Encouraging the sharing of innovation and best practice between organisations sounds like the remit of government departments and local authorities, however for the last 20 years Onsite Insights has been delivering a successful pan-industry initiative that has seen over 15,000 people visit some of the UK’s most successful organizations.
Onsite Insights is a programme of one-day visits, where organisations in the public and private sector get to spend a day looking at how successful organisations are run. It was established in 2004 as a successor to the highly popular Department of Trade and Industry programme Inside UK Enterprise (“IUKE”). IUKE was set up in the early eighties and was run by the government for over 20years.
The success and popularity of the programme, was and remains down to the fact that businesses recognise the value of sharing real life experience – there are no text books, no theories and no consultants, just real evidence of what works and why from businesses that have implemented change.
Government and funding changes resulted in the closure of the IUKE programme back in 2003, but the team behind it’s delivery recognised the popularity and potential for the programme. Ailsa Carson, Onsite Insights founder commented that “when we announced the closure of the IUKE programme there was an overwhelming response from customers and the host companies, it would have been difficult to see such an initiative disappear – and I am glad to say it didn’t, we talked with the DTI at the time and they were more than happy for us to launch a privately funded programme.
The types of companies that have hosted over the years have included household names and global brands such as: Mars, Toyota, BMW, Nissan, BAE Systems, Fujifilm, Siemens and JLR alongside smaller businesses such as Double H Nurseries, Happy, Crowcon and Vitacress.
Over the years each of the hosts have brought their story to life for the benefit of visiting organizations. Topics have varied over the years but one thing has remained constant – visitors are primarily interested in how organizations have achieved a culture of improvement; they want to see not only how they have improved, but more importantly how the company has engaged their team in the journey.
Stuart Wood a previous host on the programme, who now works for the leading charity Alzheimers UK has been a regular user of the programme commented that the programme works because “one of the principle tasks for today’s organizations is Continuous Improvement, and one of the best ways to experience first-hand the practical application of the tools and techniques that will help drive a business’s continuous improvement initiatives is the first class programme of visits offered by Onsite Insights.”
Double H Nurseries – Best Practice Host site since 2008
It is evident that the continued growth and success of the programme is down to the passion and honesty with which the host companies both large and small share their ideas and experiences with their visitors. They all believe that the sharing of innovation and best practice between organisations will generate improvements for every sector, making all companies more competitive globally. Hosts benefit as the visits are not industrial tourism, they are a two-way discussion where new ideas and solutions can be debated, and they also benefit as they are able to visit other leading companies thereby improving their own organisation.
Feedback shows that over 85% of visitors have identified improvements for their own companies and 100% of visitors said they would recommend this form of learning which clearly demonstrates that the sharing of ideas and innovation directly between companies does not create competitive issues but an opportunity to grow, improve and become more competitive.
This year which is our 20th anniversary we will be celebrating both the host companies and the visitors that have made it so successful.
Media enquiries:
Ailsa Carson
Programme Director
Onsite Insights
Tel: 023 9246 8978
Mob: 0783 222 3453
Email: ailsa@onsiteinsights.co.uk