Safety Excellence Philosophies

If you spend some time deep-diving into the personal development space, you begin to see many principles that apply wonderfully well for business improvement. No surprise really given – “a company is without body to be kicked or soul to be damned” – right?

My “inner circle” – people such as Darren Hardy, the late Jim Rohn, Grant Cardone and Les Brown have really helped me both personally and professionally, so I thought I would offer up some of their “gems” that have resonated with me, which have specific application in enhancing standards of workplace safety (and broader overall business performance).

Some of the principles that I would recommend you focus on include:

Simplification as an ongoing, core strategy
The reasons are obvious and despite there being competing tensions (e.g. legislatively and certification), it sells. Simple appeals to the front line and always makes sense to executive leadership. As Jim Rohn said, “complex is interesting but simple is useful”.

I also love the quote, “we risk becoming the most informed society to ever die of ignorance” because it really does epitomise where we find ourselves in 2022. After all, if information was the solution we would all be skinny, rich and happy!

Optimise non-negotiable processes.
A strong foundation around core risk management principles must remain the focus of good business. Don”t start sweating the small stuff if you can”t get the basics right. It is okay to get some quick wins (“confidence builders”), but as a business, don’t major in the minor”.

Shift reporting from a quantitative to qualitative bias.
The promotion of doing something well as opposed to just doing it should be enough reason to revisit the “quality –v– quantity” debate. Being busy does not necessarily make you productive or compliant…

Commit to the eradication of “half-fixes” – because tolerance to half fixes breeds mediocrity.
How many half fixes does your business have? For how long? Is it because the issue cannot be resolved? Is it the cultural norm internally? This tolerance is one of the biggest reasons for resistance to change too. “Been there – seen that. Back to normal in a few months” – cynicism justified.

Stamp out indifference – “you cannot drift to the top of the mountain”.
Without a sense of urgency desire loses its value. When we run our Mock Courts it typically evokes the motivation to change. I always hope that clients go back to work with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and purpose, but it is incumbent upon business leaders to keep the fire burning. Companies can go from win to win to win; get that momentum and crush it – there is nothing impossible about what we as risk managers do. Waiting for an incident as the catalyst for transformational change never made sense to me…

Understand that “average” is failure in disguise.
My personal mantra. I try and benchmark everything I do against this. Grant Cardone introduced this concept to me in terms I could relate in his book (“The 10X Rule). I use it with my kids; I use it with my clients. After all, if you deliberately commit to less than what you are capable of you will always be unsatisfied! But, if you take massive 10X action how can you lose?

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Written by Bruce Whitehead