Power and politics run organizations. It is all about who is in and who is out. When employees feel included, they contribute. When they feel excluded, they withdraw.

Everyone wants employees who are willing to stop an unsafe action and take responsibility for safety but no one wants to take the time to build the relationships that would help people do just that!

The conversations your leaders have create the relationships in your organization. If you do not take the time to have the right conversations, people will not build the trusting relationships they safety womanneed to stop an unsafe action.
Neither will they report the mistakes and information you so badly need to prevent the next failure.

Lots of research has shown us that supervisors are the most important link to employee engagement. In safety, they are the primary communicator and reinforcement of safety as a priority. They cannot play this important role effectively if they don’t understand or believe in the importance of conversation and relationship building.

After years of failed programs, it’s time to turn to the latest scientific information. Neuroscience and Complexity Theory are showing us that relationships and conversation are the every day, constant drivers of organizational outcomes. What can you do?

  1. Build your integrated safety team to support you. Establish the connections and conversation here.
  2. Provide them with training and facilitation skills to create the change and train everyone in conversation skills.
  3. Set up an effective meeting structure and train team members in problem solving skills–including managing conflict and inclusion.
  4. Make sure the senior management team is practicing the same beliefs and principles you are asking the safety team to embrace.

You can transform the way you do safety training and involve employees in solving issues. Watch this to see leads and supervisors trained in this methodology of relationship and conversation deliver safety training and engage everyone in conversation. Note that both Spanish and English is being delivered.

You can read more about the science behind the importance of relationships on my Linkedin post.