Safety's Attention Share and Attention Capitalization

Companies across industries are adept at developing external strategies to increase their market share and market capitalization. However, to foster cultures of excellence, we must recognize the vital role of discretionary effort. This can be harnessed through internal strategies that focus on creatively growing the attention share of the workforce and measuring the ROI from doing so. These strategies are not just beneficial, they are essential for success.

?Workers are not the problems to be solved; they are the problem-solvers, consumers, and customers of a company's safety efforts. What we do in safety has to be valuable and create a perception of value. We need their attention, and we need this attention to yield continuous improvement.

The competition for the workforce's attention is fierce. Production, engineering, HR, and quality all vie for their focus. Just like with safety, if what we are doing is not perceived as valuable, a worker's attention is diverted elsewhere, even during a safety meeting. It's crucial that safety monitors the reality of attention share and attention capitalization (value derived from the worker giving additional attention). If not, other parts of the organization will, and safety risks losing the workforce's attention share.

?"The most basic way to get someone's attention is this: Break a pattern." — Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Made to Stick

?"You've got to keep reinventing. You'll have new competitors. You'll have new customers all around you." — Ginni Rometty

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At ProAct Safety, we are dedicated to enhancing safety performance and fostering a culture of excellence within organizations. Our safety strategy and culture assessment service is designed to provide a holistic and detailed understanding of your current safety practices and culture and outline specific strategic and tactical recommendations, enabling you to develop a focused strategic plan to elevate safety performance and achieve Safety Culture Excellence?.

Shawn M. Galloway is the CEO of the global consultancy ProAct Safety. With over twenty years of experience in safety systems, strategy, culture, leadership, and employee engagement, he serves as a trusted advisor, keynote speaker, and expert witness. He is the author of eight books and has multiple regular columns in leading magazines, with over 400 articles and 100 videos to his credit. He also created the first safety podcast, Safety Culture Excellence, which has over 800 episodes.

Shawn's passion, dedication, influence, and significant contributions to the field of safety have been recognized with numerous awards and accolades from prestigious organizations such as the American Society of Safety Professionals, National Safety Council, EHS Today Magazine, and ISHN Magazine. He is also an esteemed Avetta Distinguished Fellow.