Event Safety Insights Issue Four | Summer 2017 | Page 39

war has been won and the troops should be sent home. The weary troops allow themselves to be convinced they have won and when it comes time to continue the change process, they are reluctant to engage again because they recall how much work it took to get where they are, so change comes to a halt and tradition creeps back in. The fact is, the culture you are changing does not stop evolving therefore cultural change requires indefinite cycling and recycling through the processes to stay on your new course. Rather than declaring victory of the war, savvy leaders understand that renewal efforts take years, so they re-channel the organization’s current problem-solving velocity toward other problems that need solving that are not part of the cultural change effort. 8. Avoid regression. Change that is not anchored in the culture is at risk of decay and deterioration. Until new behaviors are deeply rooted in social norms and shared values, they are subject to degradation as soon as the pressure for change is removed. Promotion of leadership successors who do not embrace the vision is an obvious mistake. Once leadership has committed to change, every move, each leadership successor and every new hire must embrace and live the vision of change or the organization will regress. (Heathfield, What Makes Up Your Company Culture?, 2016) Summary • Develop a safety program that matches your unique organization’s needs, all are similar, no two are the same. • As leaders and managers, we must support and practice those policies ourselves or they will fail. • Including employees and staff in the development and management of a safety program gives them ownership of the program and increases the likelihood of last- ing success, listen to them. • Take ego and shame out of play. When it comes to safety in the workplace, there is no room for them. • Accept that mistakes will be made, plan for this eventuality. • Monitor the implementation of your safety program, watch out for complacency and cheating to earn incentives. • Report and record everything, it’s your paper trail. Works Cited Heathfield, S. M. (2016, October 12). How to Change your Company Culture. The Balance. Heathfield, S. M. (2016, November 13). What Makes Up Your Company Culture? The Bal- ance. Johansson, A. (2017, March 20). Turning the Ship Around: A Guide to Changing Workplace Culture. Business.com. Kotter, J. P. (1995, May-June). Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review. Smith, J. L. (2014, July 6). Hollywood’s Health and Safety Nightmare. The Telegraph. USDOL. (1970). United States Department of Labor. Retrieved June 20, 2016, from Occu- pational Safety and Health Administration: https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp. show_document?p_table=OSHACT&p_id=3359 39