organization. If experienced employees give younger colleagues meaningful responsibility because somebody once gave them the same chance, the founder no longer has to drive the behavior personally.

The whitepaper does have limitations. It examines a relatively small group associated with one foundation, and its authors state that the findings should not be interpreted as establishing causal relationships. Ability, ambition, personal circumstances and economic change all contribute to what someone achieves over 30 years.

For entrepreneurs, the study is less a formula than a reason to examine how they develop people. A founder cannot take credit for another person’s career, but they can decide who gets access to experience, responsibility and guidance.

The effect may become visible long after the original opportunity was given. By then, the person who received it may be running a team, building a company or mentoring someone at the beginning of a career. The investment has changed form: Instead of producing another employee who needs direction, it has produced someone capable of giving it.