Steps to Better Job Performance

Day 8, Reviewing Information Sources

In our book, James Roughton and I used a basic problem solving circle to visualize the process strategy for analyzing the workplace. In the overall strategy and as a reality check, you are in Phase 1 “Conducting a risk assessment of the workplace” – where are the risks, hazards and what is the status of the current controls in place?

The other phases are “Prioritize risk assessment findings”, “Develop solutions to resolve risk-related issues”, “Recommend and implement solution” with “Monitoring the results of solutions implemented” centering the process.
Back on Day 2, you began the organizing of your office and safety materials. This activity should be a life long process and effort – think “entropy” if you don’t. Have you located all possible organizational safety manuals, policies, procedures and programs? Have you checked for all forms of media – hard copy and electronic? Information may reside on a number of different computers and rounding up the files will take time.
Have you begun the organizing of files, loss information, accident investigations, manuals, newsletters, handouts? What has existed in the past? What’s in use now?  What is the quality of the materials and their presentation? This may not appear to be safety “stuff” but it is critical to your understanding of the past as well as developing plans for the future.
Determine when the safety information (manuals, procedures, forms, etc) was last updated?  Determine if the content and its context still apply or has the organization changed or modified in a way that has made it obsolete or incomplete? Malcolm Gladwell uses this format in his classic work “The Tipping Point” that places Content and Context as part of the fundamentals for successful growth. “Content” provides the core information. “Context” is the manner that it is presented – is it in the format and business language used by the organization and at a level that can be understood?  Does it clearly fit the needs of the organization?
A major part of your job, and important to the building of a quality safety culture, is your ability to find information quickly when safety questions are asked by managers and employees.  Your goal is to develop a comprehensive process that structures programs, policies and procedures. If the information you present is of poor quality in how it is presented, looks or its content suspect or if you cannot locate the item, it is no longer information – if it isn’t used or you can’t locate it, it does not “exist” – at least as far as your organization is concerned.
Organizing your materials is not limited to just a hardcopy library – you must have Internet access, electronic files and an electronic library of materials to consider.
Summary of Day 8 -You should be continuing the “5S” of your area. How you maintain and organize your information and media, your office or cube area is as important as the professional image you present.

Day 7, Continuing the Review Process

Analysis of the Current Organization Climate

Continuing the review of the current organization climate and becoming fully acquainted with your new position and organization requires expanding your circle in the search for information.
Other sources of information that may be available include the services and visits by the insurance carrier and insurance broker, the local fire marshal and local emergency response units, as well as possibly federal, state and local regulatory compliance officers. Each of these entities provides additional indicators of the current state of the organizational climate as well as a perspective on risk issues that have been address or should have been addressed. You may find that there is a lack of commitment, not funds allocated for reducing the risk, or other underlined problems why the risk has not been corrected. You may find that a fine may be justified as “the cost of doing business.” There are still organizations that think that way. I once hear an argument on citations that was $10,000. The question was it more expensive to fix the condition than just to pay the fine. This think should not be acceptable, but this is the reality of life and the mentality of organization that you will not exist until you are employed.
Insurance company and/or insurance brokerage risk and loss control specialists may visit as part of the insurance services and provide some valuable guidance. Many times these types of services can be a hindrance, as they are “insurers” and they want to ensure that they will not have to pay out losses. Therefore, some of these insurance companies are very restrictive and may ask you to do some things that may sound unreasonable. And in some cases the survey may be unreasonable. The nature of the game is that you have to sort out what is best for the organization.
Bear in mind, Insurance Company and/or insurance brokerage risk and loss control specialists are the “surveyors” that provide insurance underwriters with information about the state of the risk they have taken on.   After each visit, a letter or report is often written sent to the organization’s insurance or risk manager. Reports go to underwriters who price your insurance programs. The reports provide details on the concerns of the insurance company as well as possible recommendations for improvement. Response to any recommendations should not be taken lightly and a response should be provided that provides the controls or alternatives to be taken.
Based on discussions with the insurance specialists determine the scope of any services and how you can best use the expertise. You may find safety, industrial hygiene; property, fleet and other expertise have been on site or under utilized, as well as a source of materials available for specific program development.
Regulatory visits are due to a variety of issues, from some internal or external complaint on to special projects of the agency.   These may involve legal issues and the legal department may need to be involved. Any indicators that regulatory compliance problems exist should be given the highest priority; after all, these requirements are usually “the laws of the land!” Non-compliance may also increase the potential for increased liability in the event of a loss-producing incident and in turn impact the insurance program. Needless to say, non-compliance publicity may further harm the company “brand’ which is a major concern to most companies.
While these various services with their visits and reports may range in timing and quality, they offer another perspective about your organization. This specialist may have made recommendations that should be reviewed for validity. If no one has been tracking and working with these specialists, this area has potential impact on the organization, insurance cost, and regulatory compliance. Work at making these personnel and services allies to your efforts.
Summary of Day 7 -
Depending on the specialist visiting, you may find a history of safety, fleet, property and environmental/industrial hygiene reviews or reports that provides further insight into the needs of the safety culture.

Day 6, egin the Review of Loss Data

A major element of an effective risk and safety process is to reduce the level and the potential for injuries to employees, third-parties (non-employees), and damage to equipment, materials, or facilities. A number of questions need to be asked that include:

Does the organization have a substantial history of injury and damage?
How does it compare to its industry?
What is the workers compensation loss history?
What are the types and severity of the losses that are occurring?
Which way are losses trending? Have you inherited a process that has loss-producing incidents trending up, down or flat?
Based on the loss history, is the organization being targeted by regulators, lawyers and activist?

You must have a clear understanding and knowledge of the losses that have or are occurring. While this may appear to be backward looking, your purpose is two fold in the development of a safety process – reduce both current losses and the risk faced by the organization to a level that is acceptable – Acceptable not just to management, but to employees and society in general. Your goal is to clearly identifying the quality of the current safety culture. You have located, hopefully, the loss data, loss analyses, accident investigations, and OSHA logs on day 5. Today, begin an in-depth review of the data.
If your company has risk management/insurance personnel, set an appointment with them. If not, identify who handles the insurance program.  Find out as much as possible about the claims history from their perspective. Ask about outstanding/open claims, bad cases, incurred costs, etc.  Even in this era of data driven programs, many safety managers may not be taking full advantage of potential information from the risk/insurance department.
Workers’ Compensation data will provide a wealth of information concerning the types of injuries, where they are the injuries occurring, as well as occurrence by time of day, day of week, month, department, by supervisor, incurred costs, etc. depending on the quality of the risk management information system. If your organization has a risk information system, try to get access and learn how to use it to develop special reports especially if it has ad hoc reporting capability. A combination of first reports of injury, accident investigations, loss runs and analysis can assist the targeting of your efforts to specific loss producing situations. The OSHA log and Workers Compensation data will parallel but not be the same. What may not be an OSHA recordable may be a Workers Compensation Claim.
General Liability – This may not be a part of your responsibility but can provide further insights on operational risk areas that are harming non-employees. Incidents that harm non-employees may also be setting conditions that harm employees. If non-employees are being harmed by operations, the overall safety culture is weak.
Auto Liability - As with General Liability, the same can be said about Auto Liability, except here you get four whacks – auto/vehicle incidents can injury employees and non-employees as well as cause property damage and incur legal expenses. Does your organization have a well managed and thorough fleet safety program? If not, you have another of risk to work on.
Property – Another area is to determine if property damage claims are occurring. Who has responsibility for facilities? These reports can give indicators of fire protection and life safety issues and risks.
Cost of Risk - Finally, try to find out the organization’s “Cost of Risk”. This is basically the sum total of all claims and insurance costs plus administration costs. It can provide another indicator about the state of the safety culture. If the “COR” is greater that approximately 1% of total revenue, you may have a serious problem – injuries and damage may be having an impact on the financial success of the organization.  Depending on the industry the COR can range widely. The higher the ratio, the less apt the organization is to have an effective safety culture.
Presentation - As you develop your information, begin considering how you must structure any reports or presentations. Determine the style, format, types of charts, etc. used by the organization. While you may have a great style of presentation, the organization may have a style it prefers and already understands. Check with the quality control department as a possible source as they may be doing various analyses in formats you can use.
Summary of Day 6 – Review and analyze the loss information in detail.   Begin to further define areas that must be prioritized for targeted activities to reduce claims of all types and control risk and hazards.

Day 5, Effectively Organizing Your Office and Day

Establishing Structure
Developing structure through a logical approach will help keep the necessary tasks prioritized and organized as well as aid in reducing the potential overwhelming emotions that may develop depending on the state of the safety culture (What have I gotten into!) . By starting with sorting out your office and files, you can begin to set structure to your mission. The small success of simply clearing out clutter and seeing an administrative process begin can be comforting if nothing else. Get things in order! This however, as the books referenced in Day 2 will be an ongoing affair.

Make use of a daily planner, Microsoft Outlook, or other device to keep notes, set priorities, and maintain your schedule and calendar. This is an art. Finding the balance between a structured day and the need for flexibility is essential. I use Outlook for calendar, contacts and projects along with a simple composition book to record phone calls, observations, etc. You may prefer a very formal looking binder or other software – whatever works for you. This area is also an outgoing affair to keep maintained and up to speed.

Review of the Data
As you organize your office, begin the organizing and review of all known loss data – insurance loss runs that may include workers compensation, auto liability, general liability, and property. The OSHA 300 logs are a basic requirement - do you have the required number of years in file? Also look for damage, accident investigations, and near miss reports. Later on, we will discuss getting with other specialty areas in detail for their data

Who currently keeps the insurance loss runs and OSHA logs if they are not your responsibility?

Insurance loss runs are reports specific to your organization that track injuries and provide details on what happened and the potential cost of the incident. Are these documents available to you? Who gets the Insurance loss data? Many times, insurance loss runs go to finance and may not have been made available to the safety manager. Ask if you can get on any distribution lists and if you can have access to any online claims databases.

Internal damage reports and repair reports will also provide insights on where to go to look for underlying issues and problem areas.

Loss Analysis
Using loss data is like driving a car while looking into a rearview mirror. However, to begin the work of eliminating the repeating types of losses, loss analysis is an essential function. The data when properly analyzed provides targeted areas to implement the risk and control hazard control process.  The data can show where "low hanging fruit" is for a few early successes.

You need a five year history of losses to begin any type of annual trending.  Evaluate the data and how it has been presented.   Is it in an understandable form that provides information for management and employees? Does it communicate the loss record of the organization?  Can you begin to set priorities with the current loss producing data?

Organizing your day - Continue getting out and about
As discussed in Day 4, you should be trying to spend some time each day out where the action is occurring, where the work is being done.  All of the acquired data and information is only theory until you can match what you have read and heard with what you can see is being done.  Talk to as many people as you can, asking questions but listening intently. Networking is essential and the only way to network is to simply make the effort to get around and talk to all levels of the organization.

You may have to begin to suggest corrective actions or intervene when you see specific uncontrolled hazardous situations. This is why you took the time to get your mission and authority clear. The first few times you have to intervene will require tack and a bit of diplomacy. Jumping down someone’s throat, a demeaning approach, being overbearing will shut down future communications. Set a tone that is professional – listen to the why a situation exist, explain the issue and make sure that a team approach is desired. You must be viewed as a problem solver, not an obstacle to go around. If the issue cannot be resolved quickly, work with the area management in finding alternatives. We discuss later on how the use of the Job Hazard Analysis can help in you respond.

Day 5 Summary
As you organize your office, the day as well as the loss information and analyses, begin to match your observations with the numbers and assessments completed.   As a reminder, make sure your Boss knows what you’re doing!  Take time to communicate upward and to your peers.
Nathan Crutchfield
N_crutch@comcast.net

Day 4, Make acquaintances and friends – Allies in the Cause!

The position of safety manager must rely on effective communications with all aspects of the organization. You must be able to receive and send messages to others that maintain trust and keeps the process you want to develop continuously improving.

People Skills
Do an assessment of your people skills. Are you approachable? What is your communication style? Do you prefer direct on-on-one discussion; feel comfortable in front of groups, in front of management? Do you prefer to use e-mails and rely on memos? How does your style and type of communication match your organization, manager and those to whom you must communicate?

Communication Skills
The development of a safety process cannot be done entirely from your office. You will have to walk and talk, meet people, develop a rapport with virtually ever part of the organization. You will have to keep the trust of those who may fear to bring issues to light and cause them problems. You will be balancing between various groups, causes, and the complexity found in any organization.

Walk and Listen
You should be visiting or establishing contact with as many of the other disciplines as possible within the organization - Maintenance, Quality Control, Risk Management, Security, Environmental, Training, Human Resources, Fleet, Custodial, etc.  Their issues are also your issues and give indicators of the current organizational culture.

Listen intently
Follow Steven Covey’s principle of “Seeking first to understand then to be understood”. What are their issues, concerns, observations - you are in support of these personnel and need them as allies.  Listen and learn before jumping to conclusions and reacting.
If you do not review your skills and can not gain rapport, you may have serious long term problems that are basically your fault and damage the position you hold.

Day 4 Summary
Begin the process of learning the various departments, their needs, concerns and issues.
Nathan Crutchfield
N_crutch@comcast.net

Day 3, Learn more about your organization

You hopefully did research on the company before joining it or taking the position. Even if you’ve been around awhile and just moved “down the hall”, you need to gather a new perspective about the size, shape and nature of your organization. Don’t assume you know – you’re in a new position. Items to consider:
Organizational Charts
If the company has not been using these, sketch out and make your own. You need a map of where you are and who has responsibility for what. Charts like these have fallen out of favor with many companies. However, try to keep one up to date for your own purposes. We may touch on Social Networking Chart's later.
Company Information Develop basic information on company locations, managers, number of employees, number of vehicles and types, specific processes/services/activities, labor/management relations, etc. Do you have the latest annual financial report? What are the exposures to loss that you need to be addressing? You need the full details about the organization. Add information on losses, loss rates, compliance, and insurance issues to begin the process of continuously building a clear picture of the scope and needs of the organization.
Industry issues
Refresh yourself on specific industry issues and problems:
Locate Industry Association web sites – what’s going on in your industry?
Review, learn and understand the jargon of the organization – Listen intently, are you speaking the same “business” language as management or supervisors or the employees? Each has a different perspective of the company and you have to learn multiple business languages. As example, do you speak “Finance"? "Lean Six Sigma”? "Union"? What are the languages spoken?
Based on what you've found, learn the tools, materials and equipment in use and begin specific research on risks and potential hazards.
Day 3 Summary Learn as much as possible about your organization and its industry. Discussed by Nathan Crutchfield, Crutchfield Consulting LLC For ohbytheway.biz
Nathan Crutchfield N_crutch@comcast.net

Day 2, Locate and begin reviewing the safety files and reference materials

You’ve got to get a feel for what the history of the office has been.  You may have to retrieve files from storage, go through piles of files – they could be anywhere and in any shape depending on how new or how long the position has been open.   I have helped setup safety offices on a number of occasions.  I guess it’s a form of entropy or chaos theory or something.  Office files seem to implode. During one project, a client and I got a hand truck and a large box. We went around an office and building retrieving bits and pieces of programs. Another time, I inherited an office that had an empty bookcase, 6 months of subscriptions to a weekly safety newsletter (about a three foot stack) and a file cabinet that had no rhyme or reason for the order folders were filed!
Develop a Filing Process
Use the 5S process to begin cleaning up if your area shows limited or no organization. Determined if the company already has a procedure to establish and maintain files – both hardcopy and electronic. Review files for condition, logical organization, completeness, and consistency. Is the company protocol for hardcopy and electronic files being used? If no process is in place, begin your own structure. The filing also should apply to references, books, and other materials needed for the safety process. Two books that give insight on filing and paper management are “File, Don’t Pile”, Pat Dorff and “Taming the Paper Tiger”, Barbara Hemphill

Day 2 Summary
Begin organizing and cleaning up your assigned office and areas. If you aren’t organized, how can you ask others to keep “good housekeeping”?

Sixty Days to a More Effective Job Performance

Day 1, Find your desk, setting up your office and beginning finding your way around the organization
It is your first day on your new job. What do you do? How are you going to be productive from the first day? What are others going to think about you? How are they going to react to a new person on the block? What personalities exit?
Welcome to a series of discussions that will help you to establish a more effective integration into your new position, or any other endeavor for that matter! This first article will set the stage for future and other articles will provide insights from our experiences about actions and ideas you might want to consider in those crucial first several months.
This may sound obvious, but your first day is pretty critical, as times are tough and sometimes hiring managers do not always know exactly what they want in a professional. They know what they have been told. Whether you are new to the organization or you were simply moved down the hallway, there's still much to do. Congratulations on your first day in your new job or promotion it will be extremely busy. You may have to start repairing some damage done by your predecessor, build on past solid foundations, or if you did not have a predecessor, start immediately doing the wide range of tasks that you said that could you could to do during the interview process. This is where the "Rubber meets the Road."
What Out for the Activity Trap!
If you do not have an established flow of for your process, you can get caught up in the "activity trap. This trap will prevent you from doing your assigned task and cause you to do a lot of things and accomplishing little towards your states goals and objectives. The trap is that you are new and want to make a quick and solid impression, showing you have got what it takes to get the job done. There is no problem with that, except you may miss a few things that are critical to the operation. For starters, you need to keep thinking in terms of process and not program. For example, you may ask the question, What can I do to establish a process that gets the mission done, not just specific tasks. We tend to think that many activities make us effective. Not so says George Leonard, a leading author on personal development. If you have not done so, read his book, "Mastery." This is an essential text book for your bookshelf and provides many insights you can use.
Manager's Mandates and Direction
As soon as possible visit or revisit with your direct manager your goals and objectives. It is essential to reconfirm and define your mission and current objectives that are considered important to the management staff. This will allow you to confirm your job duties, responsibilities, and authority that you will be measured on. You will soon find out if your objectives are same as you expected. Make sure that you have a clear understanding of your mission. An organization may give you lead time to get started. Others expect you to hit the ground running. Nathan, the co-author had a friend who was called out of his human resources new hire orientation, on the first day, in the first hour, to give a brief overview to a client on how he could help them! (He did a great job by the way). Be prepared for that possibility! You are now employed and anything could happen."Murphy" could move into your office with you and as Dave Ramsey, radio host, states you do not want living with you.
The Administrative Staff
Get acquainted with the Office Administrative Staff. Find out who does what and for whom. This support group knows the personalities of everyone that they work with and how things work, who works and has the real authority. Never demean the admin staff! They can be your best friend when you really need it. I remember interviewing for a job many years back. The receptionist in the front lobby helped me to learn more about the hiring manager and other individuals that I was interviewing with. I just struck up a conversation and was nice to her. After getting hire, she was one of my best resources.
On the other hand, if you inherit a staff, take the time to listen to what they have to say. You can get in discussions with the on what they are doing, what things have been working or not working. Do not immediately start condemning the past. You will have time for that later, after new systems are working properly. What you were told in the interview and what really is happening may or probably will be different.
Why Were You Hired For This Position? If you do not already know, you may what to find out what happen to the last person in the position. One piece of advice! Move at a cautious pace, it may not be right timing. In most cases, if you just get to know people, you will soon figure out what happen. Once you find this information, this will provide you some indicator as to what you might expect if management has remained the same. Begin to gather the real history of your position and the process. What you were told and what the inside story is may be different. Again, if you do not know, find out about any past program failures or successes. This is where you team can help out.
Basic Logistics
The next step is to understand the computers and software available. Check on electronic filing systems, backups, what do you have available to you. Then check on classes to get yourself up to speed on programs used by the organization that you may not be familiar with. You probably already the basic software packages, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Learn what the rules about internet access. This is important, as some companies have some strict rules on what can do and what you can not do. For example, most companies do not want you look at YouTube. In today's world, the internet can be your friend, so you need to be doing a lot of ongoing research if the sites that you will be using are restricted. The bottom line: just make sure that you understand the rules of internet access. Also ask about existing online services that might be already in use.
Your Professional Image
As you move through various areas of the organization and meet people you will be judged by how you dress, act, talk, and respond to questions. This initial conversation has set the stage to form your image of how people perceive you and interact with you. This first day will, in many respects, set much of the tone for the rest of your time with the organization. It is called having a command presence. Be aware of the image that you portray to management and employees.
As you walk around, observe the business attire. I would hope that the new organization will tell you what the attire is for the position. You can get some hint during the job interview.
The next most important thing for you is to show up on time and looking professional and well groomed. This may sound trite but many people entering the workplace have not learned the basics of developing a professional image. Do not look like you just got up and dragged your clothes out of a laundry bag. Remember, you are now part of the management team, possibility in a leadership role and need to sell ideas to management and employees. Leave the frat house, high school, and beach house, whatever behind!
The first image people have of you will stay a long time. Remember the old saying: First impressions are lasting impressions. Nathan, my co-author, recounts a time when he showed up for meetings and to his horror his pen had leaked well across his shirt. You can rest assure that you will hear about it later, in jest but that was the image, the guy with the ink stain. On my first day of work I have a similar situation. I was invited to an off site meeting. When I left to get into my car, I had a flat tire. Needless to say, I was late for the meeting. Luckily, every thing worked out fine, but could have been a problem. These examples illustrate that, as I said before, "Murphy" has a way of moving in when you least expect it.
The Bottom Line
Be on time, have a professional image, be prepared to immediately do what you were hired to do, be friendly, courteous, organized and ready to help.
As published at enzine Articles and http://ohbytheway.biz/job-feeds