Ever wondered how a single leader's actions can ripple through an entire company, elevating safety and morale? That's the power of Active Leadership! We cap off our Safe Start Success series with a celebration of leadership that not only preaches safety but practices it with fervor. Episode 6 of 6 discussing Safety Climate Success Factors.
Host: Danny Smith
Guest: Kevin Nix
https://safestart.com/file/idclip/
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032442/episodes/9825473
Ever wondered how a single leader's actions can ripple through an entire company, elevating safety and morale? That's the power of Active Leadership! We cap off our Safe Start Success series with a celebration of leadership that not only preaches safety but practices it with fervor. Episode 6 of 6 discussing Safety Climate Success Factors.
Host: Danny Smith
Guest: Kevin Nix
https://safestart.com/file/idclip/
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1032442/episodes/9825473
Welcome back to Safe Talk with SafeStart. I'm Danny Smith and today we wrap up our Safe Start Success series based upon our recently released White Paper authored by our own Dr Pandore Bryce and Senior Safe Start Consultant Mr Peter Batrowny. Helping me today with the last section on Active Leadership is fellow Safe Start Consultant, Kevin Nix. So, Kevin, first of all, welcome back to the podcast man.
Danny Smith:Hey, Danny, it's my pleasure to be with you, so thanks for having me come aboard so as we're diving into this, Kevin, the Active Leadership is really the logical accumulation of the five success factors before it. We started out talking about the no- blame mindset how understanding that nobody is getting hurt on purpose and blaming folks really isn't going to help certainly not going to help prevent the next accident. We touched on fresh eyes how training leaders to look for human factors really can help them see the true cause of a lot of mistakes. We looked at systems and data, how we can learn from the reporting and integrate the human factors concepts into our systems. Personal commitment is challenging leaders to walk the talk walk the walk, if you will, when it comes to human factors. And then trust and engagement getting leadership to understand that true employee engagement is predicated upon trust. So, again, all of that really sets us up for the sixth and final success factor, which is Active L eadership.
Kevin Nix:Yes, sir. Basically, Active Leadership means that we're to inspire action and others through what we say and what we do. We need to be taking action on input that's provided to us in a timely manner and then make sure we communicate those results back to those individuals that are affected. And, as leaders, it really benefits us and the organizations that we serve to draw to the surface that discretionary energy and effort that lies within those folks that we're leading, obviously leading to more effective change in climate and culture over the long haul.
Kevin Nix:You know ongoing visible engagement of leaders supporting safety. That's identified as a success factor in numerous studies and in safety maturity matrices. Support must be active, both in the leaders' words and their personal actions and in the commitment to investing in safety improvement initiatives. And that has to be done so in a timely manner. All levels of the organization. They need to see and feel that the leadership and when I say leadership now, Danny, I'm talking about leaders from the senior levels all the way down to the frontline supervisors folks need to see and feel this demonstration of their personal and business commitment to safety. You referenced our paper at the onset of this podcast and our paper cites that a study whereby various managerial behaviors or, you know, the lack thereof, are consistently the root causes and approximately 80% of safety issues that result in these process safety and personal injury incidents.
Danny Smith:Yeah, you mentioned something there I'd like to pick up on and expand just a little bit with this subject, and that's visible engagement. So, just so our listeners have a better idea of exactly what we're talking about there, talk a bit more about visible engagement, what we're really meaning when we talk about that. Sure.
Kevin Nix:Visible engagement would include things such as a consistent presence of an employee, centric communication about safety and the normal everyday workflow and I'm speaking of both formal and informal meetings like pre- shift meetings, monthly updates, any kind of newsletters or media publications, those sorts of things. They have to be consistent and it has to focus on the employees, with the language and the narratives that are shared, and then a clear articulation of what's accountable, or, excuse me, to the accountabilities for safety, and this is at all levels and I must share here. This must be consistently applied. We can't be inconsistent with application for what the accountabilities are. Another thing that comes to mind is like a regular flow follow- through on those things that are accountabilities. We need to analyze and then make sure that we're taking action on what we're learning, don't just accept things for the way they are.
Danny Smith:So really just focus in and define what the what the expectations are up front, right as a part of what you're talking about there.
Kevin Nix:Yes, sir, it's kind of hard to hold somebody accountable if they don't know what the expectations are. So we have to be crystal clear with what those are, and then here's how we're going to hold everyone accountable. Sure, I mentioned the investment in safety related improvements. That's. That's something that's that has to be essential in a business In order to move that climate and that culture forward.
Kevin Nix:I think one thing that a lot of organizations tend to maybe they're not aware of or they just don't take the time, but that's celebrating some of our successes. Let's not make a big to do about it, but, hey, those things that are accomplished, let's let's really celebrate personal involvement. You know people sharing of their own experiences and their own safety stories, not just in a like a you know a conference room, but out on the floor where we're engaging with, with the frontline associates, and then, additionally, when we have training initiatives, partner and show up and train with the folks that you're leading and some organizations there tends to be a segmentation, if you will, where associates attend and then leadership attends. We're proponents of combining those groups, if you will, into one.
Kevin Nix:And then, if I could go just a little bit deeper on the personal storytelling that helps illustrate the human factors that are prevalent within every one of us, and the concepts not only humanize us as that leader, but people are more likely to retain those lessons and the information that's conveyed in that story versus reciting, maybe, what they've learned from a PowerPoint or something like that. You know not, we don't want to get too deep in the weeds of, like, the neuroscience, but the subconscious of every one of our brains, Danny, we can't determine between a story that we hear from those, somebody that experienced that personally, or something that's imagined. So we call this vicarious learning and, Larry, he says it quite often lots and lots of stories. We're actually laying down new neuro- pathways, which leads to the change that we want to see in ourselves and others.
Danny Smith:Sure, and that's one of the reasons why we do, as Larry said there, you know, with lots and lots of stories. That's where the value is, because it does help ingrain those things into our minds and that's so critical. And I just love the idea of personalizing those stories and, you know, when a leader shares something that happens to them, it just it makes it real, you know, and it also lets the, the employees, know. Hey, it's not just me. Regardless of your position or your role in the organization, we are all human and these human factors certainly affect all of us. Let's talk a little bit about organizations that are really looking to improve in the idea of human factors in general, but also just with the visible engagement.
Kevin Nix:I'm thinking about a couple of things that could really really help specifically Rate Your State and SafeLead. Yes, sir, in workplaces where there's no current practice of middle and even senior- level leadership going out on the shop floor, the manufacturing floor and having safety talks or something like that, informally with workers, you know, a best practice is to assign those leaders to do safety rounds, or what we like to refer to as like floor walks. These can be helpful to provide these leaders with a simple structure for these conversations on the floor, for example, like a friendly greeting and a couple of open-ended questions about safety. Now, before I move into asking of the questions, I like to find something kind of unique about that person that I'm engaging with and I know you're from Alabama, so you're an Alabama fan. So if I walked up upon you and I saw a big Alabama sweatshirt or you know that logo on a hat that you're wearing, one of the first things I'm going to do is say, Danny, I didn't realize that you were, you know, an Auburn fan. And what that does is it kind of breaks the ice and it gets you to kind of relax a little bit and it kind of it sets the stage, and then I can kind of segue into some of those questions that are open-ended.
Kevin Nix:I'm not looking for a yes or no. I really want a discussion to be generated by what I'm asking. An example would be like okay, what's the most dangerous part of your job? And then, when workers experience that, that, that sort of a question. Or maybe even, hey, if you could forecast the next injury or accident that could occur here or would occur here, where do you forecast that's going to to occur?
Kevin Nix:When these folks feel these leaders engaging with them on this level as well as learning about their interest, hey, just saying a simple thank you or a fist bump for something that they did, a pat on the back when we are asking about safety- related concerns, frequently being personable and then listening to what they are offering, suggestion wise back to us, and then when we give the resources that they are needing to address these safety issues and, Danny, that goes a long way improving that we are committed as a company and as a leadership team, and it's not just lip service. You know, you're right. Rate Your State as well as SafeLead, both of these provide leaders with tools and skills to accomplish what I just mentioned.
Danny Smith:Sure, yeah, it reminds me of the, the old quote from I think it was Teddy Roosevelt, yeah, and you've probably heard it in. Our listeners have as well. You know, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And just engaging people at that personal level, talking to them about you know, their sports team or whatever it is it's, it just makes you know, it does make it very personal. You know, that's the thing and it breaks the ice a bit there and gets people engaged.
Danny Smith:Fo r those of you not familiar with Rate Your State or with SafeLead depending on the culture.
Danny Smith:Those are just tools that really begin with leadership and it really helps to engage employees and start those conversations like we're talking about, gets them to particularly with Rate Your State, gets them to think about where their level of rushing, frustration, fatigue and complacency is in the moment and really get some thinking about, okay, well, what are you about to be doing over the next hour, two hours, four hours, whatever it is, and get some to think about, okay, what errors could stem from those increased levels of whichever state or whichever human factor it is.
Danny Smith:I think it's just a great, great resource that can be done at a personal level but certainly can be used as a part of a conversation tool, employee to employee, but certainly with leaders talking to employees as well, and with Safe Lead. Kevin, I know you've done a lot of work with Safe Lead over the past couple of years. It's really a process where supervisors learn how to better coach people, how to identify and respond to human factors in real time. You can get more information on that for our listeners from your client manager. Kevin, I'm sure you'd be loved just love to talk to folks about that as well. I know how much of work you've done with that and how much you enjoy that process, but I'm just amazed how much impact that one person starting to have these conversations can really have on the, the overall climate and culture of an organization.
Kevin Nix:Yeah, Danny, I'm always excited to talk about our process as SafeLead being one of those. So if there's any, anytime, anybody would like to have a discussion, I'm more than willing. But you mentioned that one person can actually change the trajectory of climate and culture. Yes, sir, absolutely, significant influence from a leadership perspective, not just with the folks on their own team, but even within the entire organization. And let me go on record and say that this leadership can influence for the good or for the bad.
Kevin Nix:Now, many of us have had the experience of being subjective to an ineffective or even a toxic leader. You know these folks that spread negativity so fast and things like frustration and disengagement become evident across the entire team. The shared misery you can feel it, I mean it's palpable and it's very, very taxing. I know I've had some experiences with that and I definitely don't want to have anybody that I coach or consult with to experience. And with safety, ineffective leadership not only is unpleasant, it puts people, our workers, those that we're responsible for at risk.
Kevin Nix:On the other hand, an effective leader can influence the safety climate within that same team rather quickly, creating something as much as like a shared experience of looking out for one another, working together in tandem to solve problems. It's not about the leader having all of the solutions. As a matter of fact, the solutions, through my experience, generally come the better solutions come from that collaborative effort with the team members. These individual pockets of effective safety climate eventually add up to an improved employee experience with safety in the organization overall and is mentioned with a number of those safety climate studies. It's indicative and it's prevalent there. But this approach not only leads to sustainable gains with safety, but within other performance metrics throughout the organization, such as productivity and quality, those are impacted on the positive side as well.
Danny Smith:Sure, as we talked about before, the safety climate is so heavily dependent upon the people systems and the supervisors the leaders are. That's definitely a part of that people system, along with the culture and climate of the organization, an active leadership, as you said. I mean, it's just a such a key contributor to those people systems.
Kevin Nix:Danny, it's. I mean it's. It's evident through, obviously, my experience, your experience and throughout the industry that we serve building relationships with employees through those conversations being prevalent, being seen on the on the shop floor, not just when things are going bad or we're behind the eight ball, but when things are going well and we're talking and asking about safety and then acting on any improvements, whether it's to our system or to one of our processes. All of these are top contributors.
Kevin Nix:There's another aspect of safety leadership that's inherent, I believe, in many of the safety climate success factors psychological and psychosocial safety. We're talking about effective leaders who have established a high quality relationship with their unit members, where we demonstrate that we care about their psychological well welfare. This caring extends to the physical well being where there are situations that involved like heightened levels of risk, something that's kind of out of the norm, and these folks are obviously presented with a with a higher level of risk and hazard. We're being proactive and preemptive by demonstrating how much we care about these folks day in and day out, and the resultant supervisory practices that we've mentioned. They've been shown to affect the very targets of that safety climate perception, the perceived priority of safety versus those competing operational challenges or demands.
Kevin Nix:Once again, safety is not in competition with quality and productivity, to actually complementary. Because of the way we're leading actively and so, as a leader who personally demonstrates that self- awareness about everyday human factors, every day human stressors that we feel, as well as being aware and cognizant of what other folks feel, couple that with the risk. Where we actively improve conditions for our team members, on both the technical side and the people side of things, and then when we provide the tools for those individuals to improve their personal awareness and becoming more resilient, that will influence the team's safety climate and the overall work performance, absolutely you mentioned psychological and psychosocial safety, and psychosocial safety integrate some of those key aspects of both psychology and sociology to understand and to manage the human dimensions of safety.
Danny Smith:And as a discipline, psychosocial safety extends well beyond the mechanics or the you know kind of the mechanics or that we've seen in the past with some of the behavioral based safety approaches. Not knocking those is just we need to expand beyond what we have looked at in the past or those and psychological safety, on the other hand, really has to do with.
Danny Smith:Like you were talking about creating a climate where people feel safe, talking about their safety concerns and you know our podcast partner, Tim Page-Bottorff, did this an excellent podcast on psychological safety a while back.
Danny Smith:I'll be sure to stick links to that podcast in, along with the complete white paper in the show notes as well. And I think a key thing to that when you have the psychosocial and psychological safety working for you as it should in your organization, that's when things really begin to click. And like you're talking about, sometimes, when you have a problem, you have an issue, maybe as a supervisor or a leader, you haven't even seen it, but the answer to that problem is right there and the people on the shop floor know what that is and they can help you with that and make the entire operation safer. And you make you change the culture and climate at the same time, because now they feel involved. Right, and that's really what you're talking about there. Yes, sir, yeah, Kevin, thanks so much for carving out your time with us today for the podcast. Always great to have you here and join us.
Kevin Nix:It's always a pleasure Danny, so anytime.
Danny Smith:So for Kevin and the entire Safe Talk team. Thanks so much for letting us share part of your day and remember to share these episodes with others. For Safe Talk with Safe Start. I'm Danny Smith. Thanks so much for joining us and have a great day.