Intrapreneurs channel inventive thinking to promote growth and encourage change within their organizations. They infuse creative energy so that every employee — and the company culture as a whole — can benefit.
As leaders, we can cultivate intrapreneurship by providing trust, freedom and the resources people need to be successful and create a forum for voices to be heard. When put into action, this could be a People Advisory Council (PAC) within your organization, for example.
EY’s Chicago PAC comprises professionals from nonexecutive ranks across all service lines that serve as a sounding board for local leaders. This group meets quarterly and has developed impactful ideas resulting in sustainable changes within our Chicago office and beyond. This includes how we approach on-boarding new hires, how we activate our professional networks and how we recognize employees for living EY’s core values every day.
You don’t have to be perfect
To generate and sustain a steady flow of new ideas, organizations must create a culture where it’s acceptable to fail and not get things exactly right the first time around.
Disciplines that incorporate goal setting are a great example. Metrics help drive accountability, but they can also lead to undesirable behavior when they’re too tight. If we tell our employees to set stretch goals and then penalize them if they’re not met, we lose trust and credibility.
This sustains an environment where goals are attained at any cost — sometimes to the detriment of other key organizational values, and certainly to the detriment of efforts to foster intrapreneurship.
By being the first to jump into a brainstorming session with off-the-wall thinking, sharing experiences of past ideas that have failed and lessons learned, and approaching the worst-case scenario from a real-world perspective, we can create a culture where employees know that unconventional ideas are valued and encouraged.
Reward fresh ideas
Rewarding innovation through meaningful recognition is another way leaders can support intrapreneurship.
Because inventive thinkers may be generating and applying fresh, untested ideas, they won’t likely meet traditional performance measures. This is why companies are starting to develop new success metrics.
And just as these companies are customizing measurements for intrapreneurs, they are also rethinking their modes of recognition for strong performance. EY launched a new brand campaign last June, and we hosted a contest to increase our professionals’ engagement and understanding of key concepts.
The winning entry didn’t receive a cash prize, but instead got an opportunity to see their work showcased in marketing materials and broadcast through internal channels. Recognizing fresh, inventive thinking will inevitably promote more of it.
Mechanisms for idea generation have to be ever present, ongoing and part of a company’s culture. Because a great idea won’t always align with current business realities and competing priorities, leaders should emphasize the value of persistence in bringing ideas back to the forefront — even if they weren’t accepted when first introduced.
If you’re ready to replenish your pipeline with new ideas, to improve performance and to have a more engaged workforce, intrapreneurship is a great place to start. ●
Kim Simios is managing partner for the Chicago office at Ernst & Young LLP.
