Transformational Executive Safety Leadership Communication

Prologue:

Is this information enough to motivate executives to address the most lethal hazards to employees and public safety? Is it enough to motivate executive participation in transformational safety leadership communication? I have often written that information is not communication. That can only happen within a relationship of trust and respect. High reliability cultures claim to have those characteristics.

Karolene Petitt's PhD study (2019) pierces the veil of High Reliability labels. It gives us a rare view into the bottom of a cultural iceberg that should be cause for concern even in the most "positive" organizational cultures. She is the Delta Airlines Pilot who won a large settlement because she was wrongfully removed as a pilot. The airline claimed she was mentally ill and lost. It looks like Delta will have to relabel itself as an "aspiring high reliability culture" (See Carnes, 2022).

I now more fully understand her story. She wrote many novels and a couple of nonfiction books revealing some of the shortcomings in the aviation industries based on her PhD thesis. That can be found here.

Delta or airlines receives high ratings for their customer service. It is in a high reliability industry. Yet, it is well known that "Workplace safety" is not treated as a high reliability priority. Of concern is that almost 6000 pilots worldwide answered three survey questions that give pause to rethink how we are separating safe from unsafe.

*How likely is it that employee suggestions are taken into consideration by your employer? Per the results, 41% highly unlikely to unlikely; 14% I’m sure. Thus, 54% of the pilots queried were unsure or believed they would not be taken into consideration. This talented industry is actually in the same boat with the medical industry where 58% of the nurses said they would not speak.

*How likely are you to critique or report any part of your employers training if you perceived it as substandard? Pilots answered 25% unlikely and 8 percent unsure. This makes one in three pilots holding back on valuable information.

*How likely are you to agree with the following statement—the best way to have a successful career as a pilot is to keep quiet and not make waves? Per the results, 44% likely to extremely likely keep quiet; 10% I’m sure. Again similar to the nursing profession, 54% of the pilots queried were unsure or believed it was best to keep quiet.

Transformational Executive Safety Leadership Communication

Using a compilation of studies and personal experience I’ve identified a transformational executive safety leadership communication framework to transform organizational performance with a focus on health and safety. First, there are eight elements common to successful long-term efforts. Next are ten success factors for creating and developing the team leading the initiative. Finally, one of the distinguishing characteristics of this approach is described in the six characteristics of transformational communication.

One of the hallmarks of my work is translating successful organizational initiatives into health and safety results. Another is looking below the surface. One example is the typical ask for CEO and senior leadership support. Executives are usually asked to demonstrate leadership by example, budgetary support, strategic planning and allowing the workforce to participate in health and safety activities on company time. However, that only looks at the transactional aspects of leadership.

The leadership behaviors that transform how employees think about S&H are personal development, autonomy, respect and inclusion. These can only be transmitted through personal relationship and conversation. (Breevaart , et.al., 2019; Clarke , 2012; Den Hartog , et.al.,2011; Lyubykh , et.al., 2022; Mullen, et.al., 2010.)

Eight Components of successful change initiatives and transformational executive safety leadership communication

1. 1. Capturing CEO support. What does that look like? It is beyond verbal and monetary support. Leads the executive team to agree on specific expectations on accountability for leadership behaviors that will sustain the initiative. Maintains the conversation.
   2. Cohesive leadership team for the initiative. It is designed to distribute the responsibility for the initiative throughout the organization. Together they gather data to design the structures and activities. They track progress to change course as necessary or tag successful activities for knowledge sharing.
   3. Collect data to drive S&H efforts. The team’s first and primary responsibility is not to start offering programs, but rather to step back and gather important data. The data will be collected using corporate culture audits, risk appraisals, and knowledge and interest surveys. This data is extremely important because it will reveal the specific areas of health and safety needs and interests within the organization.
   4. Operating plan. This operating plan will serve as the roadmap and will guide the company’s efforts and investments in workplace wellness. Every supervisor and manager uses this knowledge to guide their decisions and explain the WHY to employees.
   5. Choose appropriate interventions: Now, it is appropriate to begin choosing and implementing the appropriate health, safety and productivity interventions. These interventions will most likely include wellness (exercise, weight, stress management). They also may include things like fatigue management and ergonomics. SMS evaluation and interventions include psychosocial and physical hazards. Both transformational and transactional leadership influences play a role.
   6. Training is designed to provide skills. The motivation to use the skills comes from the support of supervision via personal contact and relationship.
   7. Creating psychological safety in a supportive environment. Once the appropriate interventions are up and running, it’s time to create a supportive environment. Indeed, by having a psychologically safe environment, organizations can be confident that employees will be supported in their efforts to lead healthier lives and participate in safety improvement. System interventions may take the form of policies, physical modifications, recognition and empowerment.
   8. Carefully Evaluating Outcomes. It is important to keep score on the intangible as well as the physical targets. Intangible targets include things like participation, participant satisfaction, behavior modification, and cost containment.

10 Success Factors in Leadership Team Formation

Initiative Leadership Team

1. Formally appointed
2. Time allocated for role; part of job
3. Team is promoted throughout the organization
4. Team has strong leadership
5. Team membership has representation from all areas and levels
6. Meets regularly
7. Has an agenda
8. Keeps minutes
9. Team communication is timely, frequent and accurate
10. Participates in continuing education

Six Characteristics of Transformational Communication

1. Communication is a 2-way conversation. Organizational communication takes place at several levels. If it is not happening at all of these levels, the ones left out will get the message that they are not valued or respected. In addition, the CEO’s leadership team and the Directors should agree upon a set of questions and information points that need to be communicated in a dialogue or conversation, seldom in a one way format. (Carrillo, 2020)
2. Direct interpersonal communication between management and the workforce. Routine informal conversations between managers and the workforce are an important method of communication. Management observations in the field are intended to stimulate conversation between managers and members of the workforce. Often, managers need training and coaching on skills for meaningful engagement with the workforce and to create a climate where person-to-person communication openly occurs.
3. Management communicates to direct reports the expected actions, deliverables, and the intended impact of the actions. A key benefit of monitoring safety culture is to stimulate two-way communication between management and the workforce. First communicate what the monitoring is telling the organization and second, identify the specific behaviors that lead to successes and challenges.
4. Management Walkaround Work Observations. Management real-time work observations help responsible managers understand actual job performance – rather than hoped for performance.
5. Monthly team conversations. Input and learnings from "walkarounds" are shared by every top line manager (not the safety staff). These inputs are fed by walkaround input from every level of management below starting with field supervision.
6. Regular 1-1 conversations between supervisor and direct reports. Frequency depends on number of direct reports. These should not start until supervisors have experienced several conversations with their boss and achieved a certain level of psychological safety.

Potential questions for Supervisor/ Direct Report conversations

• What went right?
• What went wrong?
• How did you deal with it?
• What did you learn?
• What can the organization learn?
• What can we change to be even better?

To make this effective, supervisors and managers need to be committed to listening, learning and positively acting on these "lessons learned" opportunities.

References:

Breevaart, K & Zacher, H. (2019). Main and interactive effects of weekly transformational and laissez-faire leadership on followers’ trust in the leader and leader effectiveness. Journal of occupational and org psychology. 92:2, 384-409.

Clarke, S. (2013). Safety leadership: A meta-analytic review of transformational and transactional leadership styles as antecedents of safety behaviours. Journal of occupational and org psychology. 86:1, 0963-1798

Den Hartog, D.N., VAN Muijen, J.J. and Koopman, P.L. (1997), Transactional versus transformational leadership: An analysis of the MLQ. Journal of occupational and org psychology, 70: 19-34.

Lyubykh, Z., Gulseren, D., Turner, N., Barling, J., Seifert. M. (2022). Shared transformational leadership and safety behaviours of employees, leaders, and teams: A multilevel investigation. Journal of occupational and org psychology. 95:2, 431-458

Mullen, J.E. & Kelloway, K.E. (2010). Safety leadership: A longitudinal study of the effects of transformational leadership on safety outcomes. Journal of occupational and org psychology. 82:2, 253-272.

Carrillo, R.A. (2022). Pending publication.