Intrapreneurship: What Is It & Why Should It Be Encouraged?

We often refer to entrepreneurs as individuals who are driven by creative ideas and constant innovation. The path to becoming an entrepreneur is not so easy. But could "intrapreneurship" make your life easier? Is it possible for you to become an entrepreneur without the hassle of the added responsibilities that come with the role? 

The answer is a big yes! 

Intrapreneurs are persons who are self-motivated, proactive, and who take on the responsibility of focusing on the areas that involve innovation of a product or service. Let us understand intrapreneurship and see how it can benefit your organization. 

What exactly is Intrapreneurship?

The term "intrapreneurship" is framed by the innovative nature of entrepreneurship. The concept of intrapreneurship was coined by an American entrepreneur, author, and inventor, Gifford Pinchot. He coined the term along with his wife in a book entitled "Intra-corporate Entrepreneurship." 

Intrapreneurship is similar to entrepreneurship in that it helps people enhance their skills while working in a corporate environment. Following that, they are given the opportunity to launch their own start-up with the potential to reshape and reinvent the industry. Spotting potential intrapreneurs within your company is not at all difficult. Look for professionals who come with creative ideas and have relevant skillsets in your company because they hold the capability of intrapreneurship. 

Now, let us look at why you should build a culture of intrapreneurship in your organization:

1) Boost Return on Investment (ROI)

Intrapreneurs promote innovation through their inventions, which in return explore emerging market opportunities and increase your ROI. To ensure continuous innovation, you need employees who are passionate about leaving a favorable impression on your business. The resilience of intrapreneurs will assist you in cracking the tough nut because inventors know they will get it all right on the first try. As a result of not being afraid of failure, they give their all to their organization. 

2) Hire Better Talent

Intrapreneurs are often seen encouraging people to stick to the company’s vision and mission. The system offers them greater freedom to hire the best talent that possesses all the qualities of a leader. It is suggested to test the candidates through various entrepreneurial activities. Making them aware of your company’s culture will not only boost efficiency but also lead to the overall growth of your organization.

3) Increased Employee Retention

Employees who are satisfied with their jobs prefer staying with the same company for a longer time. Practicing intrapreneurship enables innovators to figure out creative solutions to the problems at hand. It helps employees focus on their respective passions while getting the most out of their jobs. It offers them greater prospects, resulting in career advancement. In fact, employees can use all the presented opportunities to build something meaningful.

4) More Room for Innovation and Creativity

Your intrapreneurs can benefit your business by becoming creative champions and bringing in different business ideas. With their capability to identify new opportunities and fill the required gaps, intrapreneurs are the masterminds who facilitate innovation. They also help you spot the best talent for your organization to induce business growth. Overcoming upcoming challenges at an accelerated pace will help you make the most of your in-house talent and knowledge. 

How to Encourage Intraprenuership in Your Company?

There are various ways in which you can encourage intrapreneurship in your organization. Let’s dive in to know more about them without much ado:

1) Be Open to innovative and Creative Ideas

The first and foremost thing is to encourage great ideas. Intrapreneurship can look different from company to company, but the key is to recognize employee ideas. It is the responsibility of an entrepreneur and senior officials to promote a culture of open-mindedness and be open to embracing change. There are strong chances that your employees might come up with ideas that you have never thought of. In fact, you can engage employees by creating an idea management system where they can share their ideas without any hesitation. 

2) Allow Time and Space for Innovation

You need to allow time and space for employees to come up with ideas, as idea generation is a time-consuming task. Brainstorming ideas can be done in a variety of ways, including holding workshops and bootcamps to help employees stay creative and let their imaginations run wild. It's best to set aside a certain time during the workweek for intrapreneurship. This will keep your employees from being too busy and will make it easier for them to take care of their other duties.

3) Embrace Risk and Failure

Experimenting with new things comes with its own set of risks and failures. As a business, you need to be open to failure. Driving innovation can be risky, and practicing intrapreneurship doesn’t guarantee a 100% success rate. Once you give employees the freedom to explore new things, then the whole process of experimentation will become much easier and entirely rewarding. Meeting these particular criteria will help you stay ahead of your competitors.

4) Rewarding and Recognizing Intrapreneurial Mindset

Everyone likes to get recognized and rewarded for their hard work, as it gives employees the necessary boost to get their creative juices flowing. Offering incentives is a great way to encourage the morale of employees by rewarding their innovative ideas. For example, an employee who comes up with a great idea should be rewarded with gift coupons to value his efforts and hard work. Making this gesture will motivate other colleagues to take up intrapreneurship and come up with more great ideas. Plan and keep track of the progress of the employees practicing intrapreneurship to give rise to new initiatives and support employees spending hours apart from their job roles. 

Ready to Unleash the Intrapreneur Inside?

The concept of intrapreneurship has been in business for a long time. But many individuals have still not figured out the idea of intrapreneurship. It is more than just a buzzword that can act as future-proofing for companies in various sectors. Intrapreneurship is a great way to attract and retain leaders that have the potential to become entrepreneurs. Moreover, organizations that have embraced intrapreneurship have achieved better ROI, enhanced innovation, and higher productivity, resulting in the overall growth of the organization.