What Is Intrapreneurship and How Can You Benefit from It?

Most people aren’t aware of the term intrapreneurship. But if you are, congratulations! If not, it is time for you to get up to speed or peril befalls on being left behind. It is impossible to emphasize how essential intrapreneurship is to the future of one’s company.

What’s the Intrapreneurship Anyway?

Intrapreneurship, also called as Corporate Entrepreneurship was a term coined by Gifford Pinchot III. He describes how companies can benefit if their staff employed an entrepreneurial spirit in their workplace. This concept unites the independent spirit of the entrepreneur and the eccentric wisdom along with the resources of an organization. Although it may seem like a discrepancy of ideas, intrapreneurship has flourished in most of the best-run organizations of the world.

Implementing intrapreneurship effectively in the organization supports innovation. It’s achieved by tapping into the entrepreneurial talent of every worker. By this, the company owner establishes a culture for employees with great ideas to better channel the resources of the company to create better services or products. Intrapreneurship also allows and empowers the employee to become “change agents” in the organization. They will bring fresh new concepts forward and advocating their implementation.

The huge challenge is for company owners to build a setting which enables its entrepreneurial employees enough autonomy to innovate. They also don’t support such people with the resources they need to implement their innovations quickly. For SME’s, the speed and innovation of implementation which intrapreneurship offers help them compete against giant corporations.

Win-win Reasons to Support Intrapreneurship

1.      It empowers employee

Today, younger generations enter the workforce in droves. Meanwhile, employers experience challenges. If they are feeling a bit bolder and have the necessary resources, highly encouraged millennials might begin a small business of their own rather than working a big corporation.

Countless startups and middle-sized businesses are trying to recruit the leading young candidates by offering benefits workers only once received if they’d picked to work for a government agency or huge company. Thus, giant corporations are now rethinking their internal culture. They try intrapreneurial approaches to snap those top millennial talent.

An example of this is LinkedIn which invites employees to come up with a new set of concepts every quarter. They create a team and pitch the concept to the executive department. When an idea is approved, the team is allotted three months to bring the idea to completion. That aids foster the very setting of innovation which attracts a lot of millennials today.

2.      It helps distinguish highly productive problem-solvers in the organization

Intrapreneurs are skilled problem-solvers with risk-taking skills. They always have an eye for what is possible. These individuals take risks and find more efficient ways to achieve tasks, boost productivity and deliver solutions.

There is more than the organization stands to achieve by executing routines to support intrapreneurship. In fact, a lot of companies have demonstrated it like Sony, Shutterstock, Facebook, 3M, and Google. They utilize in-house programs like skunk word, contests, hack-a-thons, 20% time policies and a lot more.

3.      It supports leadership

Did you know that research shows that leadership is the primary predictor of innovation success? Yet, most CEO don’t feel they have the abilities within their organization to accomplish their growth agenda. The capabilities and skills which propelled the majority of executives to the top in the past aren’t the abilities needed to establish new growth businesses. In fact, 4% only of leaders are considered intrapreneurial.

Bear in mind that intrapreneurship needs a new set of behaviors and competencies. Intrapreneurial leaders act and think differently. They have various aspirations and motivations. They also prefer to work in different working environments. Hence, it is this diversity which makes them the ideal candidate to lead new advance initiatives.

For those company owners, intrapreneurship is one of the ideal ways to retain and attract the majority of entrepreneurial leaders these days.

4.      It enables growth in the organization

In case you didn’t know yet, intrapreneurship helps instill in the team intrapreneurial thinking. That kind of outlook is what leads to distinguishing new ways of executing business and people which are up to the task.

An excellent example of this is the company Gozoop. Many of their accounts are categorized into different verticals like a Strategic Business Units of a company. Similar to SBUs, such verticals are independent entities, meaning they are directed by themselves entirely. From a growth strategy and new business to accountability and hires, those in charge of SBUs are accountable for everything.

5.      It puts creativity in the great use

For those who find themselves jotting down ideas for work but not getting the opportunity and support to develop and explore them, being an intrapreneur will enable them to channel that creative energy properly.

Most of the time, people are working in a conducive setting. Thus, they are more likely to create the best work and be motivated to do better and accomplish more. Many employers value creativity which solves issues and generates visible outcomes.

Intrapreneurship is not so much a working title, as it’s a work philosophy. It is defined by how a person approaches his or her job. It’s also what differentiates a person from being just a simple worker who follows orders. Take note; an intrapreneur is an empowered worker with a say in reshaping their working environment and organization. Today, it is considered as the future way of working, and intrapreneurship is always here to stay.

To sum up; intrapreneurship will undoubtedly become an even more critical part of running a huge company in the years to come. Both government agencies and large businesses will need to continue to establish open, stimulating cultures to attract younger employees. That kind of culture will also help big companies manage innovative thinking which will guide them to stay competitive as their industries and the world continue to change.

Perhaps it is the right time for you to take a close look at intrapreneurship and what it can mean for your organization.