Building Effective Relationships Around Safety

The influence of relationships on safety performance has been a growing focus of late. During Safety 2013, Judy Agnew and Aubrey Daniels of Aubrey Daniels International examined the critical role of relationships and trust in safety culture. Trust and good working relationships set the stage for open communication about all things safety, they explain.

Here are some building blocks they recommend (in their proceedings paper) that leaders can use to create strong relationships for safety.

1. Set clear expectations. Use "actionable words" to ensure clarity of expectations; avoid assumptions and ask recipient(s) to state an understanding of the expectations. 
2. Listen. "Use active listening skills such as maintaining eye contact, using appropriate facial expressions, paraphrasing, and asking questions to demonstrate understanding," Agnew and Daniels advise. "Avoid looking at or using computers and smart phones when others are talking to you."
3. Acknowledge good work, not just mistakes/problems. Good leaders maintain a higher ratio of positive to constructive comments/discussions, Agnew and Daniels say.
4. Ask questions to understand problems/issues. Avoid jumping to conclusions. Ask questions to uncover the details. 
5. Ask for feedback about your own effectiveness and areas for improvement. According to Agnew and Daniels, effective leaders seek feedback on what they do well and where they might be more effective. "Demonstrate that you are listening and working to improve your own actions." 
6. Avoid blame. People’s behavior makes sense to them, even if it doesn’t make sense to you. Uncover what factors led to undesired behavior. 
7. Respond fairly to incidents (safety and other types). "Better incident investigations will lead to fair responses. Better understanding of behavior will also lead to fair responses," Agnew and Daniels suggest. 
8. Admit when you make mistakes. Acknowledging your own mistakes helps establish that mistakes are expected and that learning from them is critical. 
9. Solicit input and opinions from direct reports. Asking for input and advice will lead to better solutions, and in many cases will also demonstrate respect. 
10. Follow through on commitments. Consistent follow-through is essential for building trust and respect.  
11. Stand up for direct reports. "Verbally promote direct reports and share their successes with others," Agnew and Daniels say. "In addition, acknowledge some responsibility when direct reports make mistakes." 
12. Remove roadblocks to set direct reports up for success. Management's top job is to make direct reports successful. "Analyze what gets in their way and do what you can to remove obstacles." 
13. Provide feedback that helps direct reports improve. Timely feedback is most helpful. Don’t wait for annual appraisals or even monthly one-on-ones, they advise 
14. Demonstrate that you trust direct reports. "Give employees appropriate responsibilities and avoid micromanaging," Agnew and Daniels state. "When appropriate, tell them you trust them, and reinforce trustworthy behaviors." 
15. Treat direct reports like people, not just employees. Greet direct reports at the start of the day (when possible); show an interest in their lives outside of work, and demonstrate concern and consideration.

"These so-called “soft skills” are well worth developing because they result in greater engagement, more discretionary effort and thus a safer workplace," Agnew and Daniels conclude.

If you weren't able to attend this session at PDC, be sure to look for Judy and Aubrey's paper on the proceedings CD or look in the July 2013 issue of Professional Safety for information on ordering recorded sessions.