Intrapreneurship has become a trending topic within companies, but what is it, actually? Who are the intrapreneurs? Why is it said that they will save the future of companies? They are not the new characters from a comic book like Madman, nor is it as simple as assigning an employee the role of an intrapreneur.
Some people are born with an entrepreneurial spirit, while others acquire this mindset over time. Today, to celebrate Entrepreneurship Day, we want to help you promote intrapreneurship within your team.
What is intrapreneurship?
Intrapreneurship, or corporate entrepreneurship, refers to those employees within an organization who take on an entrepreneurial role by generating new ideas, projects, or initiatives that drive growth, innovation, and competitiveness from inside the company. unlike traditional entrepreneurship, which involves creating a new company from scratch, intrapreneurship occurs within the context of an established company.
Intrapreneurs are employees who show initiative, creativity, and determination to identify improvement opportunities, develop new solutions, and implement them within the limits and resources of the company. These initiatives can range from creating new products or services to optimizing internal processes, exploring new markets, or implementing innovative strategies.
Intrapreneurship is increasingly seen as a key driver of innovation and growth within organizations, as it leverages internal knowledge to generate value in an agile and efficient manner. Companies that foster a culture of intrapreneurship can harness the creative potential and entrepreneurial spirit of their employees to remain relevant in an ever-evolving industrial environment.
How to foster intrapreneurship?
An intrapreneur seeks freedom and financial support to create innovative projects and new products and services. Below, you can find some tips on how to bring out the intrapreneurial spirit in your team (or even yours!):
Understand risks and embrace failure
Delegating is difficult for any manager, but even more so when it comes to intrapreneurship, as it involves delegating tasks that can incur many costs and failed projects. Encouraging entrepreneurship requires a lot of trust from the team leader, heroic but necessary trust. Therefore, it is essential for managers to know and understand the full extent of the risks from the early stages of the process.
On the other hand, for a company to foster intrapreneurship, it is essential that we are prepared to fail. No intrapreneurship program has a 100% success rate. If you or your team fear failure, you will take fewer risks, resulting in fewer innovative ideas. Assure people that they will not be penalized for failing, since you will relieve them of pressure and you will not feed a culture based on blame.
Allocate time for intrapreneurship
We must provide time and space to generate and develop ideas. If employees see intrapreneurship as an additional task that goes beyond their working hours, they will not bother to innovate. Dedicate exclusive time to generate ideas, brainstorm, and solve difficulties. If we want to drive innovation by focusing on employees, it is essential to respect their time and workload. And if you work in a face-to-face mode, it is also important to provide an informal environment where employees can express themselves and develop their creativity.
Establish KPIs
When we already have a project, we must remember the old saying, "the devil is in the details." Projects’ details are very important, and if we do not take them into account, we will encounter a host of problems. Therefore, we need detailed KPIs to ensure that the project is well-structured and is a real opportunity for advancement or improvement.
Be open to new ideas
And, of course, even if you did not have them. Employees need to feel safe and supported when approaching their supervisor with new ideas. You should accept that you will encounter ideas that are not developed but also with great ideas that you would never have thought of. There is nothing better than surrounding yourself with brilliant people!
Key competencies for intrapreneurship
Intrapreneurial individuals possess a series of competencies that allow them to innovate and generate value within their organization. Some of these competencies include:
Creativity: They have the ability to generate new ideas and creative solutions to business challenges.
Innovation: They are constantly looking for ways to improve existing processes, products, or services, or to develop new ones within the organization.
Business vision: They have a clear understanding of the company's strategic objectives and how their ideas can contribute to the achievement of said objectives.
Decision-making: They are able to quickly assess available options and make effective decisions even in uncertain environments.
Leadership: They have the ability to effectively influence others and secure their support to carry out their initiatives.
Resilience: They are able to face and overcome challenges and obstacles that arise during the implementation phase of their ideas.
Communication skills: They can effectively communicate their ideas and persuade others about their value.
Collaboration: They work well in multidisciplinary teams and can collaborate effectively with people from different areas of the organization.
Results-oriented: They are focused on achieving specific and measurable objectives that have a positive impact on the organization.
Adaptability: They are flexible and willing to adapt to changes and learn from new experiences.
Model for detecting intrapreneurial employees
At Hrider, our clients have a Models Library with dozens of templates to measure performance, assess work climate, conduct exit interviews, evaluate job satisfaction... And we have included a new Potential model for detecting intrapreneurial employees!
Get Intrapreneurship Template