Why Companies Want You To Become An Intrapreneur

By Dan Schawbel, Contributor to Forbes Magazine

Intrapreneurship is responsible for a lot of product innovation around the world today. At
Lockheed Martin, intrapreneurs developed a number of famous aircraft designs and at
3M, they came up with Post-It Notes and at Google, they came up with Google News,
AdSense and Gmail. What these examples have in common is that companies embraced
the idea of allowing their employees to become entrepreneurs and capitalize on new
http://www.forbes.co
business ideas. These free flowing ideas come from in-house programs, which include
m/sites/danschawbel/2
Google’s famous “20% program”, contests, hackathons, skunk works and informal
013/09/09/why-
programs where employees pitch ideas directly to executives. Smart companies want you
to become an intrapreneur because it fuels business growth and allows them to gain a companies-want-you-
competitive advantage in their industry. to-become-an-
intrapreneur/
In a new study in partnership with American Express for my book Promote Yourself, we
found that 58% of managers are either very willing or extremely willing to support
employees who want to capitalize on a new business opportunity within their company.
In addition, we found that 40% of millennial employees are either very interested or
extremely interested in doing this. Managers who support employees instead of constrain
them cater to their entrepreneurial spirit, allowing them to feel like they’re making a big
impact, regardless of age. The top reason why millennials* leave their companies after
two years is because of a lack of career opportunities. Intrapreneurship programs are one
solution to solve this retention problem. Many companies have programs already in place
to cater to this rising demographic of millennials that will become 36% of the American
workforce by next year and 46% by 2020.

At LinkedIn, employees can come up with a new idea once each quarter, put a team
together and pitch their idea to the executive team. If their idea is approved, they are
able to spend up to three months time dedicated to turning the idea into something that
benefits the company. At DreamWorks, they take this a step further by actually teaching
their employees how to formulate their pitch and then allowing them to practice in front
of executives, something hundreds have already taken advantage of. At Facebook, and
many startups, they have hackathons where they encourage engineering teams to
collaborate on software projects. The “Like button”, one of the most important
innovations in the company’s history, was the product of a hackathon.

Kiley Smith, a 30-year-old manager in the Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services (FIDS)
practice at Ernst & Young LLP, created a cross-practice and cross-country working group
to connect non-profits with legal and accounting professionals. In the process, she
deepened relationships with potential clients and developed her own leadership skills and
those of younger employees at the firm. The FIDS group works closely with law firms and
is always looking for ways to build relationships with attorneys. An idea sprouted when
Kiley learned that the American Bar Association recommends lawyers complete at least
50 pro bono hours per year. Kiley’s network at the firm included colleagues passionate
about non-profits, entrepreneurs and making a difference. She realized she could give
both the volunteer — and leadership — opportunities they were looking for by

1
connecting the networks of attorneys and her FIDS peers to help non-profits and
entrepreneurs.

Each member can identify a need in his or her local community, reach out and offer the
support necessary, drawing on the shared network of peers and attorneys. In the New
York office of Ernst & Young LLP, for instance, Kiley worked with a local law firm to put
together training sessions for non-profits. The FIDS team ran a seminar about fraud issues
inherent in the non-profit industry, and the lawyers offered advice on some of the
common legal issues non-profits encounter. For Kiley personally, the impact of this
intrapreneurial undertaking was enormous. “I wasn’t even a Manager yet and I was
leading and coordinating a working group of 25 people across the country. So when I was
up for promotion to Manager, I already had strong leadership skills to showcase. Most
people who didn’t think outside the box didn’t have that.”

Stories like Kiley’s are becoming more common in companies, regardless of size and
industry. Intrapreneurship is now recognized as a key to dynamic growth and change and
for millennials, it’s an opportunity to develop their leadership skills while inspiring
change. For millennials who are entrepreneurial, but are still paying back student loans
and don’t have access to mentors or capital, intrapreneurship is the perfect solution. By
leveraging internal resources and a corporate brand, millennials can make a big impact
even at the start of their careers — and that’s exactly what they want. When
intrapreneurs are successful, companies reap the benefits too.
*Millennials are persons reaching adulthood on/around the year 2000.
Questions
1) Why do companies want its employees to be intrapreneurs?
2) Give two examples of companies that have established intrapreneurship programs. Include the
following information:
a. Name of the company
b. Name of the intrapreneurship program
c. Purpose of the intrapreneurship program
d. How the intrapreneurship program works
e. Any tangible results from the program
3) What benefits does intrapreneurship programs have for employees?

2
Why Companies Want You To Become An Intrapreneur

By Dan Schawbel, Contributor to Forbes Magazine

Intrapreneurship is responsible for a lot of product innovation around the world today. At
Lockheed Martin, intrapreneurs developed a number of famous aircraft designs and at http://www.forbes.co
3M, they came up with Post-It Notes and at Google, they came up with Google News, m/sites/danschawbel/2
AdSense and Gmail. What these examples have in common is that companies embraced 013/09/09/why-
companies-want-you-
the idea of allowing their employees to become entrepreneurs and capitalize on new
to-become-an-
business ideas. These free flowing ideas come from in-house programs, which include intrapreneur/
Google’s famous “20% program”, contests, hackathons, skunk works and informal
programs where employees pitch ideas directly to executives. Smart companies want you
to become an intrapreneur because it fuels business growth and allows them to gain a
competitive advantage in their industry.

In a new study in partnership with American Express for my book Promote Yourself, we

found that 58% of managers are either very willing or extremely willing to support
employees who want to capitalize on a new business opportunity within their company.
In addition, we found that 40% of millennial employees are either very interested or
extremely interested in doing this. Managers who support employees instead of constrain
them cater to their entrepreneurial spirit, allowing them to feel like they’re making a big
impact, regardless of age. The top reason why millennials* leave their companies after
two years is because of a lack of career opportunities. Intrapreneurship programs are one
solution to solve this retention problem. Many companies have programs already in place
to cater to this rising demographic of millennials that will become 36% of the American
workforce by next year and 46% by 2020.

At LinkedIn, employees can come up with a new idea once each quarter, put a team
together and pitch their idea to the executive team. If their idea is approved, they are
able to spend up to three months time dedicated to turning the idea into something that
benefits the company. At DreamWorks, they take this a step further by actually teaching
their employees how to formulate their pitch and then allowing them to practice in front
of executives, something hundreds have already taken advantage of. At Facebook, and
many startups, they have hackathons where they encourage engineering teams to
collaborate on software projects. The “Like button”, one of the most important
innovations in the company’s history, was the product of a hackathon.

3
Kiley Smith, a 30-year-old manager in the Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services (FIDS)
practice at Ernst & Young LLP, created a cross-practice and cross-country working group
to connect non-profits with legal and accounting professionals. In the process, she
deepened relationships with potential clients and developed her own leadership skills and
those of younger employees at the firm. The FIDS group works closely with law firms and
is always looking for ways to build relationships with attorneys. An idea sprouted when
Kiley learned that the American Bar Association recommends lawyers complete at least
50 pro bono hours per year. Kiley’s network at the firm included colleagues passionate
about non-profits, entrepreneurs and making a difference. She realized she could give
both the volunteer — and leadership — opportunities they were looking for by
connecting the networks of attorneys and her FIDS peers to help non-profits and
entrepreneurs.

Each member can identify a need in his or her local community, reach out and offer the
support necessary, drawing on the shared network of peers and attorneys. In the New
York office of Ernst & Young LLP, for instance, Kiley worked with a local law firm to put
together training sessions for non-profits. The FIDS team ran a seminar about fraud issues
inherent in the non-profit industry, and the lawyers offered advice on some of the
common legal issues non-profits encounter. For Kiley personally, the impact of this
intrapreneurial undertaking was enormous. “I wasn’t even a Manager yet and I was
leading and coordinating a working group of 25 people across the country. So when I was
up for promotion to Manager, I already had strong leadership skills to showcase. Most
people who didn’t think outside the box didn’t have that.”

Stories like Kiley’s are becoming more common in companies, regardless of size and
industry. Intrapreneurship is now recognized as a key to dynamic growth and change and
for millennials, it’s an opportunity to develop their leadership skills while inspiring
change. For millennials who are entrepreneurial, but are still paying back student loans
and don’t have access to mentors or capital, intrapreneurship is the perfect solution. By
leveraging internal resources and a corporate brand, millennials can make a big impact
even at the start of their careers — and that’s exactly what they want. When
intrapreneurs are successful, companies reap the benefits too.

*Millennials are persons reaching adulthood on/around the year 2000.

Questions

1) Why do companies want its employees to be intrapreneurs?

4
2) Give two examples of companies that have established intrapreneurship programs. Include the
following information:
a. Name of the company
b. Name of the intrapreneurship program
c. Purpose of the intrapreneurship program
d. How the intrapreneurship program works
e. Any tangible results from the program
3) What benefits does intrapreneurship programs have for employees?