How can you manage culture change in a company with a strong safety culture?

I’m a #finance guy, have my own #safety gears and always try carry them whenever I visit the factory or a project site instead of asking for them on site. It begins with #me! #CFO

You are fortunate if your organization has a strong psychological safety culture. Having a strong safety culture invokes feelings of belonging and provides employees with a sense of purpose. Nothing says you belong more than feeling loved after you just messed up in the workplace! High performance teams need to hear that they belong, that its safe to speak up and to continually remind them of their purpose. In doing so, you can be sure your team will cross high waters to make sure their objectives are met!

Quem já gerenciou transforma??es sabe que a observa??o como ponto de partida é uma excelente abordagem inicial em gest?o de mudan?as. é importante reconhecer as práticas atualmente aplicadas, inclusive para gerar análises comparativas aos objetivos estratégicos e vis?o organizacionais. Conhecer o cenário a partir da perspectiva de quem o vive vai trazer muitos insights.

Managing culture change in such an environment is a delicate balancing act. 1. Preserve What Works:It's a foundation built on responsibility, teamwork, and attention to detail, which you should preserve. 2. Define the New Culture: Align it with your business goals, ensuring it complements rather than clashes with your existing safety culture. 3. Engage Leadership:Leadership sets the tone for change. Encourage them to champion the new culture while upholding the importance of safety. 4. Open Dialogue: Open and honest conversations about the need for change are vital. 5. Training and Development: Invest in programs that equip employees with the skills for the new culture. Promote cross-training to break down silos and encourage collaboration.

“Tell me about safety here.” That was my prompt. I was hired to see why employees were getting injured. They were puzzled since the data didn’t give clear signals through the noise. I interviewed 100 employees in private, confidence, no names. Their president told them, "Be open and honest so we'll learn and change". Boy, they told me. I saw saturation (consistent data) after 35 interviews. I did all their sites as agreed. I wrote up my report with these 4 areas: keep doing, stop doing, start doing, and change what you’re doing. I sent it to their VP HR. Her reply told me all I needed to know. “Thanks Jon, this nailed it! We knew these but needed external validation. Your recommendations are all spot on.” Assess. Then decide on actions.

“What do you want to see?” I asked everyone this–leaders, employees, and students in a college. I was hired to affect culture. They shared visions and aspirations for improved safety culture. Their existing one was strong. They thought it was great but could be better. We did a safety culture survey with half closed ended and half open ended to get details. They were open and we saw strong trends on what was “important around here”. They wanted better physical safety, biking risks, and engagement. It was clearly defined. We were ready. Then covid struck and mucked it up. So, we asked them now what they wanted? More support for mental wellness. The ability to work, study, and research safely. We delivered. Define. Redefine. Deliver.

è importante essere trasparenti, onesti e coerenti con quello che si vuole ottenere. Un cambiamento di questo tipo è profondo ed impegnativo. Ci vuole del tempo. Un cambiamento continuo e incrementale con speciale attenzione al comportamento. Differenza tra il "fare" e il "essere"

To enhance safety culture within your organization, start by gaining a comprehensive understanding of your current state. Once established, define the desired safety culture you aim to cultivate. Clearly outline the values, beliefs, and norms you want to promote, ensuring they align with strategic goals, vision, and complement the existing safety culture. Craft a compelling and inspiring vision that resonates with the company's mission, purpose, and identity. Consistently communicate this vision to employees, stakeholders, and customers, fostering a shared commitment to safety throughout the organization.

Wer ein klares Bild der gewünschten Kultur hat, kann auch einen entsprechenden Weg einschlagen. Deshalb sollte die gewünschte Kultur so klar wie m?glich sein. Meinen Kunden empfehle ich hier mit Lego Serious Play zu arbeiten und ein 3D Modell auf die Frage "Wie wollen wir zukünftig miteinander umgehen? Wie soll unsere Kultur aussehen?" erstellen. Dieses 3D Modell sollte in einem weiteren Schritt noch im Detail beschrieben werden. Wie sieht die Kommunikation aus? Führung? Wie das Verhalten?

Starting with the message that safety is the #1 value of an organisation and that all accidents are preventable is paramount. That message helps to underpin and support safety mindsets and behaviours that can permeate throughout an organisation. Also, extending the concept of safety beyond physical safety to include psychological safety can help everyone feel safe and secure to identify and communicate safety improvement opportunities.

This perspective on culture change underscores the pivotal role of employees as active participants in the transformation process. Involving employees in the change fosters a sense of ownership and commitment and leverages their insights to ensure a smoother transition. Organizations can build a more inclusive and resilient culture by actively engaging employees, addressing their concerns, and incorporating their feedback.

It is critical that employees are involved in both shaping the new direction and along the way as the change is taking place. A feedback loop - survey, interviews, ERGs, roundtables, etc. - can help to inform the change before it happens, secure buy in from influential stakeholders, and keep staff informed as the transition is happening. It is also key that with feedback comes the opportunity for real change, i.e. if employees share that they do not like something, that there is either a change or communication about the lack of ability to change that thing. Communication is essential in employee engagement, always.

In un cambiamento esistono i leader (agenti del cambio) e i follower (fast followers e late followers). La cura della coerenza e il lavoro by esample dei leader è importante. Lo è molto di più la visibilità, il successo e la passione degli fast followers, che portano la scintilla e la perseveranza necessaria per far rivivere il cambiamento quando le cose diventano difficili.

In my experience, to have safety champions is absolutely an strength. They were in the past the changers, the motivators and now continuing doing that every day. They are aliades. The gold rule here is to not broke the things that they have defined but to construct since that, giving more funcionalities, adding tasks, modifying them. That will give them a sense of continuous improvement and makes them to contribute with that. Is a really lucky when we have this kind of people in an organization!

L'ascolto attivo ci aiuta ad identificare i punti di miglioramento, ma anche le possibilità di "earlier failure". Lasciare la mente aperta anche alla possibilità di scegliere un'altra strada oppure chiuderla, ci rende più efficaci verso l'obiettivo finale.

This final step is critical as reinforcement is essential for the success of all initiatives, as individuals naturally tend to return to familiar and comfortable practices.

Dal mio personale punto di vista, lo step più complesso è quello di mantenere il cambiamento attivo nel tempo e non tornare a vecchie abitudini. Inserimento di coaching esterno rinnovato nel tempo è area fresca che porta nuove idee e forza ??

In my experience with any culture change, it is critical to do three things to garner great buy-in: 1. Make sure to involve more voices in the change process. People are much more willing to go along with the change if they feel like they are contributors to it and not victims to it. 2. If the culture is currently a safety culture then make sure to connect the dots for employees about how any culture change initiatives directly connect to and improves the current safety culture and their experience in it. 3. Garner early champions from those who are influential, despite their titles. Arm and them with the right words to say so that their colleagues will immediately understand the benefit of the initiatives.