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Article Change in the Safety Environment Each day we are faced with change. Whether it be at home, in our community, or at work.
You remember the old saying: “The only
thing constant in life is change itself”.
Often we are a passive observer of change, but sometimes we are
required to be an active participant in the change process.
When change affects us positively we view this change as beneficial
to us, but when the change is uncomfortable we believe the change will
affect us negatively. Ultimately, safety can be viewed as asking people to
do something for proactive reasons – changing for reasons that may not
be obvious in the short term. This
requires understanding, patience, and perseverance. Dr. E. Scott Geller suggests the use of the word
“change” as a mnemonic for remembering various components in the
change process involved in new safety initiatives.
Each letter of the word represents words that imply strategies
facilitating commitment in a given change process.
Each word then raises questions to consider in moving people from
awareness to commitment. “C” - Consequences All of us are motivated by consequences.
For employee involvement and acceptance to a new initiative we need
to consider the consequences. We must make people aware of the proactive benefits of
implementing the change process as well as the reactive disadvantages of
not changing. To achieve
employee buy-in we must be able to clearly show severe disadvantages of
not changing and the advantages of changing. In the case of safety initiatives that seemingly
detract from production, the change process can sometimes seem
overwhelming. The benefits
may not appear certain or immediate enough to motivate change.
Therefore, we must strive to show that the change is less intrusive
than it may seem. Positive
consequences other than the bottom line of reducing the number of injuries
must be stressed. The next
five words suggest strategies for addressing these issues. “H” – Habit Generally, a change in behavior is required for any
proactive change. Eliminating
old behaviors and developing new ones requires an ongoing feedback process
to help people make the necessary adjustments in their behavior. Old habits are very often difficult to break.
Even with complete buy-in of the work force we can’t expect
people to demonstrate appropriate behavior change immediately.
Patience, regular feedback, and positive reinforcement are needed
when initiating a proactive change process. “A” – Attitude Attitudes influence buy-in, belief, commitment, and
daily behaviors related to the process.
Attitudes, however, are strong emotional feelings and much more
than an opinion. Quite often
the manner in which the change is introduced or implemented can have more
influence on worker attitudes associated with the change than the actual
change itself. Negative attitudes may develop if the change is
perceived as “top-down” or dictatorial.
To facilitate positive attitudes and prevent the development of
negative attitude people must be allowed a sense of personal control
throughout the development of changes requiring implementation and
maintenance of a new safety initiative. “N” – Needs Addressing people’s needs is another way of
increasing buy-in to the transformation process.
By making sure that personal and group needs are addressed you can
facilitate buy-in and commitment although the change might be
uncomfortable and inconvenient at first.
Justifying the outcome in terms of people’s needs can often
result in a positive outcome. Short-term versus long-term needs should be
contrasted to justify safety initiatives in terms of need satisfaction.
Proactive change might be perceived as inconvenient and
uncomfortable in the short-term. However, teaching
people to look beyond their personal and immediate needs to a collective
and long-term group view can often clarify the need for an effective
safety process. “G” – Goal-Setting Setting goals is a method for putting your vision
for proactive change into action. Goals
should be specific, motivational, achievable, recordable, and trackable.
This type of monitoring process documents the incremental changes
necessary to achieve the proactive change stated by the goal.
By meeting a defined goal, individual and group needs are
satisfied. “E” – Empowerment A feeling of empowerment comes from providing the
knowledge and resources to achieve specific goals.
When people are given the knowledge and resources necessary to
affect proactive change a sense of personal control develops in the change
process. They can then expect
success from their efforts. A
feeling of empowerment is necessary for continued participation in the
change process. Awareness of the need for proactive change will not necessarily assure people’s participation. People must believe in the rationale behind the change initiative before they will develop a commitment to participate. By addressing the above six issues increasing the commitment to contribute to the change process can be activated and maintained. <End> |
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