Not all jobs are in cubicles

It’s easy to forget when you’re working in an office at HQ that not all jobs are in cubicles.

When I first began working at Alcan [now Rio Tinto Alcan] our then CEO, Jacques Bougie, insisted on beginning every talk with employees by talking about health and safety starting with the stats for the last quarter.  As the newly appointed Director, Internal Communications, I thought this was simply a terrible way to begin every talk.  I was wrong.  He was right.

The recent explosion of the BP oil rig Deepwater Horizon and the deaths of 11 workers reminds us that every day men and women around the world go to work at dangerous jobs.  Some very dangerous jobs.

The “Deaths on the Job Report” for 2010 reports that for the USA alone “In 2008, 5,214 workers were killed on the job—an average of 14 workers every day—and an estimated 50,000 died from occupational diseases. More than 4.6 million work-related injuries were reported, but this number understates the problem. The true toll of job injuries is two to three times greater—about 9 to 14 million job injuries each year.”

What role do you play in communicating health and safety information to your employees, your customers? Your shareholders?  What role should you play?

The real work of your institution may be happening in places without cubicles, without internet access, maybe even without computers.  By workers who farm, chop trees, provide patient care in hospitals, pack groceries, load container trucks, bottle beer, or teach in classrooms. Who may or may not be literate?  And if they are may or may not be speaking French or English as their first language.  Their cultures and their lives may be vastly different than yours.

How well do you and your executive understand their employees experience of their work and the organization they work for?  What are the implications for how well they/you can do your job?

When was the last time you went and spent time with people on the front line?  What was that experience like?  If not, why not?  If so, when will you do it again?

Tags: Corporate social responsibility, Creating meaning, Cultural norms, Relationship, Trust, Work