We hear a lot about the significant role trust and credibility play in a safety effort within an organization looking for a step-change in safety performance and culture. I agree with this; however, I take a different view of how this all plays out. If an organization is struggling with trust and credibility in safety, I believe it is simply a reflection of the lack of trust and credibility in every aspect of the business. And I use safety to build that trust and credibility in the organization – not just in the safety movement.; as safety can be a very powerful game changer in many ways – not simply in safety performance! But for safety to be a powerful game changer in building trust and credibility between management and the workers who do the dirty and dangerous work, management MUST LEAD with EMPATHY.
Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. You may know it as the old saying… “Walk a mile in my shoes”. Or as we learned during the pandemic “rules for me, but not for thee”. Nothing erodes trust and credibility more than observed behaviors (and decision-making) that conflict with the words coming out of our leader’s mouths. Whether that be a politician or a company CEO and even more significantly, frontline managers and supervisors who are closer to the actual risks. But it ALL STARTS at the very top.
And since most companies seem to “talk” about safety non-stop, it is this conflict between what workers hear and what they see that leads to a lack of trust and credibility. We have to understand that out of all the business functions, safety is the one that the workers feel they are the closest to and the one that has the greatest impact on their future. This is why we hear so much about the role of trust and credibility in safety; but in reality, a lack of trust and/or credibility in safety is just a magnification of the overall lack of trust within the entire organization and in all facets of the business (e.g. production, cost control, quality controls, maintenance, etc.). But again, I believe that SAFETY CAN LEAD the way to repairing this lack of trust and credibility in the business.
Once employees BELIEVE they matter, they will then begin to be open to discussions which are how we build TRUST and CREDIBILITY within the business initiatives. Face-to-Face, Adult-to-Adult discussions about the employee’s needs and well-being is the game-changer in this effort. These discussions do not need to be about safety, but they are occurring BECAUSE WE CARE ABOUT SAFETY. The discussion could be about production efficiency and improving efficiencies, which in turn improve safety, as most shortcuts in safety occur because of production demands. Of course, most of these discussions need to be directly about safety, but when these discussions are management asking questions and then LISTENING to the employees AND RESPONDING to these needs, great things will begin to happen.
When employees realize management is there to help them be successful in their work, ESPECIALLY in safety, they will begin to believe that their manager cares about them as a PERSON and TEAM MEMBER. But this also requires for the management to realize their role as a COACH and NOT that of a COP (especially in the safety arena -COACH =GOOD; COP = BAD). Both sides have to change their mindset of what their role is, but MANAGEMENT runs the business so this change MUST start within management realizing their approach to MANAGING PEOPLE must change. And that change starts with EMPATHY, which leads to pulling the workers into the decision-making process that affects their jobs (INCLUDING THEIR SAFETY!)
So trust begins and ends with safety! Safety can be the change agent to improve all aspects of the workplace culture. Remember, workers spend more of their woke hours at work than they do at home; so how we manage the workplace has a direct impact on our employees. If we covet their contributions and efforts and appreciate what they bring to the organization, it is amazing just how well the entire business can operate. And we use safety to demonstrate our appreciation for their contributions!
