Feeling Safe at Work??

For all my readers and visitors who aren't from anywhere between Massachusetts and the Greater Hartford, CT area this is an article that ran in last month's Executive Forum Magazine written by yours truly. I contribute pretty consistantly on all kinds of business and finance topics. Hope you enjoy it! By the way if you were worried about where I've been that will totally be addressed in tomorrows post. Yup! - Back on a normal posting schedule :) 

September is a very busy month in terms of all the different national causes to remember to observe. This month boasts raised awareness for: drugs and alcohol, ovarian cancer, life insurance, sickle cell and even work place security. In the U.S., September has become a time to commemorate those heroes still with us and those fallen from the tragic events on that September 11 nearly a decade ago. All these years later are you still worried about work place threats, domestic or foreign, that may interfere with your ability to perform at your job? In your everyday routine do you ever worry about being kidnapped making your way to the car after work? What about unauthorized visitors whose motives might be a little lower on the Good Samaritan spectrum? Are you being bullied?

In the last decade, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to increase safety protocols, infrastructure and resources in both the private and public sectors all over the country. If you look around you will probably see cameras and actual security staff in places you might not have seen before. That's not just an over generalized statement, check the financials of your favorite firms that produce security equipment or provide security services-balance sheets have improved.

As a business consultant and financial coach I am all about putting metrics in place that increase efficiency. Making businesses more efficient is what keeps them growing and in the black, especially in times of economic uncertainty. There's a reason that the old adage, "a happy employee is a productive employee" is still tossed around in HR meetings. We are in a culture of ensuring productivity and the fostering of efficiency through the creation of a safe work spaces. In terms of workplace safety, and as an amateur social scientist, what I'm most interested in is the behavioral outcomes of these increased measures. Let's revisit your high school social sciences class and talk about everyone's favorite humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow had this nifty triangle that mapped the psychological journey to self-actualization. I would love to go into depth about my personal journey to self-actualization, but we shall save that for the interview I'll convince EFM to do all about me. The self-actualization of the employee is what we are after.

You might be asking yourself how an extra camera or detailed officer suddenly makes an employee work harder and more efficiently. If you use Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs it becomes self evident. After those physiological needs, for me it's my coffee in the morning, safety is the next rung up. How can an employer expect those they are responsible for to perform at their maximum economic output if they can't devote all of their energy to the tasks they are responsible for? If I work on a manufacturing line and I am constantly worried about scaffolding dropping from the ceiling I might not being paying the attention I should be to my station in the line - maybe I miss a few items on the line or make mistakes. The preservation of my well being supersedes all else, even though I'm being paid to be there. Now I know that's a workplace "safety" issue, but the concept very easily translates to security.

Next up is belonging and love. Do you remember being bullied on the school yard? Are you still being bullied at work today? As elementary as that question seems, the effect on your self-esteem can have a profound effect on your production quality. On any given day you have a world of worries, concerns and problems to deal with. When you get to work, knowing that it's a safe and secure place suddenly makes the day less stressful or at least the lesser of that day’s evil. We are social animals and we need positive interpersonal relationships to give us that sense of belonging and help us connect to the work we are doing.

After that are esteem and ego needs. If you knew you were walking into a safe, secure, and positive work environment it's not a stretch to assume your energies will become more focused on the job. The next logical leap is to assume that you like what you're doing so the extra energy on the work means a better product is produced (even things like customer service applies). The pride in your work product translates into a sense of ownership and empowerment to the employee and makes the jump to the top of the triangle, self-actualization, possible. I am in contact with business owners everyday who ask me to help them create environments that will get them and their employees as close to that top tier of Maslow's triangle as possible.

When you break down the work cycle and relationships between the employees, employers, and physical workspace it's not hard to see why people spend all kinds of money on workplace security. Now I know we only covered the employee behavior part of it but the other practical implications include everything from ensuring no financial leakage or employee skimming to the protection of your physical plant from outside threats. So before you skip over hiring that guard from First Choice Security Company think of what the actual internal rate of return will be on that extra hourly wage expense.