Risk Management Culture De-Coded
This session at WCI’s 2019 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference gathered a panel of leadership from several companies sharing steps to create an effective culture.
Panelists included:
- Rich Blaser, CEO, Infinite Energy
- David Bangert, CEO, CHI Overhead Doors
- Jon McGavin, Area General Manager, JW Marriott & Ritz Carlton
- Greg McKenna, SVP Communications, Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc. (Moderator)
Risk management exposures are growing exponentially and resources are limited. So what can an organization do to address this conundrum? Build an effective safety culture. This can be accomplished in four steps.
1. Establish a Game Plan
There are several things you can do to help your employees understand and remember what your company stands for and why. A catchphrase or a creed gives everyone something short to understand and remember values. After determining your carefully-worded mission, it is important to determine how you are going to measure what matters. This depends on your type of business, but it could be external like an online rating illustrating customer experience or internal like employee survey ratings.
2. Build Safely
Once identity has been established, the organization needs to build the culture. It is important to engage everyone in the conversation and ensure that every employee has a voice. Are your employees enabled to share safety concerns? Are they engaged in making their work areas safer? By doing so, you give your employees a stake or ownership in the business.
3. Connecting Moments
Never miss an opportunity to build the brand by incorporating your values. Often this is through an experience. It is important to empower your employees to handle defects, problems and challenges head on to help carry out your organization’s mission. Push autonomy down and empower your front-line employees. It is also important to connect your business purpose with a social purpose. Find a charity that your organization can get behind and get your employees involved.
4. Sharing Vulnerabilities
Make sure leaders are vulnerable first and often. It is important to deliver the negative in person and admit when you are wrong. The brand must continue through the claims process and customer experience is paramount. Sometimes your most-loyal employees or customers result from making a negative into a positive.