You can learn from your own mistakes — it's painful, but memorable. However, it's better to learn from the experience of others.
That is why the internship process for young managers at the workplace of the HSE department head is fully formalized: there is a standard internship plan which, in addition to classic HSE Days, includes newly implemented practices. First and foremost, it was necessary to include work with documents for studying (or reviewing) implemented HSE and industrial safety procedures, as almost all interns have only a very superficial knowledge of them.
The main part of the internship consists of various walkarounds across different facilities. During these walkarounds, observations and communication with personnel take place. Notably, at least one walkaround with commentary is mandatory, involving inspectors and specialists in HSE, fire, and radiation safety, but without management participation. We call such a walkaround a “pre-walkaround.”
It is important to teach them to see the good in the workplace. When the goal is only to find faults, relationships with personnel become guarded instead of trusting. Therefore, one of the primary tasks for interns is to learn to identify strengths and positive practices during the walkaround that can be confidently recommended to other departments, and to explain why.
While performing walkarounds and observations, it is crucial to see the precursors of incorrect actions before a violation occurs. Experienced inspectors help here: they highlight various deviations and comment on them in terms of potential consequences if they are not addressed.
Of course, if clear violations are found during the walkaround, they must definitely be addressed, the potential risk determined, and a decision made to eliminate the risk (violation). The goal here is to teach young managers to be leaders, not to walk past issues, and to practice communication with personnel, consequence forecasting, and decision-making — all of which are vital for a manager. (Once, my own manager literally turned me back, saying simply, “Go back,” when I was in a hurry and ran past work being done with violations. That was my first lesson in leadership — the lesson of “not walking past.”)
A mandatory and very important walkaround during the internship is the one with the top executives (the Director and Chief Engineer). The purpose of this walkaround is to acquire leadership skills, teach novice managers how to communicate with personnel, build relationships, and not ignore suggestions, but rather involve and motivate subordinates. Such a walkaround is like a school of leadership.
After working as managers for over a year, former interns were asked: “Has your understanding of your role, goals, tasks, and the mechanisms for achieving them in organizing and ensuring safe conditions in your department changed after the internship?” Their responses were as follows:
“...I have started paying more attention to risks and hazards. Assessing them has become easier and more natural, even in everyday life...”
“...I would say that the emphasis in communication with personnel has shifted toward the importance of HSE. It has become clearer what to focus on...”
Step by step, we managed to find growth points for young managers.
Notably, during walkarounds and discussions, it is necessary to discuss everything seen with absolute honesty and kindness — how to view it, how to evaluate it, and how to react. Criticism is inappropriate here; dialogue is needed. After all, everyone has similar tasks.
The main objective of the walkarounds is to teach the young manager to move away from formalism, to be not just a colleague but a leader in everything, someone who cares about everything happening in the workplace and earns the trust of the personnel.
More on the next steps in the following publication.