Do you remember as a kid having fun playing pick-up basketball with your friends? It was all fun and games up until somebody on the court said, “Hey, first team to 5 wins!” And then what happened? It was like the whole world changed. It was a massive shift. It’s kind of like the difference between the NBA regular season and the playoffs!
Here’s the deal…Keeping score is powerful. It engages people. It lets your employees know that what they are doing is important. It provides a sense of mission. So, here’s the question…Are you keeping score in all the areas of your business that matter to you? I am sure you are keeping score on your profit and loss statement, right? I’m sure you know with great clarity what the financial position of your company is right now. You know the score of that game well. But what about safety? Do you know the score of that game? Do your employees?
Within the context of your business, we have found that safety is one of those areas that doesn’t get measured. Goals are left unset or become meaningless cliches. “Safety first,” or “Safety is the most important thing here” is not a goal, or measurable. Yet the old saying that “what gets measured gets managed,” misses the larger point too. It’s not that measuring your efforts is imperative for management, it’s that it’s a powerful first step in creating an environment filled with purpose and mission.
If you want to make something important or make a big change inside of your organization — keep score. Without a scoreboard; it’s lip service. Think about this, if this thing matters so much that you created a dashboard and are displaying the score for everyone to see alongside the other important numbers inside your organization (like profit and loss), they know it’s important.
What you’re really saying is, “Hey, first team to 5 wins!”
The goal is not to measure activity for the sake of it. The goal is to measure the RIGHT activities and create a fun and intriguing scoreboard that keeps your employees focused on what matters most. If you can successfully pull this off, the rewards can be massive. And so, what is holding you back? Look, we know you’re busy. We know the thought of adding one more thing to your plate is, well, overwhelming to say the least. But that is what we are here for. Sometimes all you need is someone on your team to help you organize the process, give you a few tools, and help you get it off the ground. One of the most rewarding parts of our job is helping our clients find ways to make safety important, which in turn helps them reach their larger business goals.
If you have struggled with safety in your organization and are interested in getting better, please let us know.
