Feel Safe to Work Safe

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The need for inclusive leaders at every level of an organization is clear. Leaders able to lead across differences are essential to organizations that are increasingly diverse. 

This is especially true for front-line workers. Front-line workers and front line teams are the key to any organization’s success. These are the people who, on a daily basis, provide the services or make the products that are the core of an organization’s purpose. 

Front line workers are also the group most likely to get hurt at work. In industries that put people in harm’s way front-line workers are regularly around hazard’s that can hurt or kill them. Those worker’s need leaders who are aware of differences, able to lead across them, and bring people together in common cause in order to make sure everyone goes safely everyday.

Front-line workers, as a group, are also the most diverse group in almost every industry and make up about 70% of the total work force in the United States.

In short, if people do not feel safe because of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, experience, language, and a myriad of other differences, they can not work safe. 

There are many definitions of feeling safe. Psychological safety is often a term used. Our definition is simple, an organization where people, particularly front line workers, feel safe telling their leaders and colleagues how they feel about the work they are doing, including stop work authority. Workers must feel safe to work safe.

The key to creating a feel safe organization is leadership. If an organization does not have leaders at the front line who are able to navigate the often difficult conversations around differences then people will, indeed, get hurt.

A recent Gallup poll highlights this. Gallup's data reveal that just three in 10 U.S. workers strongly agree that at work, their opinions count. By moving that ratio to six in 10 employees, organizations can realize a 40% reduction in safety incidents as well as a 12% increase in productivity and 27% reduction in turnover.

It is hard to imagine any other way to get such a dramatic improvement in safety performance. 

The question is how to develop these front line leaders? We believe we have the way. I have spent over 10 years providing leadership programs, training, and consulting for Fortune 1000+ companies in both the safety leadership and DEI&B arena. I would love the opportunity to talk to you about how to make that happen. 

As an organization, we are just getting started. We will be expanding this website and adding more content. If you would like to join our mailing list please subscribe below. We promise not to spam you because that would not create a culture of feeling safe!

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