Leading with Impact: The Power of Visible Felt Leadership-Part 1

1.Stuck in Safety Neutral? What can you do to power up your safety performance?

Many organizations implement safety programs like hazard reporting and safe behavior observation. While these initiatives are valuable, they can sometimes plateau in effectiveness. This stagnation will lead to plateau in Safety KPI performance.

1.1 BHP Billion Mitsubishi Alliance (BMI)

One such company that had stopped improving was BHP Billion Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA). Their Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) plateaued since December 2004. And Hazard reporting flattened since 2006. Around the same time, there were reporting an increase in classified injury rate.

BMA recognized that they need to do something to arrest this issue. They did act in 2007 and reported an increase of Hazard reporting from 100 to 300 reports. TRIFR rate started to reduce for an average of 10 to an average of 5 in 2008.

1.2 What did they do?

The answer is Visible Felt Leadership (VFL). Through this VFL program senior leaders make regular visits to worksites. It is not just a visit, but during the visits, they spend time to observe tasks, identify positive and at-risk behaviours and actively engage with employees discussing about the task and safety concerns.

2. Visible Felt Leadership Defined

VFL is a leadership approach where leaders are tangibly present and actively involved in safety initiatives. It's about going beyond simply having policies and procedures. VFL leaders demonstrate a commitment to safety that resonates with employees, fostering a culture of trust and open communication.

During VFL engagement activity, the leader shows his leadership which is visible to all employees and is felt to be genuine.

2.1 Visible Leadership

A visible leader is someone who spends time engaging with employees. They are genuinely curious about work being carried, potential safety risk of the work, and positive work being done. A genuine engagement leads to a strong, tangible connection with employees.

?2.2 Felt Leadership

A genuine engagement will lead to winning hearts and minds of employees. Employees will feel the leader is genuinely care for their safety and wellbeing at work.

2.3 Visible + Felt Leadership= GENUINE Interaction

VFL goes beyond traditional leadership styles. It's about visible, active leadership that demonstrates a genuine commitment to employee well-being and safety. Leaders who embrace VFL are:

• Present in the workplace: They regularly visit worksites, observe tasks, and engage with employees.
• Approachable and communicative: They create an environment where employees feel comfortable raising concerns and offering suggestions.
• Champions of safety: They actively participate in safety initiatives and hold themselves accountable for creating a safe work environment.

3. Trust Building: The outcome of effective VFL engagement.

An effective VFL leads to genuine interaction between leaders and employees. These genuine interactions done consistently over time will foster a culture of Trust. In Patrick Lencioni's book on Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he listed trust as dysfunctions #1. Based on his experience working with teams, he concludes that that no quality or characteristics is more important than trust.

3.1 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Lencioni argues that dysfunctional teams suffer from five core issues:

1. Absence of Trust: Team members are unwilling to be vulnerable and admit mistakes.
2. Fear of Conflict: Unhealthy avoidance of productive disagreement.
3. Lack of Commitment: Decisions aren't fully bought into, leading to half-hearted efforts.
4. Avoidance of Accountability: Hesitation to hold each other accountable for performance.
5. Inattention to Results: Individual needs are prioritized over team goals.

VFL tackles these dysfunctions head-on. By being visible and approachable, leaders build trust, creating a safe space for open communication and constructive conflict. VFL also fosters a sense of ownership, as leaders actively engage with employees to understand challenges and work collaboratively towards solutions. This builds commitment and accountability, ultimately leading to a laser focus on safety results.

4.VFL in Action: Reinvigorating Existing Initiatives

In many organizations, introduction of new initiatives claiming to be the silver bullet to solve their organizational issues. And all these initiatives are likely to overload leaders of organizations. The same can be said about introducing VFL. BMA leaders had this concern at the initial stage of introducing VFL. As they are already have hazard reporting, vigorous incident investigation of all significant incidents and Behaviour based safety observation Safety Initiatives? This was the question asked by BMA leaders. Organizations continue to be bombarded with new initiative, all claiming to be the silver bullet.

Taking into consideration of existing initiatives already in place, BMA leaders decided that NO new initiatives will be implemented, but they decided to all existing initiatives better and called it " Felt Leadership".

The lesson: Do not rush into embracing new initiatives at the expense of existing initiatives and eventually may lead to drop in quality of initiatives.

5. Engagement is Key

Employee engagement is a critical factor in any organization's success. Disengaged employees are less productive, more likely to miss work, and more prone to accidents. The latest data paints a concerning picture: Gallup's 2022 survey shows a mere 32% of US employees are engaged at work.

So how do we reverse this trend? Visible Felt Leadership (VFL) offers a powerful solution.

As we have seen above, VFL interventions not only addresses potential dysfunction of teams, but also helps an organization to improve engagement. Employees feel valued, heard, and empowered to take ownership of safety. This intrinsic motivation is far more powerful than simply following rules out of fear of reprimand. The result? Increased engagement, improved safety performance, and a more positive work environment for everyone.

VFL is just one strategy to boost engagement, but it's a powerful one. By fostering trust, encouraging open communication, and creating a sense of partnership, VFL can help organizations bridge the engagement gap and unlock the full potential of their workforce.

6. The Road to Success

VFL isn't a magic bullet, but it's a powerful tool. By fostering trust, encouraging healthy conflict, and building a culture of engagement, VFL can turn a stagnant safety program into a dynamic force for continuous improvement. When leaders become visibly committed to safety, employees follow suit, leading to a safer and more productive work environment.

7. How to do VFL?

In the 2nd part of this article, we will share how to do VFL in your organization.

Sources:

1.Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patric Lencioni-2005.

2. Gallop Employee Engagement: https://www.gallup.com/394373/indicator-employee-engagement.aspx

3.BMA-Goonyella Riverside Mine-Felt Leadership

4. Visible Felt Leadership and Why it Matters | The Big Picture People: ?https://thebigpicturepeople.co.uk/blog/visible-felt-leadership/, 14th May 2021.

5. Lafarge Visible Felt Leadership Handbook

6. Visible Felt Leadership, Pro. Peter McKie CBE, Quarry Management January 2005.