PeopleWork BlogTips and strategies to help you align the people you employ, to build more leaders, to communicate more effectively all while looking out for each other and keeping each other safe.

What employees want from the job can change your culture.

In my last post (When Employees Don't Give You Safety Performance), I presented an overview of what employees want from their supervisors and immediate managers. This time around, we are going to take a look at what employees want from their jobs. Because if they don’t get what they want from their job, why would you expect them to give their best effort, especially in safety?

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety responsibility, safety teamwork, accelerate safety, safety mindset, safety moment, safety complacency, peoplework, m4 method, safety motivation, safety engagement, safety commitment, positive safety,, safety supervisor, safety communications, proactive safety, safety marketing, safety management, safety culture, safety leadership, kevin burns

If they’re not giving you safety, it’s because you’re not giving them what they want.

To paraphrase a quote, the secret to getting what you want is to help enough other people get what they want. Zig Ziglar said that. He wasn’t wrong. Help enough other people get a win for themselves and they are more likely to help you get your win.

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety responsibility, safety teamwork, accelerate safety, safety mindset, safety moment, safety complacency, peoplework, m4 method, safety motivation, safety engagement, safety commitment, safety effectiveness, positive safety,, safety supervisor, safety communications, proactive safety, safety consulting, safety culture, safety leadership, kevin burns, safety attitude

Your job isn’t to enforce the rules as much as it is to build your team’s performance within the rules.

Top down. That’s how your safety program has probably always been handled. Everything rolls down from the front-office to the front-line.

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety responsibility, safety teamwork, accelerate safety, safety mindset, safety moment, safety complacency, peoplework, m4 method, safety motivation, safety engagement, safety commitment, safety effectiveness, positive safety,, safety supervisor, safety communications, safety compliance, safety leadership, kevin burns

What if instead of guilt and fear and manipulation tactics, you simply cared?

When you really think about it, there are only two main ways to get people to join in your safety program and for them to buy-in to the idea of safety: you can either manipulate or inspire. Either you pull on the heartstrings to try to guilt them into following rules, or you help them flip that internal switch that kicks-in their motivation and fires up their personal leadership capacity. Before you decide, know this: manipulation does not create leaders.

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety responsibility, safety teamwork, accelerate safety, safety mindset, safety moment, safety complacency, peoplework, m4 method, safety motivation, safety engagement, safety commitment, safety effectiveness, positive safety,, safety values, safety marketing, safety leadership

What if your "one thing" was to make a difference?

There are no such things as priorities. You can have a priority; one. But you can’t have more than one priority. Besides, it’s not a priority if it competes for attention with other priorities. You can have a lot of things that are important, or urgent or critical. But there is room for only one priority. It is that one priority that you can build a company, an ideal or a movement around.

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety teamwork, accelerate safety, safety mindset, safety moment, safety complacency, peoplework, safety blog, m4 method, safety engagement, safety effectiveness, safety communications, safety values, safety buy-in, safety leadership

A safety system by itself doesn't make the organization any safer.

Driving instructors have a system for teaching people to drive. Sports coaches have a system for improving player performance. Almost everything in this world has a system. There’s even a system for generating your paycheck. But, the system doesn't pay out unless someone tells it to.

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety responsibility, safety teamwork, accelerate safety, safety mindset, safety moment, safety complacency, peoplework, safety motivation, safety engagement, safety effectiveness, positive safety,, safety communications, proactive safety, safety marketing, safety consulting, safety management, safety culture, safety leadership, kevin burns

To improve employee participation in the safety program, clear communications are key.

If you are going to communicate something in safety, what do you want to have happen? How exactly do you want your people to participate?

Informing people isn’t enough anymore. Your people are already bombarded with, on average, four thousand marketing messages each day. Everywhere they look, they are getting access to another message – competing with your safety message - even as recently as this morning. 

But let's say that you are above-average in compelling and engaging your people’s attention during a morning safety meeting, as soon as they leave the meeting, they are faced with hundreds more messages that all compete for attention. So, to combat this, you have to be clear.

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety responsibility, safety teamwork, accelerate safety, safety mindset, safety moment, peoplework, safety blog, safety motivation, safety engagement, safety effectiveness, safety communications, safety marketing, safety consulting, safety management, safety culture, safety meeting, safety leadership, kevin burns

If you want people to care about safety, you have to first care about them.

I was working with a group of minesite supervisors and we were discussing the needs of employees and how a supervisor can make sure that employee needs were being met. I asked this question: how can you show your employees that, as supervisors, you care?

Here are some of the responses:

• Give good communication
• Improve your listening skills
• Be respectful of their needs
• Demonstrate persistence
• Engage them in problem-solving
• Recognize employees for their good work
• Take a time-out with employees
• Help employees to re-focus
• Show support for your people especially when they need it.

All good answers. In fact, a lot of necessary answers. But the answer that wasn’t mentioned was, perhaps, too obvious. It is the one thing that supervisors, managers, safety people, executives, and even fellow workers must do to show their fellow employees that they care.

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety teamwork, accelerate safety, safety mindset, safety moment, safety complacency, peoplework, safety motivation, safety engagement, positive safety,, safety communications, workplace safety speaker, safety culture, safety leadership, safety speaker

Are you meeting the needs of your people in safety meetings?

How many times have you seen presenters, with 10 minutes of solid information, stretch it into a 90-minute presentation? How does that happen? Here’s how. The person organizing the safety meeting is trying to fill blocks of time instead of developing content that will make a difference to their people.

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety teamwork, safety mindset, safety moment, safety complacency, peoplework, safety blog, safety motivation, safety engagement, safety effectiveness, positive safety,, safety communications, the perfect safety meeting, proactive safety, safety buy-in, safety management, safety meeting, safety leadership

If you want to change safety performance, you have to change the approach and the conversation.

In safety, there are no trade secrets. The same set of rules apply to every company within an industry. Construction safety applies to all builders. Mining safety is the same for every mine. Electrical safety is the same for every electrician. Whatever your industry, your competitors don’t get a leg up because they have different rules to play by. Everyone has the same rules and the same code.

Topics: kevin burns safety videos, safety responsibility, safety teamwork, safety mindset, safety moment, safety complacency, peoplework, safety blog, safety motivation, safety engagement, positive safety,, safety supervisor, safety communications, safety culture, safety leadership