The Safety & Health Professional as a Change Agent

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 | 0

Influence.  Creating Change.  In my mind, the ability to influence people to change the status quo is the key element in the work of the safety and health professional.  All our technical knowledge and our years of experience are of no value if we cannot influence others to make the changes necessary to better protect the people we serve.

But influence is a tricky thing.  In the book Influencer, the Power to Change Anything, the authors advise us, “Before people will change their behavior, they have to want to do so, and this means they have to think differently.”

The world of the safety and health professional is one of influence.  We have very limited authority to force the types of changes we would like to see from our policyholders, so we live a world where our ability to serve as change agents is the key to our success.  I was recently asked to better define what “change agent” really meant.

I found some great insights from Dennis Stevenson, Director, Software as a Service.   His words resonated with me and I think they clearly define the role of the safety professional as a change agent.

“A change agent lives in the future, not the present. Regardless of what is going on today, a change agent has a vision of what could or should be and uses that as the governing sense of action. To a certain extent, a change agent is dissatisfied with what they see around them, in favor of a much better vision of the future. Without this future drive, the change agent can lose their way.”

“A change agent is fueled by passion, and inspires passion in others. Change is hard work. It takes a lot of energy. Don't underestimate this. Think about the amount of energy it takes to boil water. The change from 212 degree water to 212 degree steam takes a lot more energy than heating water from 211 degrees to 212 degrees. In my experience, without passion, it is very difficult indeed to muster up enough energy to assault the fortress of status quo that seems to otherwise carry the day.”

“A change agent has a strong ability to self-motivate. There will be many days where everyone around does not understand and will not offer help. The change agent needs to find it within themselves to get up every day and come to work and risk being misunderstood and unappreciated, knowing that the real validation may be far in the future and may be claimed by someone else.”

“A change agent must understand people. At the end of the day, change is about people. If you change everything but the people, I doubt you'll be effective as a change agent. Change will really "stick" when people embrace it. Therefore, change is part sales, part counseling, and part encouragement. It's all about people.”

That’s the role and the characteristics of a change agent in a nutshell.  A great safety and health professional is not satisfied with the current state; they’re passionate people who have the ability to inspire others, but they’re not in it for their own glory.  Much of the true work they do goes unnoticed and may not come to full fruition until long after they’ve moved on, but they do it anyway knowing others may receive the credit because it’s not about getting credit it’s about protecting people.  But we aren’t just solid technical experts.  To be successful, we must also be “part sales, part counselor, and part encourager.”  That’s how we become an influencer and that’s how true change takes place.

Chuck Easterly is loss-control manager for SAIF Corp. in Oregon. This column was reprinted with his permission from the American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds newsletter.