Google famously allows employees to use 20% of their working week in pursuit of their own ideas. There’s some debate as to whether it actually exists anymore but it would be nice to think it did once, at least. It’s a great example of creating the kind of workplace conditions that let intrapreneurs flourish.
Intrapreneurs are at the heart of Australian Innovation Innovation drives global economic growth1; from the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th century via the digital revolution of the mid-20th century to the data revolution we're living through now, innovation is at the heart of every successful economy. Since a country’s economy is a measure of its industry, it makes sense that organisations – and politicians - spend a lot of time scratching their head over ways to make business more innovative.
These days there’s no shortage of online articles telling you how much time to invest in the growth of your career; some are even brave enough to try and link it to expected salary growth 1. In reality, there are no hard and fast rules; your profession, your industry, and the organisation you work for, as well as the availability of opportunities, will all play a part. Your personality and capacity to learn will also influence whether you spend more time in a classroom or at a networking event, and what’s the ideal combination of both for you.
The last two decades has seen an enormous growth in business outsourcing. But what started as a tactical decision to cut costs has evolved into a broader strategic innovation designed to add value. While cost cutting still tops the list of reasons for outsourcing, quoted by 59% of respondents according to the latest Deloitte research1, it’s closely followed by freeing time to focus on core business (57%), and solving capacity issues (47%) as key reasons for outsourcing.
