“Image Is Everything!” That was the branding/marketing message for Canon cameras back in the early 90s. Tennis star Andre Agassi was their spokesman for TV and print ads. In writing this second part of my blog series on branding this branding message immediately came to mind. Why? Because more often than not the approval and success of a project depends on its image—whether inside or outside an organization.
Brands. All organizations have them. Every product has one. Nearly every service has one. Even some people have them (think Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey). I’ve worked in some companies and some of their customer service and wellness programs have them. But rarely, if ever, do ergonomics projects have them. Why is that and why is it important?
“Safety is an attitude. How’s yours?” That tagline was one I created for one of my clients as a way to get the staff and management excited and bought into the new injury prevention system that I was assisting in design and implementation. Attitude is vitally important to success whether it’s in regards to safety, sales, marketing or performance. A company’s attitude towards employee health, wellness and safety will go a long way into attaining zero work-related injuries.
“It’s impossible for me to this because….”
“There’s no way I can do it that way”
“It’s difficult for me to do it that way because…”
“If I did it that way, ____ would happen”
If you’ve heard statements similar to these it’s probably because your employees have obstacles or barriers in their way of performing and doing things the way they’ve been trained or instructed. In this final blog series I’m going to discuss how to approach obstacles and barriers that get in the way of employees doing what they’ve been trained to do.
Have you ever seen an employee continue to do some “unsafe act” or not use the safety equipment provided to them just after they’ve been trained in the new policies and procedures? If you have you’re certainly not alone. Unfortunately, this is a common frustration of safety professionals everywhere. I’ve personally experienced this on more than one occasion, especially early on in my career. I’ve also had colleagues ask me if this has happened to me and what I’ve done about it.
It’s often tough to admit that you’re average, especially when comparative measures show your competition is better than you. This is especially true for company leaders when they compare themselves to their competitors on customer satisfaction, productivity levels and profit margins. The C-suite is frequently looking at these scores and trying to improve them in order to improve the bottom line. Is this the case when companies compare themselves on employee engagement and safety scores?
