intrapreneurship It is a trend that is increasingly present in the business world. Consists of the generation of innovative ideas in a company, whether it is public or private. That is, it is the impulse of new ideas by the members of an organization, with the aim that it obtain benefits. Therefore, the intrapreneur differs from the entrepreneur in that he carries out an activity within a business and not on his own account.
Through intrapreneurship, employees propose projects, which are not necessarily related to their jobs, and greater competitiveness is generated in the workforce since it usually encourages other colleagues to participate.
To promote it, companies must create structured programs, with a clear internal methodology and that employees have a specific schedule to work on it. In addition, it is necessary to recognize their effort and the fruits of a job well done.
Advantages
In addition to the aforementioned competitiveness, intrapreneurship generates another series of benefits for companies, among which the following stand out, according to the online consultancy Tu Gesto.
- Awaken the entrepreneurial spirit: a project that arises from the idea of a worker will make the rest feel attracted and want to be part of that innovative model.
- Improve efficiency: by innovating in work processes, it is possible to eliminate obsolete practices and introduce new tools that will help you optimize time and increase the productivity of your workers.
- broadening of horizons: New lines of business can be launched, which can help the company enter new markets and obtain new sources of income.
- Innovation: taking into account all the ideas, both from the employees and from the bosses of your company, will help the company to always be at the forefront.
- Motivation: being able to develop new projects is the best way to motivate workers, increasing the success of the company.
- Image: intrapreneurship offers the feeling that the company invests in its employees, which attracts talent and improves the company’s image.
examples
Nestlé Spain would be an example of this type of practice. In 1997, the company launched the Innova program, in which it fostered the creative potential of workers and motivated them to propose new products; this program was followed by Innova+ (2007) and the creative revolution (2012). In this way, Nestlé Spain went from giving 5% to the company in 1997 to 20% in 2012.
On the other hand, it is important to highlight the events known as hackathonalso called marathon hackers; They bring together, for several hours or days, experts in a field with the aim of developing innovative applications thanks to the exchange of ideas.
We should also note the case of Google. This multinational dedicates the 20% of your workers’ time to create their own innovative projects, which should focus on helping to create the company; later, they are presented to the management to obtain financing, without strict deadlines to meet.
In this way, projects such as Gmail, Google News, Google Glass or Google AdSense, among others, emerged.
In addition, there is the case of 3M, which if it has been characterized by anything, it has been for strengthening the employer-employee relationship, encouraging networking and intrapreneurship. Among his great discoveries are the post its. Post-it notes were initially created for internal use, but the organization decided to push their mass production and distribution.
Situation in Spain
In our country, intrapreneurship is important but it does not reach all companies. According to a study carried out by Cepyme, 48% of those surveyed consider that it has positive effects on the business, but do not know how to quantify them, while another 15% say that not enough time has elapsed to appreciate them and the remaining 37% that they are positive and They are able to quantify them.
As for the areas in which companies consider that intrapreneurship has a greater positive impact, they highlight the develop new products/services (80%) and increase sales (77%), with good results also in improving brand image/reputation (57%) or reducing costs (54%), also pointing to other areas in almost 30% of occasions.
Likewise, 80% of companies have some type of program to identify talent internally, while only 23% ensure that there are collaboration formulas with external entrepreneurs and startups as an open innovation strategy.
Other data included in the report is that 43% consider that there are established mechanisms to financially support intrapreneurs and 59% assure that there is a formal process of funnel o filtering to select the initiatives to finance; while 47% declare that intrapreneur initiatives with acceleration programs do count.
On the facilities provided for intrapreneurs in terms of release from ordinary responsibilities; leave with full dedication to the project occurs in 26% of cases, partial leave and partial dedication in 29%, punctual dedication to the project in 63%, full dedication in their previous conditions of employee in 29% and full dedication with a personalized 9% financing plan.
The type of incentives they use to equip themselves of intrapreneurial talent from outside the organization are: the salary and social benefits of a multinational 46%, shareholding and/or financing of projects 17%, the startup work environment 34% and, most, mentoring to develop their projects, with 49%.
