Leadership, Engagement, Culture
Getting the Results You Want!
Empowering Your Audience – Making Them Feel Good Not Bad Moving Your People To Take Action
SAFETY CONSULTING CLIENTS AND RESULTS
Below you will find a sampling of clients and results obtained through the differentiated services provided by David Sarkus International, Inc.
Motivational Speaking
An international construction giant needed to improve safety engagement within a high profile project that was facing increasingly difficult resistance from a chilled workforce. David Sarkus was hired to deliver a motivational keynote in order to obtain more engagement from an EHS standpoint. After one year, safety engagement was measured and the increase was recognized as a 170% gain! Other marked improvements were also realized following this particular engagement intervention.
Engagement Teamwork Coaching
An iconic food and beverage company desired to increase employee engagement and individual focus with regard to safety. David Sarkus delivered all-hands motivational talks with this objective in mind. Results included lagging indicators such as recordable incidents. Needless to say, the results achieved were exceptional with an 85% reduction in recordable injuries, over the previous year. David was invited back to speak to these same workers.
Focus Engagement Teamwork Leadership/Coaching
An international engineering and construction management firm was facing an increasingly difficult and demanding DOE scheduling mandate which included a reduction in safety-related incidents. David Sarkus was called upon to deliver an all-hands keynote and breakout session to challenge the group to work at their highest levels of achievement and to come together as a team. Despite one full-day of down-time with this particular “Safety Day” the organization walked away with many pleasant surprises. In specific, the contractor moved ahead of scheduling milestones and established record-setting safety quarters (including zero incidents in some groups) to go hand-in-hand with an increase in safety engagement.
Focus Engagement Teamwork Leadership/Coaching
Quotes worth citing provided by two world-class legacy companies not fully attributed.
“Dave, your presentation appeared effortless. It seemed almost adlibbed, but it was so relevant and timely. Your anecdotes fit any audience and your mixture of humor and seriousness was a perfect fit. The feedback that I received from the audience (hourly and salaried) was all positive beyond my expectations. I can’t thank you enough!”
— Jim, Team Leader
(Invited back numerous times for speaking and training opportunities across the United States)
“Dave you rocked! The energy and passion and the laughs – wow! And your stories about family — that really helped all of us connect! We’ve had speakers for the last six years and you were head and shoulders above all of them! I wish you could talk to us every week! — Brian
A North American trucking company with high-risk operations had a desire to transform its culture for safety and wanted to engage its leaders to a much greater extent. This organization was not looking for a “quick fix” but wanted positive changes that would remain deeply embedded within the organization. A series of two-day culture change seminars were delivered to gain a better understanding of culture change and the key dimensions that needed to be embraced. Rigorous planning and focused execution resulted in a consistent downward trend which followed over the course of five years with reductions of 46% in TRIR and 38% in LTI.
Engagement Leadership/Coaching Culture Change Accountability
A major utility provider wanted to catapult safety performance to a new level by engaging key managers and stakeholders. Several half-day seminars were delivered in order to obtain greater buy-in and understanding of the kinds of leadership required to make a significant stepchange. Following the seminars, positive changes in recordable incidents were achieved (greater than 25% over one year) and the training seminars gained significant recognition through a “Best Practices” award presented at the Vice President level.
Engagement Leadership/Coaching Culture Change Accountability
A global chemical manufacturer had various operational challenges and resistance to EHS improvement that became increasingly challenging. A culture change workshop and motivational seminars unlocked various doors for significant individual and collective improvements. These changes and improvements occurred within what had previously been a fractured and partially disengaged leadership team. The results of the workshops and motivational talks included a “best-year-ever” and a decrease of recordables by more than 35%.
Engagement Leadership/Coaching Culture Change Accountability
A major short line railroad was seeking to improve its culture for safety in order to achieve ongoing world-class results. The starting point of their focus was to improve the leadership and influence skills of their managers and supervisors. David Sarkus International developed and helped to deliver training which focused on various social influence strategies that led to deeper and more durable changes in attitudes and actions. The results included a 35% reduction in recordables over the previous year, zero derailments, and improvements in quality and morale. The safety coaching process was delivered throughout North America and has moved from managers and supervisors downward to the peer level. This deeply engrained process has helped to set various levels of higher safety achievement and to establish a very proud and mature culture for safety.
Engagement Leadership/Coaching Social Influence Strategies and Tactics
Culture Assessment, Direction & Executive Coaching
Another great legacy firm recognized by Fortune Magazine as a “100 Best Company to Work For” sought out a consultant who would give them a detailed and hands-on approach to better evaluate their culture for safety. This research-based firm identified an 800 person facility which was already world-class in terms of safety but was reaching for greater gains and forms of EHS excellence. At the time, recordable rates were nearly 20% below comparable industry averages. David Sarkus International was chosen amongst other organizations because of its approach and personal insights that could be provided through a detailed objective and subjective assessment process. Safety Mirror Assess™, a well validated 54 item survey was used to evaluate the safety climate and several days of structured employee focus groups were also used to query additional subjective input from various levels of the workforce. The completed survey process allowed this facility to close critically important perception gaps and to move forward with a robust plan of action. One year post-intervention, injury rates fell to their lowest levels ever (a drop of more than 30%) and downward trending has continued.
Vision / Branding Leadership/Coaching Communication/Trust Accountability
An exceptionally well respected specialty steel manufacturer identified the need to leverage management support and insight for EHS excellence. Safety Mirror Assess™ and other subjective means were used to gather information to gain greater climate and cultural insights. This steel facility had a very good history of EHS performance but a greater and more resolute production history. The survey identified critical gaps in terms of supervisory support, communications, cooperation, people input, and other critical climate dimensions. The survey report was summarized communicated and actions were taken. Eighteen months post assessment, this facility improved critical forms of front-line communications and other recommendations with a reduction in TRIR of 35%. Again, downward trending continued in a desirable pattern.
Leadership/Cooperation Employee Feedback/Trust Supervisory Leadership
A large and diversified construction firm wanted to assess worker perceptions in a very high risk and demanding work environment. Multiple days of employee field interviews and focus groups were used to evaluate their culture for safety along with Safety Mirror Assess™, our perception survey. Overall, crucial perception gaps that were more thoroughly highlighted included overall belief systems, supervisory roles, engagement, risk perception, and tools and equipment. David Sarkus International was retained for 24 months to work with in-house leadership to push a plan forward and to assist in the execution of various recommendations. At one year post assessment, gains in TRIR were achieved at greater than 35% to go along with a TRIR below .32. This is an exceptional TRIR within this particular industry and many others.
Leadership/Executive Coaching Planning BBS & Supervisory Leadership
More About Assessing Your Culture for Safety
Please understand that having a well validated survey with the appropriate dimensions and questions is crucial to assessing your organization’s culture for safety. The number of questions and the manner in which they are presented to your workers also matters a great deal. Additionally, it’s vitally important to find a skillful individual(s) who can make important in-group comparisons and to establish the most relevant management / worker perception gaps to follow, track, and assess. The two most recent Fortune 200 companies that were evaluated by David Sarkus International included very thorough and thoughtful narratives and comparison visuals which the client desired. In total, reports ranged from 300 to 500 pages in length (which exceeded the client’s expectations) and each client was more than pleased with the quality, depth, and breadth of the reporting. Neither client was overwhelmed by the detailed narratives or graphical information presented in the reports. More than 25 years of experience, a keen I / O psychological grounding, and excellent writing capabilities all come together to assist our client organizations in moving forward with cogent data evaluation, recommendations, and the development of a robust plan of action and that equips them for long-term success.
Note: In all of the above work, results can vary and may not always be typical.
