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Three Factors that InfluenceWorkplace Culture A Report into improving Safety and Staff Morale

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stations to give a highly visual cue that fare evading was no longer permissible.

Interestingly, by focusing on a petty crime, something unusual happened. Police initially resisted the idea of chasing down people for not paying $1.25, but what they found was that it led them to the people they really wanted. One out of seven arrestees had an outstanding warrant for a previous crime, and one in twenty were carrying weapons.

Cleaning up fare evasion gave police the satisfying mission of netting the criminals doing real damage to the community.

By focusing on the smallest details in the immediate environment, the crime epidemic in New York was dramatically reversed.

8 Telltale Signs of Poor Safety

So if a broken window attracts more crime, does this mean that a workplace that is poorly cared for has more injuries?

And the answer is simple: yes.

As one experienced safety professional explained to me, he could tell how well a site performed on safety by checking out the staff kitchen. A messy, dirty kitchen meant a high injury rate, while a meticulously kept kitchen meant a low injury rate.

His anecdotal experience is now backed up research.

Graffiti and Crime

Back in the 1980’s, New York had the worst crime rates in its history. Travelling on the subway was extremely dangerous with regular muggings and beatings.

As recalled by John F. Conn, a photographer interviewed in The Daily Beast, “It smelled a lot. 14th Street, Union Square, was basically a urine stop. The air conditioning never worked. People rode between cars because it was the only way to stay cool. And there was a way higher crime rate in the subway than on the streets. Everyone knew it. You avoided falling asleep at all costs.”

Then, by the 1990’s the crime rate fell quickly into decline. Murders dropped by two-thirds and the number of felonies on the subway decreased by three-quarters.

So why did crime fall, and fall so quickly?

According to Malcolm Gladwell, in the book, “The Tipping Point”, crime is actually contagious and works like an epidemic.

James Wilson and George Kelling, two criminologists label this “The Broken Windows Theory”. This is when crime starts with a broken window and then spreads to an entire community. If a broken window is left unrepaired, people walking past it will assume no-one is in charge. Within a short space of time, more windows will be broken creating a subtle indication that anything goes.

There were two subtle signals that cleaned up New York.

The first one was highly visible graffiti. David Gunn, the New York subway director in the late 1980’s, insisted that graffiti was “symbolic of the collapse of the system” and in his new role, started to clean the trains and the train lines one by one.

While the subway was being scrubbed clean, the Transit Authority hired William Bratton as the Head of the Transit Police. He decided to focus on fare evasion. Fare evaders were arrested and put into handcuffs, then daisy chained along fences at train

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sign that great safety performance is expected; there are also other signs that indicate a poor safety culture:

2. Work/Life Balance

The same research study by DeJoy also found that when work interfered with family life or family demands - job performance was affected. In fact, the risk for injury increased by 37 percent.

You can hear evidence of this by listening to staff complaining about being tired because of their working hours and not spending enough personal time with their family.

3. Safety not integrated into the Business

Progressive companies with a best in class safety records include safety in all of their decisions.  Safety is tabled as a topic for every board meeting and all departments consider safety in their projects.

Traditionally, HR and safety have worked separately.  According to DeJoy "A lot of organisations including progressive, organisations, are set up so there's a wall between HR and occupational health and safety", he says "But the two can no longer afford to work in silos - they need to break down those walls".  HR has an important contribution to make when it comes to creating a culture that values safety, ranging from selecting the right people to putting in place the right work/life programs.

While Jonathan Thomas, manager of survey research services at the National Safety Council in Itasca III, agrees that greater collaboration between HR and occupational health and safety professionals is crucial.  "It's apparent that the things HR leaders are most concerned about are also the building blocks for building a safe workplace," he says.

But it’s not just HR and Safety that operate in silos to the detriment of the company. Compartmentalizing risk along business function lines such as "operational risk", "safety risk" and "IT risk" is also an issue.

According to "Managing Risks: A New Framework" by Robert S. Kaplan and Anette Mikes in the June 2012 Harvard Business Review magazine, one of the flaws in human thinking is that we tend to label

1. Clean Kitchen, Clean Safety Record

According to a study by Dave DeJoy and Todd Smith from the University of Georgia's College of Public Health, they found a well-kept site means safety is a priority.

DeJoy says "If you talk to people who do safety inspections, they will often tell you that the first impression they get when they walk into a factory or construction site - how neat it is and whether employees seem to be actively engaged.  Tells them whether or not a workplace is safe or not he says.  Now, we have the numbers that back this up across a wide range of settings".

Companies that look after the seemingly little things, such as ensuring everyone is wearing PPE without tears and holes, equipment is safe and operational and that working areas are clean and tidy, send out subtle messages that the workplace is important and so are the people working in it.

If graffiti and broken windows signify that anarchy is appropriate, then an ordered, clean space signifies that only careful and efficient behavior is tolerated.

Crime is contagious.  So is not caring about where you work and the safety of your workmates.  Organisations that allow untidiness and broken equipment are subconsciously saying that safety and equipment aren’t important. By fixing up the little things in your environment (eg: broken/unsafe machinery, PPE that needs replacing), you fix up the safety culture.

While keeping clean workplace premises, is one proven

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They are also an important doorway between senior and frontline staff. Great supervisors need the skills to facilitate open and equal communications with both levels. Evidence of a great supervisor is that everyone, at all levels, can communicate with them and things get done. It also means that accurate injury reporting is being undertaken.

5. Us versus Them

We see ourselves in terms of other people and groups. Evolution has taught us that it is beneficial to live in tribes, where we can share out the work of daily survival. At the workplace, staff want to feel like their part of a group. After all, it’s important that they feel like they’re part of a team. And a successful one (just think about how passionately people feel about their football club).

In the book, “Drive”, by Daniel Pink, he mentioned that former US labour secretary Robert B. Reich developed a simple diagnostic tool to assess the health of any company.  When Reich talks to employees, he listens carefully for the pronouns they use.  Do staff refer to their company as "we" or "they"?

"They" suggests disengagement and at its worst, alienation. While "we" suggests that employees feel as if they are part of something meaningful and significant.

If you walk around any factory or construction site and hear workers talking about "they" when referring to the company, you know that both morale and safety are issues. Again, this is when a good supervisor can smooth out any bumps between management and the workforce.

6. Poor performing toolbox talks.

A further sign of cultural issues is when staff avoid attending toolbox talks or being involved in the conversation.

predictable and familiar risk.

By doing this, companies effectively dissolve both information and responsibility for effective risk management.  It inhibits discussion of how the different risks interact with one another.

All risks need to be looked at holistically rather than put into silos. Good risk discussions must be confrontational, but lead to all risks being integrated.Physical evidence of this is when safety and HR don't talk to each other in corridors or communicate very rarely. Organisational risks are also categorised by department, with each department responsible for their own risk domain.

4. The Importance of Supervisors

In the book "First, Break all the Rules" by Marcus Buckingham, his research found the relationship between an employee and their supervisor determined how long an employee will stay in a company and their level of productivity.

Staff that have a good relationship with their supervisor or manager enjoyed their job more and stayed at the company longer.  One of the key criteria for being a great manager was they performed highly for communication.

So is there a link between good supervisors and good safety?

The answer is a resounding, yes.

Various research studies have shown that positive communication relations between supervisors and employees improve safety performance.

Importantly, where employees are able to more freely raise safety concerns because their supervisor encourages communication, fewer accidents occur, provided that management takes action on the safety issues.

A good supervisor fosters positive safety attitudes and encourages sharing important safety-related information. 

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At workplaces, the majority of staff believe that safety isn’t their responsibility – it’s their safety managers.In The Change Management Handbook: A Road Map to Corporate Transformation, Lance Berger and Martin Sikora declare: "Human behaviour in the workplace is conditioned by a number of factors. It not only is governed by corporate imperatives, but also is conditioned by the employee's own values. Thus, the success of the enterprise depends in large measure on the extent to which these two value systems...the corporate and the personal...are in harmony. Behaviour and values must be viewed in this context”.

Good safety behaviour means an individual will take responsibility for their own safety, look out for their workmates and cooperate at meetings to let safety leaders know about important safety issues.

According to the Study, “Change in attitude fosters responsibility for safety”, by Topf, Michael D; Petrino, Richard A. Professional Safety 40. 12 (Dec 1995): 24, a value system that places importance on safety will manifest itself in these kinds of behaviours.

In addition, employees are more likely to proactively discuss safety issues and voice concerns without prompting. Such proactive behaviour only occurs when employees are aligned into preventive safety efforts. Without attitudinal changes and a strong sense of personal accountability, people will remain unaccountable for safety. Instead, they will return to unsafe behaviour or inaction once the observer is removed.

Companies need to constantly communicate to employees the importance of personal responsibility of safety.

8. Safety is not a priority

As mentioned previously, companies that are great at safety include safety in all their decisions and make it a priority. Every-one in the company knows that safety is important.

Poor-performing companies tend to bury their head in the sand about safety. Senior leaders avoid helping safety professionals promote new safety initiatives and seem disinterested in safety matters. The board also omits having regular safety discussions, seeing it is as an

In "Candor, Criticism, Teamwork" written by Keith Ferrazzi for Harvard Business Review in January 2012, his research found that high performance teams have high levels of candour among team members.  High candour workplaces have colleagues speaking honestly about the risks involved and other issues, rather than talking behind people's backs.  While it is understandable that people prefer to avoid conflict, it's debilitating for organisations.  Lack of candour contributes to slow decision making and longer cycle times. The higher the candour, the better the business performance.

But a high candour workplace needs the right organisational culture to allow it to flourish.  In fact, low candour workplaces signify a highly politicized workplace where people do what they told and do not question anything. A high performance workplace allows for two way communication between frontline staff and management. In fact, a study by Christine Boedker from the Australian School of Business reported in BOSS magazine (October 2012) has found that the difference between high performing and low performing workplaces are that staff, at all levels of the company, welcome feedback and criticism.

In the same study, it was found that if leadership skills of front-line managers were improved from the bottom10%, to reach the top-performing 10%, that would have a positive impact on EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax) of 8.2%.

Companies with a positive culture, have engaging toolbox meetings where everyone feels safe to talk about their issues and changes get made. Supervisors also freely share safety information.

7. Lack of responsibility.

Humans tend to blame external factors for their failures and internalize the causes of their successes.

But to be a truly responsible and mature adult – we need to take personal responsibility for all of our actions. Both good and bad. Yet, very few people are able to do this (in fact, those that do tend to be in the top 5% of income earners).

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down, it won’t be because of cheerleading or the nonsense you sometimes hear from other CEOs.  It will be because the individuals at this company have agreed to become part of something important: They’ve devoted themselves to creating a habit of excellence.  Safety will be an indicator that we’re making progress in changing our habits across the entire institution. That’s how we should be judged.”

At the end of his speech, the crowd ran out the door as if there was a fire.   All in a panic stricken rush to sell their Alcoa stock as fast as they could.

Those who held onto their Alcoa stock were handsomely rewarded.  Within a year of O'Neill's speech, Alcoa's profits hit a record high.  By the year 2000, when O'Neill retired, Alcoa's market capitalisation was 5 times more than what it was in 1987.

What makes Paul O'Neill’s, speech so striking is that he used the power of the public to put much needed pressure on the company to improve safety.  Yet, at the same time he increased his own reputational risk and responsibilities. If there is one thing that makes staff distrust the company they work for, it’s when their needs are always being ignored. But the real genius behind O’Neil’s speech was that he let staff know, subtly, without telling them directly, was that he was a CEO they could trust to keep them safe. He also let the world know, that safety was a priority at Alcoa, which it is still to this day.

annoying operational expense.

Yet, the irony is, that highly successful companies have great safety records and include safety in all their plans.

Alcoa Put Safety First

On a windy day in October 1987, the new CEO of Alcoa, Paul O'Neill, gave his maiden speech to shareholders.  Most CEO's would use this opportunity to get shareholders excited that they were going to focus the company on increasing sales and reducing costs, for improved shareholder return.  But O'Neill was different.

“I want to talk to you about worker safety.”  In an instant, shareholders wondered why he had omitted to talk about improving profits.  After all, Alcoa was in a mess. 

“Every year, numerous Alcoa workers are injured so badly that they miss a day of work.  Our safety record is better than the general workforce, especially considering that our employees work with metals that are 1500 degrees and we have machines that can rip a

man’s arm off.  But it’s not good enough.  I intend to make Alcoa the safest company in America.  I intend to go for zero injuries.”

As quoted in the he Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg, the audience was confused. Why wasn't O'Neill making them feel warm and fuzzy?  How were they going to make money by focusing on safety?

Eventually, someone raised a hand and asked about inventories in the aerospace division, while another person asked about the company's capital ratios.

O'Neill held firm, “I’m not certain you heard me.  If you want to understand how Alcoa is doing, you need to look at our workplace safety figures.  If we bring our injury rates

Picture recognition vs Text

1987 2001

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Workplace Culture – A New Model

A healthy workplace culture emphasises the importance of safety as part of how the organisation operates. When it comes to high performing organisations, there are three core areas that need to be in balance, in order to create the right environment for safety and productivity.

These are Unity, Compassionate Leadership and Communication. Once you get these three areas in balance, you hit the sweet spot for trust (which is when people feel safe).

The goal in creating a high functioning culture is for staff to trust their senior leaders and to feel safe.

As Simon Sinek says in “Start with a Why”, “only when individuals can trust the culture of an organization as a whole, will they take personal risks to advance the company. Great organisations become great because the people inside feel protected”.

And this desire “to feel safe” is two-fold, it means feeling safe to excel and take risks in your career, but also knowing that you are protected from getting injured at work or from being bullied or harassed by colleagues.

Created by Marie-Claire Ross, Principal Consultant, Digicast Productions ©2012

UnityCommunication

Workplace Culture Model for High Performing Companies

Compassionate Leadership

TransparentClear expectations

Predictable

Group identityTeamwork

Responsibility

Safety OwnershipOpen Discussions

Caring for staffClean workplace

Work/life balanceSafety integrated

Important contributionValues

Emotional connectionsSafety a Priority

TrustTrust

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accountable for their actions and encourage safety ownership on an individual basis, rather than passingresponsibility onto someone else. This can be donethrough communicating the requirement for personalresponsibility and using KPI’s.

Compassionate Leadership/Caring for Staff

We all need to feel loved and appreciated. It’s important that companies convey this to their staff. Not just through words, but through the right actions.

Staff and even visitors, to your workplace, will look for visible signs that staff are highly valued to the organization.

This means seeing evidence of:

A tidy, clean kitchen and toilet area, Clean workspaces, Operational equipment, Clean PPE, and Happy staff working together.

By ensuring a tidy work environment, leaders ensure that subtle messages are given that only productive and safe behavior is tolerated and that safety is a priority.

Other more intrinsic signs are that staff ’s personal needs are considered important and that they are listened to, if they have any concerns.

It also means that all company goals have everyoneworking as a cohesive team and that it does not appearas if profits and shareholders are the main focus forthe company. Safety is integrated into all decisions.

Communication

Regular, clear communication is needed that is driven from the top of the organization, but is communicated at all levels of the company to reinforce:

Unity Messages - that working at the company is ateam effort, that group goals are achievable and thatlooking out for teammates is required, while beingresponsible for your own safety.

Workers look to senior leaders to see that safety is a priority and that they are safe from harm.

For this to happen, senior leaders and management need to balance three inter-related core attributes

Unity

High performing workplaces are unified and have every-one working together as a team. There is no “Us versus Them” mentality.

Humans have an instinctive desire to be part of something bigger than themselves. Even, as young children, we want to be part of a team or club, particularly the cool ones that are doing well.

It’s the same at the workplace.

Staff want to be part of a group. And a successful one that’s going somewhere.

It’s important for companies to cultivate a strong sense of group identity. This means that all communication uses the terms “we” and us”. Inclusive language is used to motivate such as:  "Come on, guys, we're production people we're good at doing things fast!' or "Come on every-one, we're XYZers the best company in our industry, as a leader in our field we can do better than this!"

It also means rallying the team by working towards a collective goal. Companies that are great at this turn their goals into catchy, memorable objectives that are put up everywhere. For example:  Say you goal is to submit "50 reports in 50 days" you could make it catchy by saying "50 to 50".   Get everyone to think of creative way to create visuals of the goal (by creating screen savers, posters, printed pocket sized cards etc).  

Encourage group behavior that works towards achieving company goals. Promote an inclusive atmosphere where people work as a team.

However, the trick here is to still hold people

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not, they can be a roadblock to improving safety in the company.

Supervisors must also encourage open communication with their staff, so that workers feel comfortable about discussing safety concerns and that they will be taken seriously. Supervisors need solid people management skills where they spend time with people and encourage them to towards their goals.

They also need to openly share important safety information.

Across the board, communication at all levels, needs to be open and trusting with all staff able to accept negative feedback for improvement. A high candour workplace, where people are able to speak honestly about the risks involved and other issues is necessary for a high performance culture.

Trust

If you get all of these three inter-related core areas right, you get the most important ingredient for a high functioning workplace and that is TRUST.

Staff that feel safe at their workplace will do whatever it takes to make the company (or their group) happy.

The result is a high performing workplace culture where there is open and transparent communication, a feeling of camaraderie, positivity and respect for fellow workmates

After all, when you trust, you feel safe which is the optimum goal for a high performing culture.

Compassionate Messages - that the company wants the best for staff, that staff contributions are welcomed and that safety is a priority.

People love transparency and no hypocrisy. Any verbal or written communication must also be followed by action, which is in harmony with that message. For example: a CEO speech saying that the company will increase profitability by cutting back on safety related expenses conflicts with saying that staff safety is a priority.

Communication also needs to be predictable and timely, so that staff know when to expect it either weekly or monthly.

Regular communication is required from both senior managers and supervisors, but with a slightly different angle.

Senior Management Communication

Senior management play an integral leadership role in establishing the culture of a company. Ideally, senior leaders are involved with regular communication and that they communicate in a way that produces an emotional connection to the information.

This means incorporating stories, metaphors and visuals, where possible and being available for regular face to face time with staff. It also means showing an interest in staff at all levels and reinforcing the company values and vision.

Senior management must also seek feedback and input from supervisors as to how to best communicate to the frontline staff, before launching any new initiatives. This will ensure that supervisors will persuade workers to accept the new initiative.

Supervisor Communication

Really great supervisors act as the gateway between senior management and frontline staff.

If senior management can get supervisors to embrace new initiatives, they will enthusiastically communicate the benefits to staff and get the team to embrace it. If

Marie-Claire Ross is an emerging though leader in workplace communication and is the Principal Consultant at Digicast Productions, a video production house in Melbourne, Australia. You can connect with her on Linkedin and Twitter.

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