A newly hired employee reported to work on the first day of his new job. He was familiar with the company, for his dad had worked 30 years for it as an over-the-road truck driver delivering products. He met his supervisor, who first told him, "Remember, I am hiring you from the neck down." Taken aback, the new employee began his work.
A culture of safety and civility puts the "human" back into "humanity."
A couple of months later, the supervisor called him into his office. He said, "I regret to tell you your father was killed in an on-the-road accident this morning. You can take the day off if you need to. Also, I gave your father a new flashlight a week ago. Make sure I get it back."
Could this supervisor have had a single drop of the milk of human kindness within him?
In another instance, an email sent to a manager from an employee asked a very important question that required an immediate/short answer. Here was the manager's response: "OK... I'm going to tell you like I tell all employees. Read what I sent you. "
A better response and answer to the employee's questions would have required fewer words. Has this line of important communication been severed? Do you think the employee will ever ask this manager another question? Was there civility in the manager's response? Or was it an eruption of personal power?
What is a safety culture?
Many definitions of safety culture exist. Here are a few descriptors: "a deep-seated social contract that safety is an important/vital part of everything I do, fire-in-the-belly determination to do my job correctly/safely the first time and every time and to create and maintain a safe environment for myself and my co-workers."
Within a safety culture, trust is a core value: "Trust in yourself, your management and your co-workers. It is a pervasive feeling backed by words, actions and deeds that the company genuinely cares about my safety and well-being and, in turn, I care about my safety and well-being and the safety and well-being of individuals around me."
What is civility?
Think of civility as respect for yourself and others. These descriptors include: clear communication, connection/ attention, gratitude, timely responses, thoughtfulness, being considerate/ courteous/respectful/polite and personal power.
What is not civility? Civility is not being offensive, petty, rude or inattentive (i.e., texting) when others are present; not being angry (i.e., screaming), inconsiderate or disagreeable during meaningless disagreements; and not asserting a position of power. Have you witnessed incivility while driving, such as speeding, cutting into lanes, failure to use turn signals or texting?
Safety and civility
A culture of safety and civility makes for the perfect marriage, for each of these attributes puts the "human" back into "humanity." When one cares about the person as an individual, one is automatically civil. You may have met someone who made you wonder, "Wow, what planet did he or she come from?" Perhaps that person thought lack of civility was actually how he or she should behave. Since that person had gotten away with such behavior in the past (perhaps even getting promoted), he or she assumed behaving like that was expected.
A reference used throughout this discussion was "Creating Civility in The Workplace -- Whatever Happened to Respect?" by Bruce Lee. It is "the flesh on the skeleton of the discussion on civility."
For more information, visit www.vallen.com, call (832) 310-1812 or email henry.smahlik@vallen.com.
