Transforming Safety Leadership at a Global Mining Company
Anglo American
Mining
Global
Our Client faced the challenge globally of improving its safety culture to achieve an injury and fatality-free workplace. This challenge needed to influence not only organisational culture but attend to the nuances of national culture within a business delivered globally by diverse teams.
Their transformational programme was designed to shift the mindset of their teams from a traditional focus on hazards and controls towards a more humanistic approach that encouraged engagement, involvement and continuous improvement at every level of the business.
Blending the business “practices” with the hearts and minds of the teams to improve safety performance was a stated goal of the programme. FidesOak® was engaged as their global implementation lead and partner to bring this transformational programme to life. This case study explores the journey and impact of this transformational programme, detailing the steps taken to achieve a significant cultural transformation.
Our Client conducted a number of gap analysis to ascertain the maturity of their safety culture. This gap analysis was measured against a 5-stage maturity model, most of the sites measured were identified as being at level 2, their aspiration is to reach level 5.
This was identified as a multiyear journey for the organisation, where leaders would focus on creating an enabling environment where their people were seen as the solution to further innovation, agility and adaptability in complex work environments. This was in contrast to a traditional command and control, hierarchal culture which was perceived as plateauing their safety performance. The transition from level 2 to level 3, required a fundamental shift in mindset and behaviour for management, supervision and the workforce.
This global Mining organisation sought FidesOak®’s expertise due to their extensive experience in implementing change programmes where motivating and inspiring people are at its heart.
With a focus on identifying and capacitating cultural architects within the business to lead the change therefore transferring capability into our clients. FidesOak® provided comprehensive support across five key areas:
• Change Management and Engagement Strategy
• National Culture
• Coaching Support on Site
• Measurement
• Advisory to CEO and Executive Teams
Change Management and Engagement Strategy:
Developing a robust strategy to engage all levels of the organisation in the safety transformation process.
National Culture:
Addressing cultural nuances and ensuring the programme resonated across different regions and demographics.
Coaching Support on Site:
Deploying coaches to collaborate directly with teams, fostering a culture of curiosity, psychological safety, and authentic leadership.
Measurement:
Implementing behavioural analytics to track progress and measure the impact of interventions.
Advisory to CEO and Executive Teams:
Providing strategic advice and support to senior leadership to ensure alignment and commitment. Coaching the executive cohort to turn strategic intent in the board room into tactical action at site.
By approaching their plateau in safety from a cultural perspective, the client looked beyond procedures and processes as well as training and competence as “safety work” to how this was influencing “the safety of work”.
This was a crucial distinction to focus attention on “how we do things around here”, by focusing on workforce involvement at all levels and continuous improvement, fostering a learning culture that improved performance in all areas of the business, particularly safety. To not have done this would have maintained the status quo and could have resulted in continued safety incidents, lower employee engagement, and hindered operational performance.
FidesOak®’s intervention was crucial in averting these potential failures and setting the organisation on a path towards continuous improvement.
FidesOak®’s partnership with the client in implementing this transformational programme exemplifies the power of a humanistic and engaging approach to safety leadership. By fostering authentic leadership, empowering employees, and leveraging behavioural insights, FidesOak® enabled our client to progress towards its goal of an injury and fatalityfree workplace. If your organisation is ready to embark on a similar journey, FidesOak® is here to support and guide you every step of the way.
