Public Risk March 2018

PUBLISHED BY THE PUBLIC RISK MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION MARCH 2018

SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTING CHANGE AS A NEW RISK MANAGER PAGE 6

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

REFLECTIONS OF A PHOTOGRAPH:

What We Should Be Seeing PAGE 10

WHAT CHIPPING PAINT TAUGHT ME ABOUT FINDING MEANING AT WORK PAGE 15

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MARCH 2018 | Volume 34, No. 3 | www.primacentral.org

CONTENTS

The Public Risk Management Association promotes effective risk management in the public interest as an essential component of public administration.

PRESIDENT Amy J. Larson, Esq. Risk and Litigation Manager City of Bloomington Bloomington, MN PAST PRESIDENT Terri L. Evans Risk Manager City of Kingsport Kingsport, TN PRESIDENT-ELECT Jani J. Jennings, ARM Insurance & Safety Coordinator City of Bellevue Bellevue, NE DIRECTORS Brenda Cogdell, AIS, AIC, SPHR Risk Manager, Human Resources City of Manassas Manassas, VA Scott J. Kramer, MBA, ARM City/County Director of Risk Mgmt Montgomery County Commission Montgomery, AL

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Successfully Implementing Change as a New Risk Manager

By Yvonne Moebs and Tim Zimmerschied

Forestine Carroll Risk Manager Memphis Housing Authority Memphis, TN Sheri Swain Director of Enterprise Risk Management Maricopa County Community College District Tempe, AZ Lori J. Gray Risk Manager County of Prince William Woodbridge, VA Donna Capria, CRM, CIC, AINS Risk & Insurance Coordinator WaterOne of Johnson County Lenexa, KS NON-VOTING DIRECTOR Marshall Davies, PhD Executive Director Public Risk Management Association Alexandria, VA EDITOR Jennifer Ackerman, CAE Deputy Executive Director 703.253.1267 • jackerman@primacentral.org ADVERTISING Jennifer Ackerman, CAE 703.253.1267 • jackerman@primacentral.org

10 Reflections of a Photograph: What We Should Be Seeing

By Christopher Russell

IN EVERY ISSUE

15 What Chipping Paint Taught Me About Finding Meaning at Work

By Bill Howlett

Public Risk is published 10 times per year by the Public Risk Management Association, 700 S. Washington St., #218, Alexandria, VA 22314 tel: 703.528.7701 • fax: 703.739.0200 email: info@primacentral.org • Web site: www.primacentral.org Opinions and ideas expressed are not necessarily representative of the policies of PRIMA. Subscription rate: $140 per year.

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Copyright 2018 Public Risk Management Association

| 4 NEWS BRIEFS | 19 ADVERTISER INDEX

MARCH 2018 | PUBLIC RISK

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MESSAGE FROM PRIMA PRESIDENT AMY J. L ARSON, ESQ.

bout a month ago, more than a million people came to Minnesota to attend a “little” special event called Super Bowl LII. While the majority of events took place in the City of Minneapolis, many other events also took place in the surrounding metropolitan communities, including my city, Bloomington, where the Mall of America is located. While the magnitude of the event might seem overwhelming, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the processes we use with smaller community events were the same we used for these events.

In my city, all special events that take place on city-owned property must go before a special events committee. This committee is made up of all the departments across the city that may have an interest in the special event, and in most cases, we have a standard outline that we follow. Here are examples of some of the types of issues we look at: • Traffic Planning: What kind of traffic plans will need to be developed? Will there be roads closed?

Where will the attendees park? Will we need to have pedestrian crossings to get people from the parking areas to the event? If necessary, how will emergency vehicles gain access to the site?

• Public Safety: Will there be alcohol served at the event? Will the event be so large that it will need uniformed officers?

• Public Health: Where will the bathroom facilities be located? Are there adequate handwashing stations at the location? What about garbage and recycling? Will food be served? If so, what are the city codes related to food service?

• Licensing: What permits will be required for the event? Do you need to have a public gathering permit? Will there be amplified music? Are noise and sign permits required?

• Building and Inspection: Does the event

“

About a month ago, more than a million people came to Minnesota to attend a “little” special event called Super Bowl LII… While the magnitude of the event might seem overwhelming, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the processes we use with smaller community events were the same we used for these events.

“

A

Planning for Special Events, Large and Small

require the use of propane or generators? Are bleachers or stages going to be used? Are there other items that are going to need to be built?

• Do you limit the type of event? For example, do you allow bounce houses or petting zoos to take place on city property?

• Finally, how can we transfer the risk related to the event? Do we require the organizer to have insurance? If so, how much? Will we require the city to be named as an additional insured?

Regardless of how involved your special events process may be, just asking some of these questions will help you prepare for the possible risks. In addition to these questions, you can also access additional information about special events by going to the PRIMA Cybrary, accessing past webinars and attending educational sessions at the Annual Conference. PRIMA is there for you.

Speaking of the Annual Conference, registration has opened. You can access a detailed listing of the educational sessions being offered as well as a list of networking opportunities and exhibitors available to you. I’m very excited about the opportunities available at this year’s conference and hope to see you all there!

Until next month!

Amy J. Larson, Esq. Risk and Litigation Manager City of Bloomington Bloomington, MN

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NEWS BRIEFS

NEWS Briefs NO, ARIZONA CAN’T BAN MEXICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES, COURT RULES A federal judge blocked the state of Arizona from enforcing a controversial law banning ethnic studies courses, bringing near a close a seven-year battle over teaching about MexicanAmericans in Tucson public schools, reports the Tribune News Service.

Wallace Tashima, a federal appeals court judge sitting in the district court in Arizona, said in his injunction that state legislators who passed the ban in 2010 violated the Constitution.

The decision came in a lawsuit brought by students in 2010 against the state’s board of education. Supporters of ethnic studies said the law, which banned courses designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group, was racist and targeted Mexican-Americans.

Tashima said the ban was “not for a legitimate educational purpose, but for an invidious discriminatory racial purpose and a politically partisan purpose.”

Tashima also said the state could not keep funding from schools for not obeying the ban. The state’s threat to withhold more than $14 million led Tuscon to drop its MexicanAmerican studies program in 2012.

The judge added that the state cannot lead “any inspections or audits of any program, curriculum or course” to check whether a school district is following the 2010 law.

Richard Martinez, an attorney who represented the teachers and students in the lawsuit, said “the judge gave us precisely what we asked for.”

The Tucson district has not said whether it will revive the curriculum, which helped spur similar educational programs in schools around the country. The Arizona attorney general’s office has also not said whether it will appeal the injunction.

Tashima also criticized John Huppenthal and Tom Horne, the former Arizona state superintendents of public instruction who pushed to pass the ban.

FED UP WITH DRUG COMPANIES, HOSPITALS DECIDE TO START THEIR OWN For years, hospital executives have expressed frustration when essential drugs like heart medicines have become scarce, or when prices have skyrocketed because investors manipulated the market.

Now, the New York Times reports that some of the country’s largest hospital systems are taking an aggressive step to combat the problem: They plan to go into the drug business themselves, in a move that appears to be the first on this scale.

“This is a shot across the bow of the bad guys,” said Dr. Marc Harrison, the chief executive of Intermountain Healthcare, the nonprofit Salt Lake City hospital group that is spearheading the effort. “We are not going to lay down. We are going to go ahead and try and fix it.”

“

While Intermountain executives would not name the drugs they intend to make, hospitals have long experienced shortages of drugs like morphine or encountered sudden price increases for old, off-patent products like the heart medicine Nitropress. Hospitals have also come under criticism for overcharging for their services, including for some drugs.

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PUBLIC RISK | MARCH 2018

TO PREVENT FIRES, CALIFORNIA CRACKS DOWN ON POWER COMPANIES California utility regulators finally approved a statewide map, years in development, designed to help prevent power lines from starting wildfires, reports the Tribune News Service.

The detailed map, which shows the risk of utility-related fires in different parts of the state, will govern how electric companies maintain their equipment in the field.

Stricter regulations—on inspection schedules and tree-trimming around power lines—will apply in areas facing an elevated or extreme risk of wildfires.

fall’s deadly, wind-driven wildfires in the North Bay and Southern California.

Those regulations, in turn, depend on the map, whose development was overseen by an independent group of experts assembled by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. The process of creating the map proved complex, forcing the commission to extend several times the deadline for finishing it.

The map’s approval by the Safety and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission caps a nearly decade-long process of creating tougher fire regulations for the state’s electric utilities.

In areas designated as facing the highest risk of fire, the new safety regulations will take effect Sept. 1. In places facing an elevated but not extreme fire risk, the regulations will apply starting on June 30, 2019. Utility companies will be required to file an annual report detailing their plans for preventing fires in high-risk areas, with the first report due on October 31 of this year.

The effort began after electrical equipment sparked wildfires in San Diego County in 2007.

But the commission adopted new regulations for most of the state only in December, after last

Although Cal Fire has not determined the causes of most of last fall’s fires, investigators are exploring the possibility that power lines blown by fierce winds prompted them.

“

“

Although Cal Fire has not determined the causes of most of last fall’s fires, investigators are exploring the possibility that power lines blown by fierce winds prompted them.

FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN APPOINTED TO OREGON SUPREME COURT Governor Kate Brown appointed Adrienne Nelson to the Oregon Supreme Court, marking the first time an African-American has served on the high court in the state’s 158-year history, reports The Oregonian.

No African-American judge has served on the state’s second highest court—the Oregon Court of Appeals—either. Nelson, who is in her early 50s, has presided as a Multnomah County Circuit judge for nearly 12 years.

At the time of her circuit appointment by then-governor Ted Kulongoski in 2006, she was the only African-American judge in a state court system of about 200 judges.

Today, there are five, three of whom were appointed by Brown last year.

“In addition to her work in the courtroom, she has made extraordinary strides to make the trial bench more receptive to the needs and experiences of diverse and underserved communities in our state,” Brown said in a news release.

“Judge Nelson is a widely respected civil rights champion, whose perspective on the bench moves us closer to our shared vision of justice for all.”

“I’m very excited for the opportunity,” Nelson told The Oregonian.

MARCH 2018 | PUBLIC RISK

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PUBLIC RISK | MARCH 2018

SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTING CHANGE AS A NEW RISK MANAGER

Y

BY YVONNE MOEBS AND TIM ZIMMERSCHIED OU HAVE JUST STARTED YOUR FIRST DAY AS THE RISK MANAGER for a public entity, your manager shows you to the office, goes over preliminary discussion and leaves. Now what are you to do?

The following article contains tips that we have learned through the school of hard knocks—either by going into newly created positions or replacing others. These tips can make your first 90 days a little less hectic. In the first 90 days, a new risk manager should focus on three main areas:  Where are we?  What are the internal customers’ needs and/ or wants?  Where do we want to go?

STEP ONE: WHERE ARE WE?

To see where you are currently, start with a breakdown of the current program. What exposures are insured and/or self-insured. If you are self-insured? Are you using a TPA and if so, who? Are you using an agent/consultant/pool? Has there been any visits from OSHA? Are you facing outstanding lawsuits, subrogations or any other legal actions?

Once you have the contacts for all of these, call the carriers/TPAs and request an introduction meeting and a claims review. This is one of the quickest ways you can get up to speed on the claims. A strong knowledge of your current loss run with open and closed claims will greatly enhance your internal discussions. If you have any areas that are self-insured and self-administered ask or find out if you have loss data for the paid out amounts. The reason to ask for both is that typically the claims review will

MARCH 2018 | PUBLIC RISK

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SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTING CHANGE AS A NEW RISK MANAGER

take two-to-six weeks to schedule. You want to meet the folks that have your current program.

In meeting with the carriers/TPAs, the initial purpose is to understand the account handling instructions. What services are available? What recommendations have been made in the past or what recommendation do they have for your entity? The good news is with the loss runs and your internal meetings, you will be much better prepared for the claims review.

The meetings with your agent/consultant/pool representative are just as important. We do recommend when possible to have face-to-face meetings with all parties, primarily to make sure you have a comfort level with the vendors that can have a tremendous impact on your success. Once again, you need to understand the business relationship and how long they have been with you. What services do they provide?

What does the last contract outline? What recommendations do they have for your future and what recommendations have been made in the past? What do they see as the critical exposure for the entity over the next one-to-five years and why? This is your chance to see if you have partners that provide additional value to you and that will be able to assist with projects or initiatives that may be needed in the future.

If you have a consultant/agent involved, make sure they or their claims personnel also attend claims reviews. This gives you the chance to decide beforehand the role each of you will play.

With the claims review, we recommend having all open claims formally presented (if claims have closed since you received the first loss run, ask for details on closure). At this point, you will have an idea of the coverages in place and services available.

STEP TWO: WHAT ARE THE INTERNAL CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS AND WANTS?

Now on to the most important customer: the internal customer.

You should meet with all of the departments.

A tour of each department will be very beneficial. With the loss data that you have, we recommend that this be separated out per department. When you are meeting with the departments, you are asking them for time.

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PUBLIC RISK | MARCH 2018

Allow adequate time to learn their exposures and concerns as it relates to risk management.

In the first meeting, it’s normal to ask, what are your hurdles? What are the department successes? How can risk management help you?

In many instances, this is a great ice breaker as you are trying to find out what you can do to assist the department—this may be as simple as they need training that the department cannot afford. Training can possibly be provided at no charge by your carrier/TPA/agent.

involve the view of safety of general public as well as the safety and security of the individual employees. When it comes to training, does the individual department perform all training including safety or is this a function of risk management and human resources? Does each department maintain an asset list of contents, buildings, and vehicle inventory? If so, how often is the data updated?

The departmental meeting should be with the risk manager and department head. As part of these meetings, the risk manager needs to know what services they have received from risk management in the past, and what services they would like to see added. When meeting with the departments, it’s also good to go over their procedures and protocols in the event an incident/accident occurs. How involved have they been in the past? How involved do they want to be? Some departmental tours may take multiple visits. The purpose behind the initial visit is first to see for yourself potential exposures. Second, to demonstrate that you do care about the safety of all employees. This is a good time to communicate with departmental leadership about open claims to see if they have any concerns or issues to be prepared for the claims reviews. Your goal with these meetings is to establish an open bridge of communication with the departments and let them know you are there to assist them. With the departmental visits, it is also important to find out who is the contact for data needed for your insurance renewals.

The reason for the amount of legwork in your first few weeks is to establish a baseline. Now you are positioned better to sell changes needed with little cost to the entity to show a win-win for the departments that are affected. After doing the fact finding, the real work begins with crafting an outline of where we want to go. In a number of situations, once you have the amounts that have been paid out for all claims, both insured and self-insured, you may want to get options for insurance coverage.

The areas that we have seen most commonly come up would be physical damage, inland marine and employment practices liability. The expression we have always used is, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” We recommend getting options for your exposures so that you can evaluate if self-insurance or other forms of coverage are the most appropriate.

As a follow-up to the departmental meeting or while you are there, it is beneficial to see if they have any departmental-specific guidelines or protocols. This may include unique exposures to them, as well as any procedure manuals. If the department signs contracts on the entity’s behalf, it will help to understand the process and offer to review the contracts from the insurance/risk management side. There are a number of instances where the department may be paying additional money for insurance coverage that is already in place. With certain departments such as parks and recreation, you will have greater exposure to the public. When you are doing the walk through, it should

STEP THREE: WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO?

Once you have evaluated your options— handling claims internally or using insurance to cover the exposures; what vendors to provide training or safety resources—you should circle back with the departments most effected to get their opinion. We are strong believers that if we have the support from the primary departments affected, it becomes a much easier story to tell to entity management. As this will allow you to have the hard and soft costs available and the benefits of proceeding through this track. Following these time-tested guidelines will result in a solid risk management foundation for you.

Yvonne Moebs is the risk manager for Guilford County, NC. Tim Zimmerschied, CPCU, CIC, ARM, AAI, is an area senior vice president, satellite branch manager, for Arthur J. Gallagher and Co.

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REFLECTIONS OF A PHOTOGRAPH: What We Should Be Seeing

BY CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL

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PUBLIC RISK | MARCH 2018

R

ARELY A DAY GOES BY THAT WE DON’T SEE PICTURES POSTED IN PROFESSIONAL

NETWORKS OR ON SOCIAL MEDIA OF EMPLOYEES CAUGHT CARRYING OUT UNSAFE

WORK OR ALLOWING UNSAFE WORK CONDITIONS. You name it and we’re seeing it too!

Employees unprotected in deep trenches, working out of loader buckets, standing on the

top rungs of ladders that happen to be placed on top of shoddy scaffolding, or chatting on high roof tops without fall protection. Maybe you’ve seen the picture of the large forklift that’s lifting the smaller forklift, which is lifting a load they are trying to place on a high

mezzanine, with men standing on the forks and under the load trying to help spot it into place? Oddly enough,

the person posting is frequently a manager, or risk and safety professional, voicing disbelief in the fact that their employees would participate in such treacherous acts. We often read that many of their employees have been

doing this for years and “should know better” especially after being told what to do by their supervisors. In many ways, we can certainly relate to the frustration of seeing people choose to place themselves in harm’s way to

complete a job task. Unfortunately, the fact remains that we are still sitting there, looking at a picture of employees performing dangerous tasks in hazardous work conditions. Further reflection on the issue seems to leave us wondering… Is simply telling employees what to do enough? Should we be doing more?

General George Patton once advised, “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” While he was arguably among the finest military strategic leaders in American history, the more I considered this overly simplistic methodology and its validity in modern risk management, the more questions I seemed to have. Mostly, it left me questioning whether the implementation of a viable safety management system was possible by merely issuing task assignments. In retrospect, when it comes to mitigating risk and working safely, we should carefully consider the full context and implica-

tions of Patton’s guidance. After all, it’s clear from the photographs we are seeing in these posts, that the results were surprising indeed, but not at all the end results we had anticipated.

With that in mind, I can’t help but think we may be missing an essential component of what these photographs can actually offer us as risk and safety professionals. We should be taking more than just a petty opportunity to post a condescending remark on a social media platform.

It wasn’t until I stumbled across a definition of reflection being “…an action or situation that brings credit or discredit to the relevant parties,”

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REFLECTIONS OF A PHOTOGRAPH: WHAT WE SHOULD BE SEEING

that it finally occurred to me—these photographs aren’t even a reflection of these workers; they’re actually a reflection of us! We are the relevant party, not them. When we, as managers and risk and safety professionals, allow ourselves to look at these images objectively and intrinsically, we may see something else entirely. I’ll admit it’s easy to look at the image of the worker cutting tile with a clear plastic bucket on his head and assume he was being lazy or taking shortcuts. Instead of placing blame on the worker, we should consider that we missed several key opportunities ourselves, and may have failed in our responsibilities as employers. Perhaps we’re seeing a worker without the necessary training, tools, equipment, or support they need to be safe and successful while they’re conducting work; a worker who has only been told what to do, not how to do it.

designed to provide ownership of complete task areas and responsibility for their success. Their tasks are defined so that they are responsible for a meaningful process or output, have the power to make decisions and commit organizational resources, and recognition for the work process and results. They receive the skills training they need to do their jobs well, which is tremendously empowering.”

Empowering employees in these ways is not only beneficial, but in many ways required. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 has always placed the responsibility of providing a safe workplace for all employees squarely on the shoulders of the employer. While the Act outlines many areas of employer responsibility, as we continue to reflect on what we should be seeing in these photographs, a few specific requirements seem to standout:

If we take the time to truly empower our employees and grow these systems together, it seems entirely possible that eventually these photographs will become far less frequent.

To be clear, I am not suggesting managers or risk and safety professionals engage in micromanagement of our employees. In fact, I am suggesting that we empower them! When we train our employees, we empower them with the knowledge and skills necessary to complete their tasks. When we properly equip them, we are empowering them by providing everything they need to conduct their work safely and efficiently.

When we offer them guidance and direction through policy and procedures, we empower them by setting reasonable work parameters.

When we support and encourage employees, we are empowering them to make the necessary decisions we aren’t always there to make. The National Safety Council offers an excellent summary of employee empowerment: “Empowered employees are those who have the freedom to make many of their own decisions and the training to make good ones. Their jobs are

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• Employers must provide a workplace free from serious recognized hazards and comply with the rules, regulations, and standards issued under the OSH Act, • Employers are responsible for examination of workplace conditions to make sure they conform to applicable standards, and • It is the responsibility of the employer to make sure employees have and use safe tools and equipment, and maintain the equipment properly.

Additionally, empowerment is a major aspect of the “Competent Person” training requirements found in 29 CFR Part 1910 and Part 1926. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines this employee as “one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.”

Standards require a Competent Person for a variety of tasks, such as scaffolding, trenching and excavation, cranes and derricks, and the use of slings to name just a few. This employee must be empowered to adequately address hazards, issue and maintain safe equipment, and immediately stop work that can’t be done safely. Without empowerment, a Competent Person would be rendered completely ineffective and create unnecessary hazards and liabilities.

Proper implementation of an effective safety management system recognizes the human approach necessary to make it a success. In his book Safety Management: A Human Approach, Dan Peterson indicated that, “Behind every unsafe condition, there is a safety management system that could have allowed that hazard to exist. Behind every unsafe behavior or unsafe act, is a reason that those people engage in those behaviors.” Employees who have been empowered are far less likely to engage in unsafe acts or allow unsafe conditions to exist and it is far more reasonable to hold them responsible when they do. Managers and supervisors, as well as risk and safety professionals, must realize that we are ultimately responsible for these Safety Management Systems, and the photographs we are seeing are ultimately echoes of these systems.

Another striking reflection, which some may find even more surprising than the content of the pictures themselves, are found in the responses offered by risk and safety professionals. Given the generally poor dialogue that follows the post, it is difficult to see what the purpose and intention of sharing these photographs actually is. Many are often quick to assign blame to the worker, failing to recognize the responsibilities that rest primarily with management, and see the true reflection the picture reveals. Unfortunately, others offer sarcastic and divisive remarks with seemingly little regard for the severity of the situation or dignity of those we are supposed to be serving in our profession. An unseemly example shows a pair of workers in a very dangerous trench wearing high visibility vests. One safety manager commented how dangerous the situation was and then noted how the workers made them “physically sick.” A senior superintendent believed the workers had a “total lack of brains” and a civil engineer was kind enough to offer that the reflective vests would conveniently make the workers “easier to find when digging” for them.

By comparison, risk management and occupational safety fields are arguably still in their infancy. As a fledgling field, ethical considerations become a paramount consideration for those of us working within it. As we continue to grow and influence our professions, we must consistently build a strong foundation of core ethics in all that we do. Many professional designations such as Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), and Certified Safety and Health Manager (CSHM) require the study and practice of core safety values and ethics to achieve and maintain certification. While there is no primary reference for a Code of Ethics in our profession, all references seem to share common core beliefs.

Chief among these is the basic Principles of Respect and Integrity. Professional respect requires that “…in every action and every intention, in every goal and every means, treat every human being, yourself and others, with the respect befitting the dignity and worth of a person.” Professional integrity necessitates we “…maintain personal standards of conduct befitting a professional; respect yourself in all of your decisions so as to be worthy of living a professional life.” Holding

ourselves to these standards in our day-to-day actions, decisions, and interactions will undoubtedly lend a great deal to the continued solidification of this profession, earning credibility among those we work with, and a setting good example for those who assume our roles in the future.

The attitudes and actions of employees are often referred to as the barometer of an organization and its culture. Ironically, barometers can be the most important instrument used in understanding and forecasting the weather, but surprisingly few people are able to use them properly. Our Safety Management Systems can also be difficult to build and maintain, but one thing is certain.…they won’t work without your employees. If we take the time to truly empower our employees and grow these systems together, it seems entirely possible that eventually these photographs will become far less frequent. As a final reflection, maybe it was Benjamin Franklin who had it right all along when he suggested, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

REFERENCES Crittenden, P. (Ed.). (2009). Supervisor’s Safety Manual (10 ed.). Itasca, IL. Employer Responsibilities. (2017). Retrieved June 23, 2017, from U.S. Dept. of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration: https://www.osha.gov/as/opa/worker/ employer-responsibility.html Lindberg, C. A. (Ed.). (2002). The Oxford American College Dictionary. New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc. Patankar, M. S., Brown, J. P., & Treadwell, M. D. (2005). Safety Ethics: Cases from Aviation, Healthcare, and Occupational and Environmental Health. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Co. Peterson, D. (2001). Safety Management: A Human Approach. Des Plaines, IL: American Society of Safety Engineers.

Peterson, D. (2003). Techniques of Safety Management: A Systems Approach (4 ed.). Des Plaines, IL: American Society of Safety Engineers.

Christopher Russell is risk and safety manager for the Town of Mooresville, NC.

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WHAT

CHIPPING PAINT TAUGHT ME ABOUT

FINDING MEANING

AT WORK BY ???

BY BILL HOWLETT

An illustration on how powerful it is for people to have a clear understanding of their role and why it matters in the grand scheme of things.

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WHAT CHIPPING PAINT TAUGHT ME ABOUT FINDING MEANING AT WORK

H

OW MANY OF YOU HAVE A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CURRENT GOAL-SETTING PROCESS? In an ideal world, it should be simple. The drumbeat usually goes something like this: an employee’s goals should be tied to departmental goals, which are also tied to something else that’s much bigger. If it was that easy, there would be a lot more love going around for our dear friend, the goal-setting process.

But we all know it’s not that easy. And we know the pain points that come with a lack of clarity around goals. The biggest one—disengaged employees.

In 2016, Gallup published its State of Local and State Government Workers’ Engagement in the US report. More than 400,000 full-time US workers, including nearly 61,000 state and local government workers, were surveyed to determine engagement levels across the country. The message to government leaders was sobering: 71 percent of public sector employees are not engaged in their jobs.

A lack of clarity around strategy and delayed feedback processes have long been cited as common challenges that impact employee productivity and engagement. This might sound simplified, but in the 30 years I’ve worked in training and organizational development, and even during my time in the US Navy, I’ve learned that organizations and individuals need effective goal-setting processes and regular feedback and communication to be successful.

Let me share with you a personal example from my time in the navy to illustrate how powerful it is for people to have a clear understanding of their role and why it matters in the grand scheme of things.

CHIPPING THE PAINT JUST FOR THE SAKE OF IT

Back when I was a sailor, my shipmates and I were chipping paint on the USS William R. Rush. I was young and enthusiastic, and while everyone else was breaking tools and doing anything they could to get out of doing their work, I plugged away and was happy to do it.

My Chief Petty Officer came over and asked me why I was so dedicated to chipping the paint. I said, “Because you asked me to, Chief,” and that was the truth. I was chipping the paint because it was something I was told to do.

He then took me to the galley for a cup of coffee and asked, “How do you think the navy supports the US economy?”

I had no clue.

He went on to explain to me how my task of chipping the paint was part of the overall maintenance that kept the ship from deteriorating and maintained our readiness, which in turn maintained the fleet’s readiness, allowing us to keep the sea lanes open and safe for commerce to support the US economy.

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At that point, the light bulb went on: I wasn’t just chipping paint. I was helping make the US dollar stronger. When my Chief Petty Officer helped connect those dots, I became even more committed to my tasks. I remember chipping paint harder and better than I did before.

In that situation, the biggest problem was that nobody really understood why we were chipping paint or how it was linked to our responsibilities as sailors or to the goals of the navy. Had my fellow paint chippers realized the connection, I’m sure fewer tools would have been broken.

In the city of Henderson, where I work now, we have various tools and processes in place to help employees feel connected and fulfilled in their work so they can get the most out of the time they spend at work. Here are three lessons about goal setting and communication I’ve learned over the years that have helped our city workers.

COLLABORATIVE GOALS IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

I can’t stress enough the importance of ensuring employees having specific, measureable goals that they can work towards. But it’s important for people to factor in what it is

about their job they’re passionate about into the goal-setting process. It could be something related to their performance or their development or even their career. The point is that employees and supervisors set goals together.

Getting in the habit of setting goals together puts supervisors and their direct reports on the same page and helps to maintain a continuous line of sight on progress.

I recently read a scientific study on goal setting that found worker performance improved by 12 percent to 15 percent when there were defined goals, compared to when no goals were set. The next time you think everyone is too busy to sit down and discuss project or career goals, think about that statistic and ask yourself, “What would 15 percent mean to you and where you work?”

SET GOALS AND EMPHASIZE THE RELEVANCE

Whether you are working with a team member on setting SMART goals or TRAMS goals, it’s important that the ‘R’ is emphasized— goals need to be relevant to the individual, to the team, and to what the department wants to achieve.

When people have a clear sense of what they are expected to do and why, it makes it easier for people to stay focused and productive on what matters, instead of being occupied with “busy work.” And relevance can motivate and engage people in their work—just like when I was chipping away at that paint. Once I knew the ripple effect, I was even more diligent.

COMMUNICATE AND PIVOT WHEN NEEDED

We have to remember that creating goals is a not a set-and-forget exercise. There is no one-size solution for how much or how little you need to provide feedback or check-in on how employees are progressing against their set goals, but it should meet the needs of employees and flow with the pace of your organization.

With that said, research from Bersin by Deloitte found organizations that have employees review and revise goals at least quarterly are 45 percent more likely to have above average financial performance. The reason? Employees and managers work together to ensure everyone is working toward something relevant, realistic, and attainable.

If there is a major change of direction in a department or a new focus, make employees aware with timely communication and make time to revisit goals. When we set goals and they become outdated, it can actually demotivate and make people believe the process is pointless. There is nothing wrong with pivoting, as long as everyone moves in the same direction.

DON’T JUST CHIP THE PAINT I’ve carried the lesson I learned about chipping the paint throughout my career.

In fact, something happened recently in the city that reminded me, once again, just how important it is for people to understand that what they do matters.

This spring we rolled out our flow down goals.

I walked into the boardroom to set up for the meeting to talk about our goals and there was a custodian there who was just finishing up her rounds. We said hello and eventually started talking about the meeting that was about to start. She told me that none of what I was about to present applied to her because her job wasn’t that important. It made me think of my Chief Petty Officer right away.

I recently read a scientific study on goal setting that found worker performance improved by 12 percent to 15 percent when there were defined goals, compared to when no goals were set. The next time you think everyone is too busy to sit down and discuss project or career goals, think about that statistic and ask yourself, “What would 15 percent mean to you and where you work?”

MARCH 2018 | PUBLIC RISK

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WHAT CHIPPING PAINT TAUGHT ME ABOUT FINDING MEANING AT WORK

So I asked, “What would happen if you didn’t help maintain the city’s facilities?”

same goal, she was very moved because nobody had ever made the connection before.

work and they’ll go where their needs are met.

It’s that simple.

She replied, “Things would break down, we’d have wear and tear, and the city would have higher costs.” We also talked about what would happen to the city’s reputation if these things happened.

We often get comfortable with our teams and are able to have a shorthand when we work. We can guess what another person will be doing or we don’t have to go into too much detail on a certain project because our colleague “gets it.”

Make sure your leaders are well versed in setting goals and then communicating the relevance to each person. Then provide them with the resources to support their employees in successfully achieving their goals. The action makes all the difference.

When it comes to goal setting and management, we can’t risk assuming that employees just know. It’s too important of a task. And people aren’t going to sit around and wait for someone to figure it out. They’ll soon become disengaged and look for other work. The cost of doing nothing is too high. People deserve more from

Chip away, my friends.

You see, our jobs are important because our end goal is the same—we want Henderson to be America’s premier community. We both want any experience that a resident, city worker, or other visitor has to be exceptional.

When she realized that her job was in fact important and we were all working towards the

Bill Howlett is the HR manager of training & organization performance for the City of Henderson, NV.

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