SMBWA is an unstructured hands-on approach in which managers directly participate in their subordinates’ work-related activities. In contrast to rigid and remote management approaches, SMBWA drives managers to spend a significant amount of time informally visiting work areas and interacting with employees. The practice is unscheduled, casual, and friendly. As managers walk around they can chat with employees. The two (2) main purposes of MBWA are given below:
1) Leadership
SMBWA can build quality relationships between managers and employees which in turn facilitate employee motivation and encourage employee involvement. For example, Fombrun et al. (1984) suggest that when managers ‘walk around’ the shop floor or assembly line, there is an implicit invitation to the employees to repay the visit. Kunda (1992) argues that the SMBWA initiative encourages and reinforces a managerial ‘people-focused’ approach. He claims that ongoing interaction between employees and managers builds relationships of trust and good communication. In the field of safety, trust and quality of relationships between managers and employees were found to be essential for safety (Kath et al., 2010; Luria, 2010).
Furthermore, leadership quality/style was found to be positively related to safety level (Barling et al., 2002; Hofmann et al., 2003; Yagil and Luria, 2010; Zohar, 2002; Zohar and Luria,
2010), and the employees of leaders that interact more about safety were shown to behave in a safer manner and even to have lower injury rates (Zohar, 2002; Zohar and Luria, 2003). Thus we propose that SMBWA can improve manager-employee relationships within organizations and facilitate employee safety motivation.
2) Learning
Luthra (2004) suggests that the purpose of MBWA is to collect quantitative information, listen to suggestions and complaints and to keep a finger on the pulse of the organization. Callaway (1999) feels that the observant manager can detect problems firsthand by watching the workers, talking to them about their work, and by looking at work results rather than at summaries and reports. Harte (1997) suggests that a good manager can detect problems before they become severe by keeping physically in touch with every facet of a business organization. Another purpose of MBWA is learning how work is done in ‘real time’. This is exploring firsthand the existing and potential constraints and obstacles that should be confronted, corrected, and controlled to achieve management quality and production objectives. In short, SMBWA can be defined as an organizational learning mechanism (OLM) that provides management with opportunities to react and provide feedback on the safety information they have acquired. Safety-related OLMs were found to promote high reliability and improve safety in organizations (Allen et al., 2010; Hofmann and Stetzer, 1996). Thus, we propose that SMBWA can provide practical tools to promote safe learning within organizations.
Source: Safety management by walking around (SMBWA): A safety intervention program based on both peer and manager participation
Gil Luriaa,∗, Ido Moragb
a Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, Department of Human Services, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel
b Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Ramat-Gan, Israel
