Beyond the Season: Celebrating Safety All Year-Round?

As we approach the holiday season, I reflect on 2018, and look ahead to the promise of the new year.

Heading across the Queensboro Bridge one night, I ended up stuck in traffic behind a truck with a 1-800-HOWSMYDRIVING? bumper sticker. We were going 0 mph so I couldn’t really answer that question—but it did strike me as a brilliant/simple, effective way of creating personal accountability throughout an organization.

I wonder how we would all behave as leaders if we went through each day with a 1-800-HOWSMYLEADING? sticker on our backs?

It would certainly force us to clarify what we stand for, what we expect of others, and what value we bring to our company and our communities.

I know I’ve asked myself “how’s my leading?” many times over the past year at Bureau Veritas North America. We’ve seen significant change in 2018, from welcoming new companies and colleagues to the BV family, to setting up a brand-new home for our North American HQ in New York City. Along the way, we’ve encouraged every employee to step up as a leader in their own right. And as we do, we ask ourselves these questions. They are not necessarily unique to BV—in fact I believe every company would do well to weave them into their own self-reflection.

Am I driving Safety as an absolute priority?  There’s good reason that safety is first and foremost at BV: our core value proposition for our employees, clients, and communities. They rely on the accuracy and integrity of BV inspections and measurements to ensure the safety of their own products. That’s why we embrace a culture of safety as an absolute at every level of our organization every day.

But even outside of our industry, in today’s chaotic world, safety is important to all people.

Am I driving company growth and expanding our impact? At BV, our commitment to safety extends to our growth strategy and selection of partners. In 2018, we have grown and diversified through multiple acquisitions, welcoming companies who share our passion for safety as the top priority. Together, we are expanding the positive impact on our clients and communities, engaging our employees as we grow through flagship programs such as our collaboration with Columbia University Girls in STEM––an initiative that helps to bridge the gap in STEM education for high school girls in underrepresented populations. They also include leading change through BV’s core offerings from energy services to food quality and sustainability––programs that support the health, safety, and welfare of workers, the environment, and in consideration of animal welfare issues.

Research shows that when companies focus on safety, morale improves because employees are glad you care; better employees will want to work for you; both managers and employees take greater responsibility for operations, and results improve; and profits increase due to streamlined operations and efficiencies.

Am I driving a culture of inspiration and entrepreneurship? When employees feel safe and part of a healthy, thriving organization, they are empowered to bring their best ideas forward. At BV, we strive for an entrepreneurial culture in the sense that we want every employee to take pride in their work and feel personally accountable for safety and success, continually looking for ways to improve our ability to deliver the world’s leading inspections and assessments.

As we approach a time of year where all of us look back on what we’ve accomplished, and look forward to what we hope for, I’m reminded that no matter how much things change there are still some fundamental truths that do not.

The desire for safety and well-being is one of those fundamental truths.

We worry about friends and family making long journeys for the holidays. We wish each other a safe and happy new year. We give thanks for our own health, and the health of our family and loved ones. At Bureau Veritas, we’re looking ahead to the new year with renewed resolve around our core mission to make the world a safer, healthier place for all of us.