According to a recent meta-analysis from Gallup, an organization with strong employee engagement has 70% fewer accidents than a workplace where workers are unengaged. Yesterday, we looked at six ways to promote employee engagement by encouraging workers’ commitment to quality, and also letting them know that their jobs are important. Today, we’ll look at the third element that is common to strong workplace cultures, and how to encourage it.
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The third element that Gallup found in strong workplace cultures is a feeling among workers that their opinion matters. Here’s how to let workers know that you value their input.
Things that Really Count
You probably already know that the workers who are taking in the raw materials, running the process, and filling the orders are going to be the first to see any issues at the production level. They will also be best able to see any organizational problems that affect them. They can be a valuable resource in both identifying and controlling hazards, as well as enhancing production—since the things that enhance safety are often the same things that streamline and increase productivity.
But these employees don’t always know how much you value their opinions and their input. Building a strong workplace culture involves letting workers know that their opinions matter. Here are some suggestions from Gallup for how you can do that:
- Let workers know that you care about them. Each individual worker has different needs. Workers will know that you care if their supervisor understands what they need and how it intersects with the organization’s needs. This can mean accommodating workers’ needs outside work—for example, for medical appointments or caring for small children—or it can mean providing opportunities at work that are meaningful to the worker like a chance to have input into the redesign of a workstation or the development of a new product.
- Ask for their input. Workers who feel that their opinions count—especially with respect to the company’s goals and mission—are more engaged. The best way to foster this kind of engagement is simply to ask for workers’ input and let them see how their input affects decisions that relate to the mission and their specific jobs.
- Encourage friendship. Some employers discourage friendship among their workers, but organizations with a strong culture of engagement encourage workers to get to know each other. When your workers are friends, they communicate better and trust each other more. Just be sure to discourage cliquishness, exclusion, and bullying.
- Give workers opportunities to grow. Workers who matter to you will care about the company in return. Workers who have opportunities to learn and grow at work will be more engaged, and personal growth opportunities will make them better employees.
The end game for the safety manager in all of this, of course, is to reduce accidents. But it’s simply good business to foster a culture of engagement, with its attendant commitment to community, quality, and productivity.
Need more information on how safety is good for business? That’s our business! Check out Safety.BLR.com®.