How Organizational
Culture Affects
Employee Safety
Human Synergistics Canada
Allan M. Stewart, MBA
How Organizational Culture Affects Employee Safety
Introduction
When most organizations want to improve their record in overall workplace safety, they
focus on education; written procedures; workplace design; incident reporting; equipment
design, maintenance and testing; and, management directives. These are all extremely
important and can never be overlooked. But, one of the most important components is
often ignored – organizational culture.
Many authors have focused on the importance of human factors in safety practices such
as accident prevention, risk management and emergency procedures implementation.
However, organizational culture goes beyond the basic concentration on the human
factors. Human factors are singular – how humans interface with a machine in an
industrial setting, whereas organizational culture examines how and why people in a
particular environment will think and behave.
When organizations concentrate on the human factors, they provide proper safety training
and education, safety leadership, written procedures and workplace and equipment
design. Through legislation and industry-wide education these procedures and systems
are relatively standardized. Why then, do safety records vary so much among
organizations? The answer lies in the fact that each organization’s culture is different.
Culture Definition
Organizational culture is the commonly held attitudes, values, beliefs, assumptions and
behaviours of a group in a particular organizational unit. Or in other words; what it takes
to “fit in” and meet expectations. There are two concepts of culture – strength and
quality. Strength refers to the degree of commonality or intensity of the culture or, how
widely accepted is the common set of values and behaviours. Tom Peters and Bob
Waterman stated in their landmark book, In Search of Excellence, that effective
organizations have strong cultures with a common set of shared values.1 However,
strength of culture alone does not ensure an effective organization. What if it is
commonly expected that each employee only works at half of their capacity or speed? Of
greater importance is the quality of the culture. Quality refers to the degree to which the
cultural norms approximate an ideal culture in terms of how people should be expected to
behave to maximize the effectiveness of their organization.
Measuring Culture
While there are many ways to measure the quality of an organization’s culture, one of the
most respected methods is done by using Human Synergistics’ Organizational Culture
Inventory® (Current and Ideal), developed by Rob Cooke and Clayton Lafferty. 2 The
inventory provides 120 statements to which participants respond on a five-point, “to what
extent…” scale.
The OCI® inventory, when completed and scored, provides normed results in twelve
different cultural norms that can be further grouped into three cultural clusters. The
twelve styles, by cluster are3:
The Constructive Cluster (Consists of cultural norms that promote the higher-order
satisfaction needs of members.);
• Achievement (Members are expected to set challenging but realistic goals,
establish plans to reach those goals, and pursue them with enthusiasm.)
• Self-Actualizing (Members are expected to enjoy their work, develop themselves,
and take on new and interesting activities.)
• Humanistic-Encouraging (Members are expected to be supportive, constructive
and open to influence in their dealings with one another.)
• Affiliative (Members are expected to be friendly, cooperative and sensitive to the
satisfaction of their work group.)
The Passive / Defensive Cluster (Consists of cultural norms that promote self-protective
behaviour in interactions with people.);
• Approval (Members are expected to agree with, gain the approval of and be liked
by others.)
• Conventional (Members are expected to conform, follow the rules and make a
good impression.)
• Dependent (Members are expected to do what they’re told and clear all decisions
with superiors.)
• Avoidance (Members are expected to shift responsibilities to others and avoid any
possibility for being blamed for a mistake.)
The Aggressive / Defensive Cluster (Consists of cultural norms that promote selfprotective behaviour with respect to the way that members approach tasks.);
• Oppositional (Members are expected to be critical, oppose the ideas of others and
make safe (but ineffectual) decisions.)
• Power (Members are expected to take charge, control subordinates and yield to
the demands of superiors.)
• Competitive (Members are expected to operate in a “win-lose” framework and
work against (rather than with) their peers.)
• Perfectionistic (Members are expected to avoid mistakes, keep track of everything
and work long hours to attain narrowly-defined objectives.)
The Need for a Safety Culture
A Safety Culture is the representation of a management philosophy which reflects the
values and attitudes of importance placed upon those processes within an organization
which have significant consequences for safety. 4 Because the term, “Safety Culture” is a
relatively new concept, it is typically used in organizations where safety is the most
critical. These organizations, such as nuclear power plants, military facilities, chemical
plants, airlines, etc. are organizations where an accident could have catastrophic results.
These are called high reliability organizations.
The concept of a Safety Culture was discussed in the Second Review Meeting at the
Convention on Nuclear Safety (April 2002). In response to a question posed by the
Romanian delegation, the Canadian delegation said; “To ensure that staff who monitor
safety are not influenced by production needs, it is necessary for the Management System
to establish and maintain a Safety Culture throughout the station which puts safety first,
recognizing and taking seriously the unique safety requirements of the nuclear core.
Having established such values, it is important to ensure that actions of the management
team are seen by staff to re-enforce, not contradict, this value system. 5
Certainly, in high reliability organizations, the need to “not leave any stone unturned” is
extremely important. However, anyone can make a case that an accident in any
organization, high reliability or not, can be catastrophic for the recipient and possibly, the
organization. Therefore, all organizations who are concerned about safety should be
working towards establishing a Safety Culture. And, as this paper will show, one of the
most important steps to establishing a Safety Culture is to develop a Constructive
Organizational Culture, which will also provide outcomes in other areas of organizational
effectiveness.
The Case for a Safety Culture
There have been several organizations that have researched the impact of culture on
safety. For example, in a study done on the accident response process in the nuclear
industry, it was found that a traditional aggressive-defensive culture seemed to work in
anticipated situations where an established anticipatory strategy was used. In situations
that were not anticipated or foreseen, which required an ad hoc strategy, a constructive
culture was required. 6
In another study of two nuclear power plants, the plant with the highest constructive
scores also scored higher in overall commitment to the organization’s perceived
hazardous nature of work, and attention to safety. 7 In another study, conducted halfway
around the world, a direct correlation was found between safety and a constructive
culture. In a survey conducted by Human Synergistics New Zealand with a major
Australian Airline, it was proved categorically that the more constructive the
organizational culture, the more attention is paid to safety, while the Defensive Cultural
Styles show non-compliance with safety operative values. 8
Moving towards a Constructive Culture also has many positive performance side effects.
When an American Nuclear Power Plant that received poor scores in an INPO
assessment, it realized that changing the culture was the first step in a long journey
toward making it performance-competitive with peer plants. Their first step was to
conduct a cultural assessment tool that identified behavioural gaps between the current
and the ideal cultures. Next, they identified four strategic objectives – safety, operational
excellence, financial and teamwork. Next, they conducted plant wide training, beginning
with senior management. The overall results were startling. In three years, they achieved
a near perfect INPO score, leading them to conclude that organizational culture may be
the best benchmark of the quality of senior leadership over the long haul. 9
The Cultural Styles Necessary for the Establishment of a Safety Culture
It is evident that the establishment of a Constructive Culture is an important factor for
organizations who wish to establish a Safety Culture. The normative attitudes and
behaviours of a Constructive Culture must be in place if an organization is to implement
the values and attitudes of a Safety Culture. The twelve styles from Human Synergistics’
Organizational Culture Inventory® either add to or detract from the development of a
safe workplace. An explanation of each follows.
The Passive / Defensive Cluster and Safety Cultures
Organizations that score high in the Passive / Defensive Cluster have norms that
emphasize “playing it safe” by interacting with others in less than healthy ways. People
are encouraged to “get along” superficially, blindly follow rules, let others make
decisions and avoid change. Passive / Defensive Cultures result in poor customer service,
inferior product/service quality, employee dissatisfaction and low motivation.
Overall, this cluster does not lend itself to a Safety Culture because of the passive
approach to people and the organization. This “keep your head down” and “not rock the
boat” attitude will lead to incompetence, missed opportunities and ineffective safety
procedures. The OCI® styles that comprise the Passive / Defensive Cluster and how they
impact a Safety Culture, are:
Approval
Approval Cultures encourage everyone to “get along” with each other. Conflict is
smoothed over and everyone is expected to appear “happy”. Subordinates are expected to
like their bosses and bosses are expected to be well liked, to the extent where this
becomes a primary performance indicator.
This culture might have some positive impact on basic safety practices. It could be argued
that one could get approval from his/her peers and superiors by appearing to be very
safety conscious. The negative impact of this type of culture on safety far outweighs the
positive ones. First, this type of culture is very superficial, only rewarding the
appearance of cooperation and rule compliance. Second, the primary motivation is to
“get along” with one’s peers and bosses. If someone of influence believes that the priority
should temporarily switch away from safety, then everyone will comply. Finally, this
type of culture relies heavily on assumptions. And, if it is an assumption that the priority
on safety has switched, then the majority will reduce their safety behaviour.
Conventional
Conventional Cultures insist on a “blind” loyalty to all rules and regulations; even when
they don’t make sense. There is also a prevailing atmosphere of maintaining the status
quo and maintaining a conservative approach to new ideas.
This culture might have some positive impact on basic safety practices. Basic rules that
always need to be followed will be. However, the many negative aspects of this culture
override whatever benefits derive from it.
It is important to distinguish between Conventional and Constructive norms, as they
relate to rules and regulations. People in Constructive Cultures understand very well the
importance of following certain rules and procedures. The difference is that they are
encouraged to adapt those rules and procedures in new situations and when common
sense dictates. Whereas Conventional Cultures penalize any deviation from established
rules and procedures, regardless of the reasons; while not penalizing the following of
rules, regardless of how inappropriate. As well, a Conventional Culture discourages the
investigation or development of new procedures and enhancements; so that these
organizations become worse over time –especially in rapidly changing environments and
industries.
Dependent Cultures
Dependent Cultures discourage decision-making at all levels – but especially at the lower
ones. People do not want to take ownership or responsibility. A Dependent Culture
fosters a feeling of “my effort doesn’t count”, so why bother?
In one sense, it could be said that discouraging any initiative or even small risks will lead
to fewer accidents. However, the many negative aspects of this culture make it negatively
correlated to a Safety Culture. The major problem is that people in this type of culture
will be unable to react in any new or unanticipated situation. Another problem with this
style is that it discourages upward communication. Therefore, less than ideal procedures
will be followed, new ideas squashed and questions will be left unasked. Finally, a
Dependent Culture encourages members to develop a “That’s not my job” attitude, which
contradicts the basic edict of a Safety Culture.
Avoidance Cultures
Avoidance Cultures encourage people to do nothing, resist change, avoid conflict and be
non-committal. People are penalized for showing initiative or taking a chance. This is
probably the worst possible culture for organizational effectiveness and for safety
practices. Unsafe practices and situations will be ignored, because fixing them brings a
high probability of punishment and no probability of a reward: If it’s a bad fix, you will
be punished. If it is a good fix, you will either be blamed for not fixing it properly or for
not fixing it sooner.
The Aggressive / Defensive Cluster and Safety Cultures
Organizations that score high in the Aggressive / Defensive Cluster encourage members
to be tough, argumentative and superior. Managers especially, are encouraged to be
autocratic perfectionists who do not tolerate mistakes and incompetence, and rely on
punishment to correct problems. Aggressive / Defensive Cultures cause poor motivation,
stress, and dissatisfaction among employees.
These organizations experience high turnover, high sick pay, increased grievances, and
inconsistent service and product quality.
This cluster does not encourage a Safety Culture because it creates high levels of
stress (which leads to mistakes) and discourages ownership of safe practices. Moreover,
this type of culture results in high employee turnover and absenteeism, both of which will
increase the number of new and inexperienced workers to be on the work site. The OCI®
styles that comprise the Aggressive / Defensive Cluster and how they impact a Safety
Culture, are:
Oppositional Cultures
Oppositional Cultures encourage people to be cynical, argumentative and always find
fault. Members are rewarded (usually by peer recognition) to oppose any new ideas or
initiatives and to be critical, while refusing to accept criticism.
A certain amount of Oppositional behaviour could have a positive impact on safety. If
people feel comfortable in looking for and pointing out mistakes in safety procedures,
then improvements in existing procedures can be made. While some oppositional
behaviour might be desirable in an organization, the amount of such behaviour that is
ideal is relatively small. Organizations that have a predominantly Oppositional Culture
will do a lot more harm to overall safety than good. The problem is that people
(management especially) are rewarded for always being cynical, argumentative and
oppositional. This leads to a chaotic environment where no one knows what is expected
or required. Initiative is stifled and people are de-motivated. Safety initiatives will be
viewed with cynicism and opposition, regardless of their obvious assets.
Power Cultures
A Power Culture is one that emphasizes the importance of following the “chain of
command” for all decisions. In other words, the more senior you are, the more decision
making authority you have; regardless of knowledge and ability. (It is assumed that
knowledge and ability correlates with managerial position.) And conversely, the lower on
the hierarchy you are, the less decision making authority you have; again, regardless of
knowledge and ability.
Any positive aspects that a Power Culture might have on safety are far outweighed by the
negative ones. While one might argue that safety could be enhanced by a very safety
conscious autocrat, the outcomes of this style easily counter any gains. First, a Power
Culture stifles any upward communication and decision making at the “shop floor” level.
All safety decisions will be made by people who are not on the “front lines”. This
practice seldom works on even basic rules and procedures. Second, a Power Culture
encourages Dependent behaviour in subordinates. Therefore, decisions in emergency
situations will always be made by the most senior person and followed by everyone else,
even when they are obviously wrong. There are many recorded instances where disaster
could have been avoided if the leader had a more participative management style. (Note
that Power or autocratic behaviour is not situational. Even in emergency or crisis
situations, a Constructive Style is better. Being Constructive does not mean that you can’t
give quick, on-the-spot orders, nor does it mean that you are democratic. It simply means
that you are open to others’ ideas and suggestions – if there is time.)
Competitive Cultures
A Competitive Culture encourages members, departments and units to compete with one
another. Typically, rewards are given to winners and punishment or negative
reinforcement provided for losers. Many mission statements carry some reference to
competitiveness. But, if you read the context in which it is written, the authors usually
want an achievement organization, rather than a competitive one. Most organizations
want as their goal to be the best they can, not to simply settle for being better than some
other organization. The exaggerated focus on winning and competing seldom produces
the desired effect – even in sports organizations. Competitive Cultures encourage people
to take on easy assignments, while shunning more challenging ones. They foster a great
deal of resentment among its members. And, an over-emphasis on competitiveness can
lead to sabotage and other unhealthy behaviour at the expense of cooperation and
affiliation.
A Competitive Culture is never as effective as an Achievement Culture in providing end
results – especially in areas such as Safety. A Safety Culture is promoted by cooperation
and team work. Competitiveness (the need to beat someone else) stifles both. A Safety
Culture is a win-win culture; while Competitiveness is a win-lose one.
Perfectionistic Cultures
A Perfectionistic Culture expects members to work hard, long hours, never make a
mistake and set unrealistically high goals. In this type of culture, mistakes are not
tolerated, team work is not encouraged and most people experience high degrees of
stress.
It could be argued that a small amount of Perfectionism will encourage a Safety Culture.
But it must be remembered that a Constructive Culture will produce much more positive
results. In fact, anything higher than a moderate score (relative to the Constructive Styles)
in Perfectionistic will have adverse affects on Safety. In a Perfectionistic Culture, goals
are not just set high – they are set unrealistically high. Procedures and directives are not
just precise – they are precise, even when it’s unnecessary. And rather than work hard
and make work a high priority, people are expected to work hard, long hours and view
work as more important than anything else. These points, rather than producing a Safety
Culture encourage people to blindly follow rules and procedures, even when wrong; and,
give up on trying to achieve seemingly unattainable goals. As well, this type of culture
creates an unnecessarily stressful work environment. Perfectionism, like the other
Aggressive-Defensive styles will inhibit the creativity and initiative that is needed when a
new hazardous situation occurs for which no emergency procedure exists.
The fear of making a mistake and producing anything that isn’t perfect in an already
stressful situation, freezes the development of an appropriate ad hoc response. A
Constructive Culture will produce all of the desirable aspects of Perfectionism, such as
competence, persistence, and the pursuit of excellence, without any of the negative ones.
The Constructive Cluster and Safety Cultures
Organizations with Constructive Cultures encourage members work to their full potential,
by setting and achieving challenging goals; creatively solving problems; embracing
and/or initiating change; cooperating within work groups and with other departments;
and, helping themselves and others to grow and develop. Organizations with a high
Constructive Cluster report high employee satisfaction, superior customer service, and
superior service and product quality – all leading to long-term organizational
effectiveness.
All aspects of a Safety Culture are enhanced, if the overall Organizational Culture is
a constructive one. Conversely, an organization that does not have a Constructive
Culture cannot hope to achieve a Safety Culture – especially long term. A
Constructive Culture will have a positive impact on education, written procedures,
workplace design, incident reporting, equipment design, maintenance and testing, and
management directives. And most important, a Constructive Culture will be more
effective at following rules than a Conventional one. It will be more effective at catching
and pointing out mistakes than an Oppositional one. And, it will be more effective at
reducing mistakes and operating safely than a Perfectionistic one. The OCI® styles that
comprise the Constructive Cluster and how they impact a Safety Culture, are:
Achievement Cultures
Achievement Cultures emphasize the setting of challenging, but attainable goals; the
practice of proactive planning; and the pursuit of excellence. The prevailing attitude in
Achievement Cultures is; “My effort counts - I can make a difference.” So, the prevailing
behaviour is one of action – fixing problems, taking responsibility, accomplishing goals.
These attitudes, values and behaviours greatly enhance a Safety Culture. Members are
encouraged to be proactive in identifying improvement opportunities, being responsible
for every safety measure and goal, and taking pride in accomplishments such as safety
records. Achievement Cultures exemplify the Japanese concept of kaisan – constant
improvement in everything. It is important to remember that in these types of culture,
achievement permeates every level of the organization – from the top down to the lowest
level. Therefore, everyone will “take ownership” for all aspects of safety.
Self-Actualizing Cultures
Self-Actualizing Cultures encourage members to be creative, value quality over quantity,
enjoy their job and seek ways to grow and develop. These organizations foster two-way
communication and personal integrity. Although some “old school” managers believe
that this type of “free spirit” culture will hurt productivity, the opposite is true. SelfActualizing Cultures typically have members, who on their own volition, will work long
hours when necessary, to finish a project, complete even simple tasks well and “go above
and beyond” normal expectations – all because they enjoy their work.
Having a Self-Actualizing Culture will greatly enhance a safety culture. First, members
will be constantly thinking of new, creative ways of making the environment safer. They
will be encouraged to communicate ideas that they have, at any time – not just at the
monthly safety meetings. Second, Self-Actualizing Cultures encourage quality over
quantity and thus, safety over productivity. Third, Self-Actualizing Cultures are present
in organizations that promote and maintain personal integrity. Safety issues will not be
hidden or glossed over. And fourth, a Self-Actualizing Culture encourages thinking in
new and unique ways and is therefore, the one that is best equipped to deal with nonanticipatory response situations and efficiently develop ad hoc strategies that are
effective.
Humanistic–Encouraging Cultures
Humanistic–Encouraging Cultures encourage members to treat each other with dignity
and respect, value and support others’ ideas, encourage others to grow and develop and
resolve conflict in a constructive manner. Leadership is person-centered, encouraging
leaders to be coaches and mentors. As a result, Humanistic-Encouraging Cultures are the
most effective in developing and tapping the potential of existing human resources.
Humanistic-Encouraging Cultures will greatly promote a Safety Culture. Members will
be encouraged to teach other, newer members not only what the safety rules and
procedures are, but why they are important. This develops a genuine respect for the need
to follow rules and procedures (as opposed to following them out of fear of punishment).
It also teaches every member to be a safety leader. The other important attitude that
Humanistic – Encouraging Cultures develop in its members is a deep respect and concern
for others. This on its own, with no safety rules or regulations, would promote workplace
safety: Because an organization that values and respects its human resources above all
others, is one that will protect those human resources above everything else.
Affiliative Cultures
Affiliative Cultures are organizations that put a great deal of emphasis on teambuilding,
interpersonal relations, and participative management. They tend to focus on group
accomplishments and satisfaction versus individual ones. Affiliative Cultures encourage
self-management and group decision-making. Leaders tend to view themselves as team
members with a leadership role as opposed to managers.
This type of culture will promote a Safety Culture as part of the group’s overall goals.
The collegial atmosphere will encourage members to “watch out” for each other and to
set group goals for safety. As well, Affiliative Cultures encourage honesty and
commitment in communications and actions. All of which, are key points to having a
successful Safety Culture.
Steps to Producing a Cultural Transformation
There are four steps to a cultural transformation: Test, Action, Re-test and Review. 10
Each step involves the use of assessment instruments, designed to show strengths and
development needs and strategies for improvement.
Step One – Test
As a start, it is very important for organizations to measure not only the prevailing
organizational culture, but other goals or outcomes that are important to the organization.
All members need to know first, where they and the organization “score” on important
outcomes such as safety, quality, productivity, customer service and employee
satisfaction – all of which will be impacted by the culture of the organization.
At the same time, the company must conduct an organizational culture survey. As
mentioned earlier, one of the most respected instruments on the market today is Human
Synergistics OCI®. The OCI Report shows the organization’s current culture, its ideal
culture and the gaps between the two. It also shows the strength (or intensity) of the
culture and correlations between the culture and outcomes such as commitment to
customer service. It can also provide a sub-group analysis. Even if the organization is
quite certain that their organizational culture is less than satisfactory and is committed to
changing it, this is a necessary step to quantitatively measure any improvements.
Another organizational assessment from Human Synergistics that can assist organizations
at this step is the Organizational Effectiveness Inventory® (OEITM). The OEITM measures
the cause and effect of the organization’s culture. As such, it can measure some of the
key outcomes for the company, plus indicate the levers for change (used in Step Two)11.
While not necessary at this stage, the OEITM can save time and increase “buy in” for Step
Two.
Step Two – Action
Once the need for change has been identified, the next step is to initiate action. There are
four categories of causal factors that can affect the culture of an organization. They are:
• Philosophy and Values – Organizational mission, employee involvement, and
customer service orientation.
• Supervisory / Leadership Skills – Quality of communications, distribution of
influence, sources of power, goal setting and facilitation.
• Human Resources Management – Selection & placement, training &
development, respect, empowerment and appraisals & reinforcement.
• Job Design – Autonomy, variety, feedback, task identity, significance and
interdependence.
(Note: in the OEITM , these are measured and reported as 31 different causal factors,
grouped into nine categories.)
The first place to start is to establish the philosophy and values of the organization. By
using focus groups, organizations can establish what is important to them. Often,
management assumes that everyone knows what the organization’s values are, but this is
seldom the case. For “High Reliability Organizations”, developing the values of a Safety
Culture would be a key outcome.
There are obvious overlaps in the above set of causal factors. One common thread of
them all is the skills of the supervisory / leadership team. Therefore, the most common
intervention involves leadership training. And this is usually where most organizations
fail in their cultural transformation. Failure usually occurs because of a lack of
commitment to the training or because the training does not address management’s
responsibility to leading a Constructive Culture. A key focus of the management training
has to be the development of the proper attitudes, values and beliefs in leaders and in
others. This is a two-step process. The first step is to help the leader develop constructive
thinking and behaviour styles that correspond with the constructive culture styles. The
second step is to help them develop the leadership strategies necessary to impact the
constructive thinking and behaviour styles of others. The training should also involve
basic leadership and management skill development where necessary.
An integral part of the training should involve the use of individual assessments. These
greatly improve the learning experience for adults. Adults learn best, if there is
participation, repetition, relevance, transference and feedback.12 Individual assessments
contribute to all of these principles.
When implementing change strategies in human resources, it is important to not only
look at the systems and standards that are in place, but to also look at the human
resources practices. While most Human Resources Departments have updated,
sophisticated human resources systems, often the actual implementation and usage of
those systems is not what was intended. For example, a company’s performance review
program is usually set up to accurately and fairly rate an individual’s performance and
then provide commensurate rewards based on that performance. In actual practice,
however, the performance review process is often superficial, at best.
The important aspect to remember is to overhaul the human resources management so
that it aligns with a Constructive Culture.
Probably the most difficult set of causal factors to change are the ones dealing with job
design. Usually, organizations will not allow changes in job designs in the short term
because of the wide-reaching effect those changes will have on other areas. However,
small changes can often be made at the departmental level without affecting other areas.
Jobs can be expanded (horizontally and vertically) to provide more variety, less repetition
and more significance.
Step Three – Re-test
This step would involve using the same assessment tools as in Step One. The primary
reason is to re-measure the culture of the organization, as well as outcomes to determine
what gains have been made and to analyze what further interventions are required. If both
the test and retest measured sub-group cultures, further interventions can better pin-point
areas to focus on. The timing of the retest is usually 12 months after the test, providing
that the action steps were implemented in a timely fashion. If they were not, then more
time needs to be allowed because the retest is really a measurement of the effectiveness
of the action plans. (Note that if an organization is conducting testing and retesting as a
method of assessing action plans, the sample sizes must be large enough to be statistically
valid.)
Usually, the retest will show gains in many areas; but will still indicate many gaps
between the new “current” and ideal culture. This will suggest more training initiatives
and more emphasis on some of the other causal factors. Often the second phase of
training involves the general employee population, teaching such skills as
communications, teambuilding, and personal leadership.
Step Four – Review
The Review stage signifies the end of the project. Here the organization should analyze
the gains in culture and outcomes. It should also include an analysis of the change agents.
There might even a cost-benefit analysis conducted.
Summary
Despite the best intentions of internal and external consultants in developing and
implementing a Safety Culture, they will not be successful unless there exists a strong,
constructive organizational culture. The need for a strong Safety Culture, especially in
“High Reliability Organizations” cannot be understated. But many organizations that try
to implement one, rely on either passive-defensive practices such as coercion and rule
adherence; or aggressive-defensive ones such as the use of authority or competition.
When the senior management of an organization realizes the implications of
organizational culture as well as how culture impacts behaviour, they then can understand
the correlations between a Safety Culture and an Organizational Culture. Further, they
will realize the other gains in organizational effectiveness that a Constructive
Organizational Culture provides.
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About the Author
Allan Stewart has been the President of Human Synergistics Canada since 1996 and is
one of the country’s leading experts on Organizational Culture. He has combined over
fifteen years of general management experience with over 25 years experience in
organizational development. He received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from
Queen’s University and his MBA, majoring in Organizational Development from Wilfrid
Laurier University. He has taught at McMaster University and Sheridan College. He has
also taught in the executive development programs at York’s Schulich School of
Business and McMaster University. Allan has provided consulting services for many of
Canada’s top businesses in practically every sector and industry.
He can be contacted at:
Human Synergistics Canada
246 James Street North, Box 2380,
St. Marys, Ontario
N4X 1A2
(519) 284 4135
astewart@hscanada.ca
www.hscanada.com
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