How to develop an intrapreneurial culture

The Great Resignation is upon us. Staff are packing up and heading off in numbers we’ve never seen before. Why are they leaving? According to Seek.com.au, these are the three top reasons:

1. Mediocre management
2. Lack of career progression
3. Need for a fresh start

Can employers do more to help staff stay? Absolutely. I have worked in pubs since I was 18 and have done pretty much every job there is to do; from cooking to cleaning to working in the bottle shop.  I know what it’s like to be an employee, and I know what it’s like to work for bosses who don’t value their staff.

So, when I had the chance to buy a pub and take control of my destiny, I made a pact with myself that I would put my staff front and centre, give them opportunities to succeed, and provide the time and resources they need to develop their skills.

The result?

Unparalleled loyalty. It costs so much more to find and retrain staff so why wouldn’t you make an effort to keep them?  I started with one pub, I now have seven, I employ over 350 people, the portfolio is now valued at over $100 million and we did it all in under seven years.

One of the main reasons we’ve succeeded is because we deliberately fostered an intrapreneurialculture; a culture that encouraged the team to bring their entrepreneurial skills to the workplace. Many of our staff have been with us for over twenty years. For a seasonal industry renown for churning and burning staff, we’re proud of that record. We think it’s because of the intrapreneurial culture we’ve created.

What is an intrapreneurial culture?

An intrapreneurial culture is created when you empower staff to help them (and you) achieve mutually rewarding goals.  It’s about helping them find meaningful work within the existing structure so they can express their creativity, find purpose and bring their full self to work.  We do that by creating a positive culture that helps them unleash their passions for your profit.

Here’s my three tips for creating an intrapreneurial culture:

1. Help them achieve their personal goals: it stands to reason that if you can help an employee achieve their own goals under your roof, they’re more likely to stay.I once employed a chef called Luca. I could tell from his demeanour he was losing motivation. I had a chat with him, found out that he was passionate about vegan cooking and we agreed that he would redesign the menu to include a vegan offering. His motivation went through the roof.  Within weeks, we had hordes of new diners in our restaurants, huge word of mouth, a chef who loved his work and increased profits. What’s not to like?
2. Share the success: if you want staff to really take an interest in the business and stay loyal, considering sharing the success of the business with them.For example, when I hired my Marketing and Operations Manager, and saw the energy and skillset she could bring to the business, I offered her a share in the business via the framework known as Employee Stock Options Programme (ESOP). Schemes like this inspire people to give of their best, treat the business as their own and go the extra mile. Obviously, you can’t offer this scheme to everybody on the team, but when I find people I don’t want to lose, I use ESOPs to incentivise them to stay.
3. Praise in public, coach in private: if we want people to be entrepreneurial, we have to give them the space to make mistakes. We call it ‘failing forward’ and so long as everyone learns from the mistake, it was a risk worth taking. To create that culture, we need to praise in public and criticise in private, forgive them, communicate with them clearly about what needs to be done differently next time, and move on.