Question

Your company's CEO is concerned that the large, mature business is falling behind in its level of innovation and organizational learning. He would like to promote increased intrapreneurship and has asked for ideas. Prove two viable suggestions you would give the CEO.

Answer 1

Motivate your employees to innovate by creating an inclusive work environment

A company can effectively incentivize its employees via increased salaries and a promise of regular appraisals but trust can be more effective as a motivating tool for employees since it empowers them to take risks without the fear of reprimand. Intrapreneurs make mistakes on a daily basis hence it is crucial for managers to support the decisions made by the employees and solve them collaboratively in case it fails to provide forecasted results. The environment one needs to foster in order to encourage intrapreneurship can vary depending upon the company and the market, but employees always want to feel appreciated for their hard work and creativity. Recognition and appreciation are needed in order to keep the most creative and innovative employees motivated to go the extra mile.

Incentivize the potential Intrapreneurs

Companies need to fund education and encourage their employees to attend entrepreneurial events in order to get the creative juices flowing. Effective ideas and practices from other workplaces or industries can be implemented internally with brilliant results. If intrapreneurs who are on the lookout for ideas are given the opportunity to see how others work, they will bring new ideas home to their companies. If employees are provided malleable job descriptions, intrapreneurs are motivated by the flexibility it offers. When employees bring new ideas or tasks that will help the company, management should consider offering them rewards in the form of financial incentives or added responsibilities. Offering the choice for expansion of responsibilities is a good motivator. It might take the form of a failure award or a more explicit reward-sharing program, in which employees receive part of the benefit of their ideas.