BIC - August 2016
By: Shawn M. Galloway
Printable Version
We give more of ourselves for things we like, and we work just as hard to keep away from the things we do not. What do people experience with your safety efforts: pleasure or pain?
Aristotle declared, "We may lay it down that Pleasure is a movement, a movement by which the soul as a whole is consciously brought into its normal state of being; and that Pain is the opposite." Sigmund Freud later taught us of the Pleasure Principle, which makes us hardwired to seek out things that bring us pleasure and avoid those that bring us pain in order to satisfy our needs.
At the time of this writing, Houston, where I live has experienced unprecedented amounts of rain in a 24-hour period. Major flooding has occurred across the entire area. As a result, my daughters' schools were closed for an entire week. I chose to stay home with them to spend some additional quality time. They had a different idea: spending time with a neighborhood friend. They saw more pleasure in this, which I'm sure I would have, too, at their ages.
At their friend's home, I caught up with the girl's father, Jeff, who had just returned from a short family vacation to Disney World. Since I'm planning an upcoming trip there myself, we discussed the new additions to the parks and how our children's interests in certain rides change as they mature and their attention spans decrease.
When kids are young, they are happy, even eager, to stand in line for hours to meet their favorite characters. As they get older, they start questioning the tradeoff: How long will I have to wait, and how long is the ride? I can't remember if Jeff or I made this comment, "How much pain do we have to experience for the pleasure of the ride?"
In business, as in our personal lives, we are continuously making these tradeoff decisions. What do we want to avoid? What do we want to seek out? What is the better use of resources than another? If I have to experience a little pain, what's in it for me? When it comes to safety efforts within a company, do people view involvement, meetings, teams, training or communication as painful? Or do they experience some form of pleasure from these things?
A few years ago, the Global Health and Safety Team of a major corporate client had my team and me help them recraft their mission statement which resulted in this: "To continuously improve the quality of life of the employees, on and off the job." This became a qualifier for all future decisions on safety, even new rules and training requirements. The first question was, "How will this improve the quality of life of an employee on and off the job?" If it didn't but was still required, the next question was, "How do we reduce the pain?"
I've written extensively about motivation and demotivation, and that the first step is to identify and neutralize the demotivators. What turns people off of safety? How can we help add motivators to facilitate someone's desires to be involved and be the best safety performer?
Are your efforts providing a sense of security in your employees' efforts - i.e., do they have confidence the company is doing all it can to provide a safe working environment? Beyond that, are you providing a sense of belonging, connection, accomplishment and, finally, enabling people to reach their full potential?
Safety is not only about cost-reduction, risk-reduction and avoidance. Safety adds value to the business and, more importantly, the people within it. Excellence-focused organizations understand this and work to ensure safety creates a pleasurable, involved experience and improves the quality of everyone's life on and off the job. What do people experience with your safety efforts, pleasure or pain?
Shawn Galloway, CEO of ProAct Safety, is an expert in safety excellence. With almost thirty years of experience, he is a highly sought-after advisor, keynote speaker, and expert witness. Shawn has become a trusted partner to leading organizations across various industries worldwide. He ranks in the top 1% of the most prolific writers in his field, having authored over 500 articles and several bestselling books. He also launched the world's first safety podcast, Safety Culture Excellence©. As a recognized authority in safety, Shawn has received awards such as being named among the Top 50 People Who Most Influence EHS and a Top 10 Speaker, among others.
He is a regular guest on Bloomberg, Fox News, The Daily Mail, Dubai One, U.S. News & World Report, Sirius Business Radio, Wharton Business Daily, and leading safety magazines and podcasts. Shawn also serves as a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, Forbes Business Council, and Fast Company Executive Board, enabling his influence to shape safety thinking and strategy at the executive level.
