When we build something, we usually add more of the same. So if we’re building a wall, for example, we add more bricks to make it bigger. Culture doesn’t work like that. An organisational culture is grown, not built. And like anything we want to grow, culture takes time and sustained effort.
It’s a common misconception that culture is ‘built’, explains Brett Rutledge from NRSPP Program Partner Sensemap, and this misunderstanding is one of the reasons organisations fail in having a strong culture. In fact, the more material we add to an organisational culture, the more confused and diluted it becomes.
Brett will present an NRSPP webinar in early March exploring culture in more detail and guiding organisations through the process of developing and implementing a workplace road safety culture.
The characteristics of culture
Brett said that growing a safety culture was often simpler and less complex than people thought. Ahead of the webinar, he shared some of the key characteristics that must be present for an organisation to grow its culture.
“The first thing is that an organisational culture has to make sense to your people because if you don’t understand something, you’re not buying into it.
“The second thing is it has to fit with the way you see the world already – it needs to be something that your people can identify with. Think of someone who doesn’t trust the government. If that’s their world view, it’s very easy for them to say ‘I don’t trust vaccines because the government produces those’. If I’m trying to grow an idea with you and it’s not compatible with your world view, it’s not happening.
“So if you think of that in safety terms, firstly that safety culture you’re trying to grow has to make sense to me, it can’t be something that I don’t care about or don’t understand. Secondly I’ve got to be interested in or value safety in some way in the first place.
“The third thing if I’m trying to grow a safety culture is it’s got to be relevant to how I go about my work. Don’t talk to me about bending your knees to lift heavy things if I never lift anything heavy.
“Fourth thing is it has to be beneficial, there has to be something in it for me – where’s the recognition, where’s the reward for doing what you want me to do?
“And the last thing is it has to be supported. In other words, everything else has to be backing it up, such as processes, systems, policies, decisions and actions. Too many organisations simply put posters on walls. If you want to grow a safety culture, then it has to be supported everywhere.
“What also happens far too often with culture is because people don’t understand they’re growing an idea it all becomes compliance driven. It becomes a stick they’re constantly beating people with and what happens of course is we resist. Compliance is an important boundary when growing a culture, but it shouldn’t be a driver.”
Click here to register for the ‘Growing a strong safety culture’ webinar on 10 March 2022.