Looking for Ways to Increase Employees Engagement? Encourage Intrapreneurship

A study shows that 48 percent of employees across the world are unhappy in their current jobs and 43 percent said that they frequently think about quitting their jobs.

Are there employees in your organization that are disengaged at work? Is this disengaged demeanor affecting overall productivity? If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’ then there’s something to worry about.

Be it due to external or internal factors, more and more employees are increasingly unwilling to give their best at work. As the HR, you might be reading this article because you have tried every trick in the book to make your employees more engaged at work and are seeking new ways. Well, we suggest you encourage intrapreneurship in your organization to boost employee engagement.

Who Qualifies as an Intrapreneur?

Intrapreneurship is the process of developing entrepreneurship in the workplace. An intrapreneur is any employee who comes up with unique ideas at work or for a project that he/she takes full ownership of, right from formulation to completion. Such employees create something new for the organization and with the organization, instead of stepping out to explore better opportunities.

Intrapreneurs exist in all companies if you know how to seek them. These are the people who come up with creative, ‘outside the box’ solutions to problems and question the ‘chal raha hai, chalne do’ attitude. Such people thrive when given more freedom and micro-managed less, and actively seek opportunities to learn and grow.

What makes intrapreneurship important for employee engagement?

Intrapreneurs in a workplace are like treasure troves who are waiting to be discovered. Such employees bring creative ideas that can help create new solutions with improved quality. Their ideas can help your company adapt to a changing work environment or new process sooner, innovate, and find new ways to provide outstanding customer service.

A few companies that have embraced and benefitted from rewarding the intrapreneurial spirit are:

1. Intel: Intel’s New Business Initiative (NBI) provides a space for employees to pitch their business ideas and receive funding.
2. Dreamworks Pictures: Employees are taught the art of formulating a pitch and are given the opportunity to practice in front of senior executives.
3. Google: Google used to have a program called ‘20% Time’ which allowed its engineers to spend 20 percent of their time on projects that interested them. During this time, employees could dabble in ideas without a superior breathing down their neck, telling them what to do and what not to do. It was discontinued a few years back but replaced with a team that helmed creative thinking and ideation.

Encouraging intrapreneurship is a great way to drive employee engagement. When employees are exposed to a culture where their ideas can drive remarkable changes, it fosters ownership and problem-solving skills. If their ideas are heard by the organization, they feel appreciated and recognized.

Ways to Encourage Intrapreneurship in the Workplace

Creating a culture within your organization that encourages and rewards creativity is an attainable goal. The trick is to provide your employees with the freedom to express their talents and think like entrepreneurs. Here are a few steps that will help your company move toward this culture:

Risk and Failure are Inevitable, Embrace Them

Most employees are afraid of employing their creativity at work. This stems from the fear of job safety, should they challenge existing norms. To help employees overcome this fear, you need to be open to feedback and accept that there might be operational issues that you aren’t aware of. Your employees can come up with better ideas for growth hurdles, which you never imagined as an organization before. Unless your employees feel like they are being heard, their productivity will drop. They will stop sharing their innovative ideas and can possibly start looking for better opportunities. The idea of encouraging employees to share their ideas at work and assuring that their failures won’t be penalized goes a long way in taking off the pressure and letting intrapreneurs thrive.

Reward Ideas and Productivity

Everyone likes to be rewarded for a job well done and intrapreneurs are no different. Rewarding such employees for a great idea devised or executed goes a long way in building loyalty and encourages engagement at work. Rewards don’t have to be monetary either. Handing out an appreciation card in front of their team and a few words to say kudos, can do wonders in fostering employees engagement.

Organise Events that Encourage Intrapreneurial Ideas

Organizing events is a great way to discover budding intrapreneurs within your organization and encourage them. Events can range from team activities to hackathons, which include metrics to help identify intrapreneurs. Intrapreneurs usually come up with unique and interesting ideas during such events.
For every good idea, you might receive nine bad ones but it’s important to let the creative process flow.

Example of an Event That Made a Difference

Interestingly, the ‘Like’ button on Facebook came out of such a hackathon when a junior staff member pitched this idea. The global thumbs-up that Facebook has received since the launch of its ‘Like’ feature is a testament to what a simple idea can do for an organization.

Leverage Technology To Your Benefit

If it’s not possible for employees to approach senior management directly, create a single and secure platform where employees can post their ideas for careful consideration. You can use an HRMS software like Cilfi HRM and create modules to help employees upload their ideas right away from anywhere and anytime. Cilfi’s incredible employee self-service (ESS) feature is easy to configure and use, making it simpler for your employees to submit their inputs and ideas. Aside from ESS, Cilfi also has dedicated modules for employee lifecycle management and core HR functions, ensuring that your employees are managed to the best of your company’s ability.

Conclusion

Intrapreneurial employees follow the mission to bring their best for their own career advances and the organization’s growth, at the same time. They have a sense of ownership and understand how their role contributes to the bigger picture of growth and profitability. And, by supporting the intrapreneurial spirit, you can turn your disengaged employees into highly engaged innovators.