TRANSIT SAFETY CULTURE: UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLEXITY OF SAFETY WICKEDNESS

TRANSIT SAFETY CULTURE: UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLEXITY OF SAFETY WICKEDNESS

BY

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LEVERN MCELVEEN

As a transit safety professional, I have often reflected on my experience. I have asked the question on many occasions, published articles, and public transit forums, why have transit leaders failed to develop and implement a sustainable safety culture in the transit industry??I may have found the answer. Bishop Michael Curry's book “Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope In Troubling Times” is a provocative read that I would urge everyone to read.?This book provided me a better understanding of my worldview and leaders in a different light.?In the book, Bishop Curry asked the question, "what is the opposite of love?"?Let me ask my readers the same question, what is the opposite of Love??If your answer is hate, it is not the correct answer as defined by Bishop Curry.?He cites the opposite of Love is “selfishness.”

Bishop Michael Curry points out, "We're living, right now, in a world built on selfishness, indifference, and even hatred, and it doesn't look good.?What does it get us? Mass shootings, the murder of innocents. Brutal dictatorships.?The suppression of ethnic and religious minorities.?The mistreatment of refugees.?The rise of racism, anti-Semitism, nationalistic nativism, and xenophobia.?Fear begins to rule our lives. People are hurting and hating others because they are different.?We have wars and rumors of wars.?We have an earth?that?is bad for profit.”

Bishop Curry points out, "When I was interviewed for the Harvard Business Review, the interviewer said, "Love's great, but how does it apply to a CEO? Because we've forgotten agape, we think Love is removed from the business. Actually, it’s as simple for a CEO as it is for anyone. To switch on God’s GPS, simply ask yourself a question: Is this just about me, or is it about we??Does this decision serve only my unenlightened self-interest, or does it somehow serve the greater good??And if the answer is me, me, me, and only me, you don’t do it.?It’s that simple.?Me or we?”

He further cites, “The problem with the me approach to life is that if: it’s only or primarily about me, there is no or little room for you. And if everyone thinks, lives, and acts that way, there will be no room for any of us.?What the late Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm often said of the American experiment in democracy is true for us as a global human community: “We came over here on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.” In his “letter from the Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King said it this way: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.?Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”?

Is transit leadership all about themselves and not about their frontline employees, middle managers, office workers, and passengers? ??Safety is everything we do in a transit environment, and everyone is responsible. Developing and implementing a sustainable safety culture will create a sense of belonging, psychological safety, reduce accidents and incidents, and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, learning culture, and address mental health and wellness in the system.?So, why have transit leaders fail to address safety culture in the transit industry?

?Safety Wickedness???????

Is safety wickedness a part of the problem??It’s not typically the wickedness of transit leaders, or boards, for that matter, that gets transit systems into trouble with safety issues. ?It’s their failure to effectively manage the wickedness of the safety problems they face — safety problems that resist apparent solutions. Wicked safety problems are being tossed up by the exploding complexity of our modern world, such as emphasis on technology — complexity originating from the increasing interconnectedness of everything we do. Safety is everything we do in a transit environment. Not only are there more of these safety problems, but the degree of their wickedness is increasing. The race is between the complexity confronting transit systems and their ability to respond to it. Transit leaders are behind and need to catch up and catch up fast, pre-pandemic and post-pandemic safety issues.

The hallmark of a wicked safety problem is that it cannot be reduced to a single-cause explanation. Safety complexity arises from the interconnections between technological things in transit — how parts within a system interact via intricate feedback mechanisms. The information signals we need to make sense of complex things are buried in a lot of noise, and transit leaders are not adept at digging for cues. ?Transit leaders have been conditioned by decades of evolution and their daily routines to draw speedy conclusions by picking out simple, linear, cause-effect connections. This approach works well with specific problems like approving a request for proposal (RFP), hiring a new employee, or attending budget meetings. But we are now living in a world where multivariate and non-linear causal connections hide below the surface of our immediate perceptions and diverge to different possible interpretations. When our standard intuitions meet modern-day complexity, a brain-world gap arises (Cadbsy, 2011).

In my 2012 article, “Understanding The Complexity of Transit Safety,” cites, "For transit industry leaders to successfully develop and sustain a vibrant safety culture, they must fully understand the complexity of transit safety and the organizational culture and sub-cultures within their respective systems. Transit systems are tightly coupled technologically, complex organizations. Transit systems are comprised of multiple sub-systems that are interdependent and interrelated. It will be necessary for leaders to understand the synergy, interdependence, and interrelationships needed between systems and sub-systems and the organizational culture and the many different sub-cultures.?

?The importance of understanding the complexity of transit systems and sub-systems and the effect on the development of a vibrant and compelling safety culture is best understood by the theoretical concept of system theory. System theory is a conceptual tool that would allow transit leaders to, at a minimum, better understand the interdependence and interrelationship of systems and sub-systems within the transit organizational structure. Complex problems such as developing and implementing a sustainable transit safety culture require complex thinking--require complex conversations. Effective facilitation will equip transit systems leaders with better decisions and boards with better governance in a world of wicked safety problems.

Thomas Cadsby cites, "Closing this brain gap depends, in part, on exploiting the insights of complexity science. However, systems thinking, chaos theory, power laws, and the like are not enough. Wicked safety problems also demand multiple minds with distinct perspectives, interacting in a dynamic, dialectical process. These kinds of high-quality conversations don't arise spontaneously — they need to be facilitated. Brilliant leadership is now about thoughtful facilitation. And brilliant facilitation employs strategies based on three principal insights about complexity:

1.??????Complexity is different

If a problem is constructed of many interacting parts and admits to no obvious solution, it's probably wicked; today's safe bet is to assume complexity. Leaders beware: Complexity is deceptive — it entices untrained minds to force-fit simple mental models onto wicked problems, resulting in those problems being oversimplified and misunderstood.

2.??????Complexity cannot be rushed.

?As Chief Facilitation Officers, leaders must resist the temptation to hurry through the exploration of wicked safety problems, and just as importantly, resist the pull of management teams and boards to rush to consensus. Complexity does not yield to tight agendas and discussion deadlines. Our brains, constrained by their size, structure, and energy requirements, need time to unbundle the information cues that make complexity intelligible. Leaders beware: Rushing complexity can lead to misguided decisions, resulting in nasty surprises in the form of unintended consequences.

3.??????Complexity does not accommodate certainty.

Our minds abhor ambiguity; they will do anything to eliminate the uncertainty. But when certainty is applied to complexity, the result is unwarranted confidence because certainty closes the door to alternative perspectives. The brilliant facilitator doesn't accept the first satisfactory answer but pushes the team to question every preliminary conclusion. The brilliant facilitator creates the kind of tension that generates high-quality problem solving and fosters tolerance for ambiguity and discomforting uncertainty. Leaders beware: Sometimes, the best solutions emerge the next day, the next week, or some other time when new information, or better yet, a new perspective, surfaces. Managing complexity is iterative and never final, which is why brilliant facilitators are not reluctant to revisit decisions.

Complexity and Stress in the Workplace

Today's transit working environment is complex--with lightning speed technology and constant communication and employees feel overwhelmed by the change. Complexity causes stress in the transit workplace, pre-pandemic, and post-pandemic. When we task transit employees to understand and navigate new complexities in their day-to-day positions effectively, here is what we are asking them to consider:

Multiplicity: thinking about the number of interacting variables, e.g., how the work that they do might interface with policies and regulations, legislation, technology, customers, and other stakeholders, and so on (Virgin Pulse, 2018).?

Interdependence: how interconnected these variables are, e.g., how something that an individual does, in their job, in their role, in their decision-making, might flow over into other areas of the transit system.

Diversity: the degree of differences in these variables. While all these factors can (and do!) overlap in some capacity, ultimately, a complex organization asks that an employee consider variables that they might not have had to consider previously:

Globalization, politics, competition, organizational regulation, flexible working environments, multiple-location teams, and multi-national cultures (Virgin Pulse, 2018).??

These considerations tend to occur regardless of job, level of leadership, or even the level of autonomy, within the role. Remember, this is in addition to the day-to-day expectations of their position. It's easy to see why these constant changes and increased expectations cause stress. If transit leaders think that stress is just happening in transit systems because of COVID-19, stress is and has always been in the transit industry environment, creating chronically unhappy people.

These complexities bring about more and more stress in the transit workplace. Stressors refer to individuals who cannot function effectively in their job role – this leads to increased sick days, missed work, and a real struggle to behave in practical and effective ways, both in and outside the workplace. In short, mental health and wellness is a significant factor in the transit industry workplace environment, pre-pandemic, and post-pandemic. Mental health and wellness are significant components of a sustainable safety culture and must be addressed by transit leaders.

The complexity of Safety Leadership

In his work as an executive coach, psychotherapist Kets de Vries cites there are mental demons that live within many leaders. The four kinds he encounters most frequently are?pathological narcissists,?who are selfish and entitled, have grandiose fantasies, and pursue power at all costs;?manic-depressives,?who can leave a trail of emotional blazes behind them;?passive-aggressive,?who shy away from confrontation but are obstructive and underhanded; and?the emotionally disconnected—literal-minded people who cannot describe or even recognize their feelings.?Left unchecked, these personalities can warp the interactions, plans, and systems of entire organizations. But with appropriate coaching, toxic bosses can learn to manage their conditions and become effective mentors and leaders.

Senior executives in the transit industry have the power to create an environment that allows employees to grow and give their best—or a toxic workplace where everyone is unhappy. ?How transit executives end up using that power depends in part on their mental health, wellness, and emotional intelligence. Sound, stable leaders generally build organizations where the rules make sense to employees, freeing them to perform their jobs well. But if a transit leader’s psychological makeup is warped (selfishness), transit business plans, ideas, interactions, and even the systems and structure of the transit system itself will reflect their pathologies.

In the transit industry, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has compounded the chronic stressors with a unique set of acute stressors amplified by the pandemic's violate, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous nature.?There have been media reports about transit workers exposed to the virus and falling ill, and several hundred have died. These transit stressors include personal exposure to the virus, as well as the potential to expose family members; the shortage or delay in engineering controls; the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE); and the problem associated with social distancing; job uncertainty, layoffs, physical and verbal assaults, extended or shortened hours and disruption of work schedules (TCRP, 2021).

Today, the fundamental question is how will transit leaders address pre-pandemic, and post-pandemic stressors transit workers deal with daily? Frontline workers have often been victims of bus and rail accidents and incidents while performing their workplace duties. There is an inherent risk of harm while performing in specific transit jobs even though transit agencies have in place multiple safety plans, policies and procedures, rules, and operating practices to prevent accidents and incidents. The post-pandemic data have exposed transit systems' safety vulnerabilities in various ways to include mental health and wellness issues and concerns.

?I have asked this question on many occasions, in published articles, and many public transit forums, do transit leaders understand that transit frontline employees are in pain, suffering from anxieties, depression, grieving, and enduring various stressors in the workplace? Transit system office personnel are in pain and suffering as well from not only isolation and other type stressors, but the fact that transit systems across the industry are ecosystems, that is, office personnel is married and related to frontline employees and the risk that frontline employees encounter can and do affect the entire family structure.?Is there an all-out effort on the part of transit leaders to address these employees’ concerns?

?Coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic experience, many well-intentioned transit leaders are pushing to return systems on and restore operations to the same or at greater levels. They want to see their transit systems return to "normal," running the way they ran before Covid-19.?Why? It makes them look good before their political leaders. However, transit safety culture will never be the same in the transit industry moving forward. Transit leaders must address developing and implementing a sustainable transit safety culture as a mandate.?A safety culture that allows transit leaders to manage their safety wickedness and vulnerabilities must enable frontline employees to feel a sense of belonging and psychological safety and empower the middle manager to be a middle manager instead of the manager in the middle.?If transit leaders fail to take these steps, they will never build resilient transit systems.

Safety Culture and Resilience

Is there a difference between safety culture and a resilient transit system? The answer is no!?They're not mutually exclusive.?Deloitte (2021) states that the C-Suite executives can not only bounce back but bounce up from adversity of safety, pre-pandemic, and post-pandemic.?Deloitte points out, "As a core human trait, resilience is written into our DNA, a default code that helps us survive and adapt in the face of disruptions large and small. Given its central role in human flourishing, resilience has been studied across positive, cognitive, and clinical psychology. For decades, researchers have also studied it through the prism of neuroscience (2020), made resilience scholars out of just about everyone. Yet, resilience is more than meets the eye."

While safety reporting systems, hazard, and fault-tree analysis may provide insight into vulnerabilities, no one method can identify all systemic ones as in variations of practice or attempts to improve safety? Research has examined “resilient organizations” and determined that they face low probability/high consequence events; high-risk organizations (transit systems), as described by Reason (2008), focus on balancing proactive strategies to prevent accidents with empowering the workforce to respond to unexpected occurrences effectively. Giving the workforce the tools and training they need to respond to unforeseen circumstances is a hallmark of resilient transit systems.

Certainly, resilience is about bouncing back from disruptions and adversities. Indeed, this bounce-back notion is commonly a misunderstood definition of resilience. Resilience must serve a higher function and value in a transit system. Ultimately, it's about bouncing out of self-limiting thinking and paradigms and bouncing up to your highest levels of potential and your most magnetic, impactful realization of leadership. This is the path of self-transcendence. The personal realm is the domain of self-awareness and self-mastery. This is the path for developing and implementing a sustainable transit safety culture.

The core resilience conditions of metacognition, mental and emotional agility, realistic optimism, and meaning through character strengths lie within this realm. In other words, it pertains to exercising sage-like self-command and aligning one's life and work with one's deepest, most authentic values. "It's in this realm that we dive headfirst into the personal reflective work one has to do to build the foundations of resilience truly," says Ash Robinson, the Academy's co-lead and one of the scholars behind the "Three realms of resilience” approach. “Ultimately, it boils down to your thinking, feeling, and reacting style— how you’re going to respond to life’s slings and arrows. Because it’s not the events of life and work that determine our feelings, reactions, behaviors, and outcomes, it’s the stories we tell ourselves about those events” (Deloitte, 2021).

The interpersonal realm is all about relationship mastery. Specifically, do transit leaders’ relationships provide a deep, fulfilling sense of connection with frontline employees? Underlying this is the authenticity, supportiveness, trust, and sense of engagement we get with family, romantic partners, friends, and colleagues. The approach is the same.?A crucial component is the relationship-formative role of communication, including the importance of the ways we show up for employees with good news, as well as difficult conversations. Finally, the different personal realm comprises the external, "environmental" conditions that need to be navigated across nature, society, and work, to bolster resilience and achieve broader impact and legacy. In addition to navigating external conditions, transit executives and leaders have expansive influence over forming these conditions for others.

Transit leaders can begin developing and implementing a sustainable transit safety culture and resilience systems by recognizing and rewarding the transit heroes and sheroes of the pandemic. Arrayed across transit systems are heroes and sheroes of the industry, who brought forward their expertise and acted swiftly when the transit system needed them most. Transit employees helped transit systems rapidly adapt to complex and brutal circumstances during COVID-19, moving with new speed and agility. Many transit heroes and sheroes pushed aside blockades of bureaucracy and cut red tape to connect with people and solve safety issues in real-time, regardless of seniority or standard operating procedures.?

These heroes and sheroes need to be recognized and rewarded by transit systems leaders.?For example, an article dated April 30, 2021, titled MARTA Frontline Employees To Receive One-Time COVID-19 Pandemic Payment cites, The Metropolitan Atlantic Rapid Authority (MARTA) is providing a one-time $3,500 COVID-19 pandemic payments to its frontline and represented employees, pending approval by the board of directors at its May meeting.?Employees who will receive the payment included bus and rail operators, mechanics, supervisors, and members of the MARTA Police Department with major and below.?While this CEO should be commended for his leadership action, this is only a beginning.

The Future Transit Workforce

The last year has forever changed the way employees view and approach work, but one thing holds. Transit leaders that want to attract and retain the talent they need to move forward must understand the top priorities of their future workforce. They must embrace new, flexible work models and cultivate a workforce that can design their careers. Employees want to determine when and where they work. They want to work with diverse teams. They want to be measured on the value they deliver, not the volume they deliver. And they expect to be given the space and trust they need to do their very best work, wherever they happen to be. Transit leaders who understand and embrace these wants and needs will boost the motivation and engagement of their existing workers and gain the attention of the brightest recruits and take their business to new heights (Minahan, 2021).

American workers are looking for something more meaningful out of work.?According to Daniel Goleman, organizations, including the transit industry that offers it to them, could reap tremendous gains. He points out, in April,?4 million U.S. workers resigned voluntarily from their jobs?— a 20-year record according to the Labor Department. Typically, an upsurge in people quitting their jobs is a sign of a vibrant economy. But as many economists have pointed out, these times aren't normal. On the one hand, the pandemic led to one of the worst recessions in U.S. History. On the other hand, people are leaving their jobs, resulting in some industries experiencing a labor shortage to include the transit industry.

This phenomenon has been dubbed “The Great Resignation,” a term coined by Professor Anthony Klotz of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.?Klotz predicted an upsurge in employee attrition post lockdown, suspecting that many of the people who hunkered down and stayed put in their jobs during the pandemic (especially frontline service workers) were just waiting for the right time to make their exit. "If the vaccinations do what they are supposed to do and the economy comes back, there are a bunch of people who are going to enact their resignation plans," Klotz told the Boston Globe this June. So, what's prompting so many workers to resign? One apparent reason is burnout. Across industries, working conditions throughout the pandemic have been incredibly stressful. Whether they are remote or in person, Gallup polls found that workers' life evaluations dropped over the past year. Sixty-one percent of women and 52% of men said they felt stressed on a typical day, both increasing from before the pandemic (Goleman, 2021).

?Transit CEOs are now facing a career-defining moment of truth. The schism is growing between those who desire a return to normalcy and those who want to sustain new ways of working. According to a Bain survey, 65% of employees are concerned that the pandemic-induced sense of urgency in their organizations will go away. These heroes and sheroes are at risk of disappearing back into the fabric of the pre-crisis organizational hierarchies. And the strong working relationships between those heroes, heroes, and the C-suite, forged through the challenges of Covid-19, are at risk of fading away alongside bad pandemic memories (Minahan, 2021).

It bears repeating; transit systems leaders will need to prioritize, reskilling, and upskilling to attract and retain the talent they need to make their system grow. Those who do will boost the motivation of their existing workers and gain the attention of the brightest new recruits and position themselves to emerge from the pandemic not just where they were, but in a stronger, better position to move forward. The last year has forever changed the way employees view and approach work, but one thing holds true--businesses that want to attract and retain the talent they need to move forward must understand the top priorities of their future workforce. They must embrace new, flexible work models and cultivate a workforce that can design their careers. In doing so, they will boost the motivation and engagement of their existing workers and gain the attention of the brightest new recruits and take their business to new heights (Minahan, 2021). Diversity, equity, and inclusion must be at the forefront of a future transit workforce

In an article dated August 3, 2021, titled FTA to launch National Transit Workforce Center. “The Federal Transit Administration announced the award of a cooperative agreement totaling $5 million to the International Transportation Learning Center to support the first Transit Workforce Center (TWC). The authority established the TWC to conduct workforce development in technical assistance activities for transit agencies, with a strong focus on frontline transit worker skill development.?The ITLC will help organizations and create new programs, including apprenticeships.?The TWC aims to help address the national transit worker shortage and improve diversity and equity in the transit industry workforce. The ITLC will serve as the authority's first-ever national technical assistance center to help transit agencies recruit, hire, train and retain a diverse workforce needed now and in the future."

Let me be honest; I read this article with mixed emotions.?Not knowing all the facts, I have significant concerns with the FTA initiative.?Does the transit industry need an apprenticeship program? Is this the real problem, or is this a made-up problem? Also, I have serious trouble with the statement “improve diversity and equity in the transit industry workplace.”?The term improves diversity, equity, and inclusion with an apprenticeship program, I don't think so. This is the epitome of safety wickedness. ?Knowing that the employees FTA is seeking to train are mainly African Americans and people of color, why did FTA not include Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in this effort??This effort is symbolic, a failure, and unforgiven.?Yes, a transit system with a learning culture can build a more inclusive culture.?However, the transit industry doesn't have a learning culture.?An apprenticeship program will not create a learning culture, neither improve diversity and equity in the transit industry.?It’s important to note that a transit safety culture does not operate in isolation. The attempt to build a learning culture without a sustainable safety culture will most likely be unsuccessful.

A transit safety culture that emphasizes caring, collaboration, belonging, psychological safety, and mutual trust will provide a foundation for diversity and inclusion, but that isn’t sufficient on its own. What’s interesting about learning cultures is that they differentiated the diverse and inclusive transit systems from those that are not. For example, Asian Railways have a learning culture because training and development are at the forefront of their safety culture. Safety wickedness doesn't exist in Asian Railways because transit leaders and all employees are well-trained and have excellent service delivery.

Transit systems with learning-oriented cultures will seek out, and value individuals (heroes/sheroes) who bring unique and varied perspectives and experiences to the table and will be better positioned to increase diversity within the workforce. Creating a more diverse workplace requires a shift away from the status quo — something that learning cultures could do if transit leaders are open and accepting of the change.

Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Through A Learning Cultures

?According to Deloitte, learning cultures emphasize openness, creativity, and exploration. As Robin Ely and David Thomas show in their research, these are the same characteristics needed to?tap the benefits of a diverse workplace and ensure that a wide range of perspectives and experiences are heard, valued, and embraced. This type of transit culture can create an inclusive environment and boost the retention of a diverse workforce. One study found that 47% of people actively looking for new jobs cited company culture?as the main reason. In organizations where differing perspectives and voices are silenced, ignored, or neglected, we expect leaders will struggle with managing, hiring, and retention.

Altogether, the foundation provided by a learning culture can promote the selection of a more diverse workforce while decreasing attrition. Eighty percent of respondents to a Deloitte survey reported that?diversity and inclusion are essential in choosing an employer. Once an organization has established a reputation as a diverse and inclusive work environment, with clear opportunities for advancement and development, it will continue to attract a diverse workforce.?I am concerned that the FTA believes an apprenticeship program will improve diversity, equity, and inclusion.

A Harvard Business Review (HBR) that surveyed readers revealed that 65% of respondents did not think their organizations were diverse and inclusive. I believe a survey of the transit industry would reveal the same or a higher respondent. When the researchers separated the organizations rated highly for diversity and inclusion from those that received low marks, some cultural differences emerged. Among organizations rated as very or highly diverse and inclusive, 14% had an organizational culture in which learning was the most salient culture style. In comparison, among organizations rated as not at all or not very diverse and inclusive, only 8% ranked learning as the most salient style. Remember, I stated that the transit industry doesn’t have a learning culture.

The survey found that as the level of diversity and inclusion reported by respondents increased, so did the organizational emphasis on learning. Among organizations that were not at all or not very diverse and inclusive, learning ranked as the sixth most salient culture style (out of eight styles); among organizations that were very or highly diverse and inclusive, learning ranked as the third most salient culture style. When the researchers zoomed out further, they found that organizations that are rated as diverse and inclusive had cultures more heavily weighted toward flexibility and independence. In contrast, organizations that were not diverse and inclusive had cultures that tended toward greater interdependence. While one might expect interdependence to be a good thing for inclusion, interdependent organizations tend to focus on tradition, rules, and continuity — all of which can get in the way of change and the acceptance of new and different voices.?

The transit industry needs a learning culture; however, transit leaders must know that a learning culture is but one component of a sustainable safety culture.?If transit leaders work to develop and implement a sustainable transit safety culture that includes the things discussed in the Deloitte research findings, such as collaboration, caring, trust, and belonging, the HBR research finding and other material cited, diversity, equity, and inclusion will automatically align, accidents and incidents will be reduced, and performance will improve.

Summary

Bishop Michael Curry asked the question, what is the opposite of Love? Yes, most respondents answered with the word hate. Farther Curry states it is selfishness.?Why is it important to talk about selfishness in this safety culture context??Because, hopefully, it will raise awareness about advantages and disadvantages with transit leaders, it will challenge norms and behaviors that have worked against underrepresented groups, such as transit frontline workers, and the conversation might lead to a more diverse and inclusive transit safety culture.?Yes, I believe that transit industry leaders' failure to develop and implement a sustainable safety culture is selfishness and the result of safety wickedness.

However, transit leaders can address their vulnerabilities. Transit leaders can redesign system structures, policies, and processes to support the evolution toward developing and implementing a sustainable safety culture that includes a learning-centric culture. This may consist of adjusting hiring and interview procedures to identify new and existing employees who are curious and open to change. To build a learning culture, onboarding processes should be redesigned accordingly. For example, because learning opportunities often come from those different from oneself, orientations can be structured to help new employees build cross-functional relationships. Training programs for existing employees can focus on envisioning new opportunities and possibilities outside of long-established routines and provide job rotations that allow exposure to different parts of the transit system.

A critical need exists in the transit workplace for leaders to reexamine their position on developing and implementing a sustainable transit safety culture because it is the right thing to do.?The workplace has changed, and transit workers' attitudes have changed as well. Transit leaders are challenged and will be challenged well into the future finding and retaining employees.?Transit leaders must face their vulnerabilities, step up, show up, and lead with distinction.?First, transit leaders must admit their safety wickedness and vulnerabilities and open themselves up to listening and learning from those that know and have been around the system for years.?It is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of strength.

Transit leader must stipulate their safety value and understand that their safety value will serve as a yardstick that employees will use to gauge their perceptions of you, determine whether to trust you and measure whether you care and support their belonging and psychological safety in their workplace.?Transit leaders must treat frontline workers and all workers with dignity and respect.?Transit leaders must create opportunities for others to shine and find their genuine authenticity.

REFERENCES

Allen, J., and O'Keeffe, D. (2021), Your Employees Stepped Up in a Crisis. What Happens When It's Over? Harvard Business Review, https://www.hbr.org

?Cheng, J.Y., and Groysberg (2021), Research: What Inclusive Companies Have in Common, Harvard Business Review, https://www.hbr.org

?Curry, M. (2021), Love Is The Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times, Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House, New York.

Cadsby, T. (2011), The Wickedness Behind Most 21st-Century Leadership Failures, Harvard Business Review, https://www.hbr.org

?Deloitte, Building resilience: How C-suite executives can not only bounce back but bounce up from adversity, https://www.deloitte.com/about

?Goleman, D., (2021) Finding Purpose During the Great Resignation. https://www.kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership/finding-purpose-during-the-great-resignation?utm_campaign=08-12-21

?Kets de Vries, M. (2014), Coaching the Toxic Leader, Harvard Business Review, https: www.hbr.org.

?MARTA Frontline Employees To Receive One-Time COVID-19 Pandemic Payment, https://www.itsmarta.com/frontline-employees-receive-one-time-covid-payment.aspx

?McElveen, L. (2012), Understanding the Complexities of Transit Safety, Metro.Org.

?Minaham, T. (2021), What Your Future Employees Want Most, Harvard Business Review, https://www.hbr.org

?Reason, J. (2008). The Human Contribution: Unsafe Acts, Accidents and Heroic Recoveries: Ashgate Publishing

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