Over the last few months, Google’s attrition problems is making it to the news columns frequently. A problem highlighted by many is that the company has become too big (5k to 25k employees) to keep the entrepreneurial juices flowing within. While the analysis of Google’s issues continues, it is as good a time as ever to understand the organizational benefits of intrapreneurial culture.
“An employee who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services and systems, who does not have to follow the company’s usual routines or protocol.”
– Richard Branson“A person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable finished product through assertive risk-taking and innovation”
– Wikipedia
While business growth & innovation are two oft documented benefits of an intrepreneurship, creating engaged employees is not spoken of enough. A culture of enabling intrepreneurs engages employees in any of the following ways …
- creates ownership of projects / initiatives amongst employees driving them
- channelizes employee’s passions towards organizational well being
- provides a platform for people to exercise their entrepreneurial urges
- helps balance the “love to do” with the “have to do” activities
- provides an entrepreneurial playground for the “conservative risk-takers”
Google is contemplating launching an in-house incubator.
An incubator is “20 percent time” on steroids. The thinking seems to be that giving your in-house entrepreneurs all the space in the world to work on their passions will keep them loyal to Mother Google.
The big question is – how are you enabling intrepreneurship within your organizations?
—–
Related Posts:
~ Quotes To Live By – Life Lessons from Richard Branson
~ Leadership – 25 Years From Now
~ Thinking of becoming an entrepreneur?
~ Tactics For Taking Risks
~ Multipliers – Video from Google
References:
~ Why Google’s “20 Percent Time” Isn’t Stemming Its Brain Drain
~ Intrapreneurs – for building the future