9 Ways to Foster a Culture of Entrepreneurship in your Organization (8 Mins Read)
Entrepreneurship is a skill and mind set which is characterized by innovation, calculated risk taking, creativity and an empowered staff. This term applies to individuals, teams, and the entire organizational cultures. An entrepreneurial culture is what many companies look for and strive for in the fast moving and competitive industry.
Being an entrepreneur calls for working in an environment with creative, innovative and like minded people. However, an environment like that doesn't form overnight -- like anything else, you have to work hard to make it happen. Acknowledging the employees have goals and dreams and supporting them in cultivating those dreams, benefits the employee and the employer both. The employee then feels good and more fulfilled, while the employer gets better in terms of employee satisfaction and retention.
Companies need entrepreneurial minds at all levels of the organization in order to progress continually. However, the employees must feel that they are in an environment that values entrepreneurship which has to be fostered. So, how do you foster this culture and make it thrive? Let’s have a look at what are the ways to foster entrepreneurship
1. Leading an Entrepreneurial Culture
The starting point is the leadership. People follow their leaders. Their actions, values, and priorities are guided by what their superiors model. It sounds very simple, but it's true. The senior executives set the tone for what the organizational values should be, and the company should do and how the people should act. From a business leader's perspective, that's the right start for driving an entrepreneurial culture, embrace it and model it. Most of the successful companies ensure their executive teams constantly demonstrate their value, productivity and their flow of ideas.
2. Communicate well
Communicate well. It's the fundamental function of a good leadership. However, many leaders get so bogged down in their day to day tasks that they forget to tell people where are they going. Constantly remind people about the vision and the direction. When it comes down to communication, people want to feel like they are getting all the important information. They also want to see that their concerns and ideas are being heard. There is a need to create an open environment by sharing information freely, making sure the information flows up and down and encouraging people to openly ask questions on how to make things better. These are important for creating an empowering environment.
3. Create an Environment of Empowerment
Driving an entrepreneurial culture needs creating the environment where people can act like entrepreneurs. There is a need to foster an environment where people feel empowered. To act as an entrepreneur, people must feel empowered to take the lead and create the positive change which is much needed. You need to think about what an entrepreneur does - strategically analyzes market trends, calculates risks, identifies opportunities, makes decisions and inspires others to follow. That's the goal towards creating an environment where your staff will do this in their everyday activities.
In order to make this happen, follow these key points:
- Learn each individual's strengths, utilize them accordingly
- Empower those who have demonstrated they are ready for bigger responsibilities
- Give people the discretion of their own decisions and resources
- Provide them with the opportunities for training and education to help people grow
- Reward people for tackling the problems effectively and fulfilling the company’s interests
4. Continuous Effort is needed
Fostering an entrepreneurial culture needs a continuous effort. You need to make sure that your entrepreneurial vision is part of your senior management discussions. Further, it should also be a topic for managers' performance discussions with their teams. The entrepreneurial culture must be cultivated well which results in a concerted effort by the company in order to drive productivity, innovation and success.
5. Make It Safe to Share Ideas
You need to create a culture where new ideas are always welcome and not shut down. You should make every employee feel like they can make a difference with their ideas rather than depend on the founder or the management for the next great idea. Encourage your team to share ideas more often and openly encourage intrapreneurship
6. Give Ownership to the Employees
In order to create an entrepreneurial culture, you have to give the employees ownership of projects and follow their suggestions. You should always encourage an entrepreneurial mindset by having the employees take turns in leading professional development training sessions. In addition to it, every employee should take up a project from start to finish every quarter
7. Be Open to minor failures
Always try to create an environment in which employees know that they are open to minor failures in the bigger pursuit of success. If people are afraid to take the risks, then you aren't going to grow as quickly or smartly as you want as a company. Unfortunately, people don't always believe that making mistakes is alright. Strive to give them the proof that it is, so they can let go of any hidden fears and try out new ways of getting the job done.
8. Give them time, space and stability
Be a firm believer that the employees need their space, time and stability in order to even think of entrepreneurship while maintaining their work responsibilities. Always remember that the best way to encourage entrepreneurship in an organization is to avoid micromanaging employees, offer sufficient time off and support outside interests.
9. Let them pursue passions in and out of the company
You need to encourage your team to explore their passions both in and out of the organization. Many of the employees have side hustles which sometimes match with their own work. In that situation, it becomes a win-win for both the employee and the employer.