Organisational Raids: An Introduction

Each raid involves an on-site visit at a host organisation for up to 20 delegates, with up to six presenters from the host. WIG uses its knowledge of its members to source an appropriate host and facilitates the development of a programme of activity with expert speakers at an appropriate level.

Benefits to the Raiding Organisation

Each raid is a bespoke project for the raiding organisation, enabling them to maximise the learning on their specific area of interest. Delegates get to listen to, question and debate with experienced professionals in the given field. It provides a safe and secure environment in which to share best practice, discuss know-how, experience and problems, and challenge conventional thinking and allows the raiding organisation to consider how the issues might be applied in their own organisation. It allows participants to exit the normal office environment and the day-to-day distractions and immerse themselves in a topic – this can assist in encouraging members to speak openly about their own work, concerns and issues.

Benefits to the Host Organisation

Hosting the Raid gives an opportunity to showcase an area of expertise and gain some fresh and objective feedback from what is generally a senior-level, knowledgeable and enquiring audience. It is also good public relations and business development to dedicate senior management time to sharing best practice whilst engaging with senior civil servants from across Whitehall and senior business figures in a non-sales environment (up to 20 attendees). The host may also enhance its reputation as being "thought leader" in a particular field.

Mutual Benefits

Both organisations benefit from a deeper understanding of the other’s structures, ways of working and operational constraints. There is the opportunity for enhanced networking and extending peer level contacts and networks in a different sector.

Types of Raid

There are typically two types of Organisational Raid. The first is where a participant group is drawn from the same team, department or sector of the raiding organisation (possibly of mixed seniority). Participants are likely to have a uniform level of understanding of the topic area enabling more in-depth exploration of the issues. An example would be a team of staff who visit another organisation with the specific aim of feeding the learning into a particular project they are all working on. Alternatively, the group of participants may be of the same seniority but drawn from different teams, departments or sectors. These participants may have a uniform level of understanding of the topic area, but are likely to have their own individual objectives. An example of such a raid might be a team of middle managers wishing to learn more about better customer service. Participants can generally be drawn from any level of seniority up to Board level. In each case, we will match the host organisation and the seniority of the host representatives accordingly.