Scotland Leads the Way

Workplace Innovation Europe CLG is proud to support Scotland’s pioneering initiatives
to promote better, more productive workplaces.

Since the beginning of 2016 we have been working with Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland
and Highlands & Islands Enterprise to promote and resource workplace innovation in a diverse range of companies.

How does the Workplace Innovation Engagement Programme help?

WIEP was designed to overcome the gap between evidence-based workplace practice and common practice in Scottish companies. We know that there is a ‘long tail’ yet to benefit from workplace innovation, with consequent losses for productivity, product and service innovation, skills development and utilisation, and employee health.

The programme brings diverse cohorts of companies together on a nine month shared journey towards the sustainable transformation of workplace practices. Two participants from each company gain the knowledge and skills required to engage others in their organisations to plan and implement exciting changes.

WIEP combines a state-of-the-art Workplace Innovation Diagnostic ®, interactive workshops, an online platform for learning and interaction, peer-to-peer support through action learning, individual coaching and in-house facilitation, helping each company to address its individual needs and opportunities as part of a community of companies on similar journeys.

Individual participants gain an internationally-recognised qualification in Leadership & Management while their companies gain sustainable improvements across a range of indicators and continuing capacity for change.

Impact

The first cohort of ten companies began the programme in November 2016, completing it during Autumn 2017.

Cohort 2, with nine companies, commenced the programme in September 2017 and continued until completion in June 2018.

Each company made tangible changes in working practice, including self-managed teams, employee involvement in improvement and innovation, reducing functional silos and hierarchies, changing management roles and behaviours, eliminating low-trust systems and procedures, delegating decision-making, greater openness and transparency, introducing or revitalising employee forums, and building more inclusive approaches to leadership.

Companies enhanced profitability and competitiveness by improving cost control, workflow, decision-making, quality, customer service and capacity for innovation. 100% participants satisfied or very satisfied, and each company reports that benefits would not be have been achieved at all, or to the same extent, without WIEP.

Here is a small selection from the 19 companies:

What they say about WIEP. . .

Conclusions

Companies participating achieved significant improvements in a relatively short period of time, and have establsihed a sustainable momentum of change with real potential to go much further.

Feedback on the programme has been overwhelmingly positive, focusing on the overall quality of support, the learning, sharing and ‘camaraderie’ between companies, and the practical outcomes stimulated by WIEP. Group-based programmes such as WIEP offer policymakers particular value for money, firstly because most of the expert input is shared by the whole cohort, and secondly because peer-to-peer support, as an important motivator and a valuable source of ideas, comes as part of the package without extra cost.