Download BHR 3351Unit VI Reflection PaperColumbia Southern University and more Lecture notes Accounting in PDF only on Docsity! BHR 3351 Unit VI Reflection Paper Columbia Southern University BHR 3351 Human Relations and Development Unit VI Reflection Paper While determining what I would right about in my reflection paper I remembered back to when I begin my career as a safety professional. The company was Scope Services, they were a subcontractor that worked for utility companies. Our main business modified or built substations from the ground, up. When I was hired the company, I was told we had a culture problem. Their previous safety managers were older men who barked orders and never took their issues or concerns too seriously. They also dealt with a disconnect with corporate and found it difficult to get the equipment they needed to do their job. I was hired to help change the culture and create a better relationship between management and the technicians. To say it was difficult is an understatement. In this paper we will discuss ways in which I built my relationships with the technicians to create a better safety culture and the difficulties we faced. I can still remember my first day on the job. James, who was also part of the safety team, and me traveled out to a job site to introduce myself. When we arrived, you could feel the cold shoulder from the gate. The entire encounter was just a them versus us. I introduced myself and explained that I would now be his safety contact for Scope. We were basically just going through the motions and we could tell they all just wanted us to leave. Before I left, I gave Clint my number and let him know that he or anyone else could call me anytime. My first encounter was a complete let down to me, but I had to remember that it was my job to earn their trust in order to build a better culture. My next encounter with this crew ended up being the first step towards earning their trust. When I arrived onsite, the first thing I did was express that I wanted to treat everyone to lunch. My first step to resolve the conflict I was facing was to remember that I needed to develop a common ground for all of us. At lunch I was able to listen to their story and they were able to hear my background. I expressed I was hired to repair the relationship we broke with them; they were the most important part of the company. I told them I was always available to talk and that no safety concern was too small. I explained the training we were developing to help them work safely and how their input would become vital to expanding the business. Once the walls started to come down, they all started to open up and discuss their frustration with the company. My next step was to listen to their concerns. Their biggest conflict was they felt their safety concerns had been going on deaf ear. They continuously brought them up to management and they would be given the “we will get back to you” answer. This caused a conflict with the technician and made them feel management did not really care about safety until someone got hurt. Another issue they expressed was that their safety equipment was subpar for the work they are tasked to complete. Substations have the potential energy from anywhere from 100 kilowatts to 500 kilowatts of electricity. It was a surprise to me that we as leaders were acting so cavalier about the safety of these technicians. The last thing we discussed was the lack of training given to everyone or retraining offered. Many rules and regulations were left up to interpretation of the technician and not clearly defined. Most of the training was done by on the job training and what I found was that people trained differently and some information was not being taught. As I drove away from that lunch, I felt we had taken the first step towards changing the culture within the company. The last step to resolving conflict is to actually make a change. It’s not enough to listen to them, but to change the things they repeatedly brought up. I explained that things
