Posted on January 31, 2017
Entrepreneurship within a group: this is the challenge and the opportunity of the employee intrapreneur
Gaining responsibilities, exploring new horizons, developing your own ideas without leaving your company is no longer a dream but a reality thanks to intrapreneurship. Born at the end of the 1970s in the United States, the concept has already proven itself and seems to be winning on all fronts: if it offers new opportunities to employees, it is a real source of innovation for a company wishing to improve and diversify its offerings.
Intrapreneurship: an internal driver of innovation
Much more than just a state of mind, innovation is an imperative for companies wishing to remain competitive over the long term. However, their operation, often governed by binding rules and standards, does not always lend itself to the launch of new activities/services or new products. If the use of subcontractors has sometimes proved counterproductive for the company, the trend is now towards intrapreneurship, a method for developing new projects but this time, internally.
Developing company talent
In search of greater autonomy, eager to carry out other projects, intrapreneurs evolve within the framework of a large group while benefiting from the freedom and flexibility that are generally associated with operation of a start-up. By definition, the intrapreneur evolves in agreement with the company which validates his project and gives him the framework, and the means, to carry it out. Ideal for reviving the entrepreneurial spirit and highlighting different talents, intrapreneurship also promotes collaborative work and above all, the spirit of initiative. On a personal level, it is the possibility of embarking on an adventure without the risks incurred for a single individual, since the intrapreneur remains an employee of the company.
They tested intrapreneurship
Particularly attractive for employees looking for new challenges, intrapreneurship has already generated vocations in sometimes very different sectors of activity. IBM or the SNCF regularly allow their employees to become intrapreneurs.
An internal innovation challenge, organized by SARETEC, a company of insurance experts, led to the creation of a start-up: aukazou. Designed to simplify the lives and procedures of individuals who are victims of water damage, this innovative project is as exciting as it is safe for its founders: they are guaranteed to find their jobs again in the event of failure.