{"id":3988,"date":"2018-03-07T15:35:33","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T19:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/?page_id=3988"},"modified":"2018-06-14T11:14:25","modified_gmt":"2018-06-14T15:14:25","slug":"time-to-kill-noncompetes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Kill Noncompetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The company that codes cutting-edge voice recognition software. The tattoo parlor with distinctive designs. The competitive sandwich chain. Many businesses use noncompete agreements, which prohibit employees from joining or founding a rival company, to protect their assets and retain talent. This might sound like a no-brainer, but don\u2019t be too quick to draw up that contract, says Matt Marx<\/a>, an associate professor of strategy and innovation. He studies how these contracts stifle innovation and stall career mobility for the 30 million US workers currently locked into them. \u201cLet me put it this way: I\u2019ve interviewed a lot of people, and I\u2019ve never met a single person who said, \u2018I\u2019m so glad I signed that noncompete,\u2019\u201d says Marx, who spent a decade working in Silicon Valley and Boston software start-ups.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Do That<\/strong> Noncompetes can make employees feel trapped and demoralized; those who leave their companies are often forced into career detours. In the meantime, their skills atrophy. By keeping people on a short leash\u2014or out of the industry altogether\u2014you\u2019re compromising the growth of your industry.<\/p>\n

Do This<\/strong> End noncompetes to foster employees\u2019 creativity and allow them career flexibility, which in turn drives the innovation that feeds your industry. Happy employees are more productive and tend to stick around longer, so instead of threatening those who might leave your company, give them good reason to stay. \u201cYou never stop hiring somebody,\u201d Marx says. \u201cJust because they get in the door doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re yours.\u201d For example, in California, which bans noncompete agreements, companies offer benefits like stock options and foster enlightened management practices, such as Google\u2019s \u201c20 percent time\u201d that encourages employees to develop side projects. You still need to protect your intellectual property, Marx says. He suggests using a nondisclosure agreement, which allows employees to move on, but prohibits them from sharing confidential information. That way, they\u2019ll keep their skills, but leave your secrets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The company that codes cutting-edge voice recognition software. The tattoo parlor with distinctive designs. The competitive sandwich chain. Many businesses use noncompete agreements, which prohibit employees from joining or founding a rival company, to protect their assets and retain talent. This might sound like a no-brainer, but don\u2019t be too quick to draw up that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13452,"featured_media":0,"parent":3875,"menu_order":14,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"story.php","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nTime to Kill Noncompetes - Questrom Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Time to Kill Noncompetes - Questrom Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The company that codes cutting-edge voice recognition software. The tattoo parlor with distinctive designs. The competitive sandwich chain. Many businesses use noncompete agreements, which prohibit employees from joining or founding a rival company, to protect their assets and retain talent. This might sound like a no-brainer, but don\u2019t be too quick to draw up that […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Questrom Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-14T15:14:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/\",\"name\":\"Questrom Magazine\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/\",\"name\":\"Time to Kill Noncompetes - Questrom Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-07T19:35:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-14T15:14:25+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Spring 2018\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Time to Kill Noncompetes\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Time to Kill Noncompetes - Questrom Magazine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Time to Kill Noncompetes - Questrom Magazine","og_description":"The company that codes cutting-edge voice recognition software. The tattoo parlor with distinctive designs. The competitive sandwich chain. Many businesses use noncompete agreements, which prohibit employees from joining or founding a rival company, to protect their assets and retain talent. This might sound like a no-brainer, but don\u2019t be too quick to draw up that […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/","og_site_name":"Questrom Magazine","article_modified_time":"2018-06-14T15:14:25+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/","name":"Questrom Magazine","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/","name":"Time to Kill Noncompetes - Questrom Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-03-07T19:35:33+00:00","dateModified":"2018-06-14T15:14:25+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/time-to-kill-noncompetes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Spring 2018","item":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/spring-2018\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Time to Kill Noncompetes"}]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3988"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3988"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4199,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3988\/revisions\/4199"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}