Tools and Characteristics of Tactics for Influencing the Culture of Change. Stages of Safety Culture Development in Teams and Organizations

Evolution of Safety Culture: From Coercion to Awareness

Developing a safety culture in an organization is not just about implementing new rules, but a deep transformation of the team's mindset and behavior. During the webinar, speakers Evgeny Parygin and Tatiana Melnitskaya examine the stages of safety culture development in detail, showing how employee motivation and leadership tactics change as the organization matures.

The speaker analyzes three key stages in the evolution of safety culture. The first stage is dominated by internal motivation based on coercion and fear of punishment. Managers use the "carrot and stick" tactic, demonstrating status privileges. The second stage is characterized by stimulation through shame in front of "their own" — employees begin to think about what their colleagues will think of them. At this stage, it is important for leaders to become "one of the team" for their subordinates in order to effectively influence them through persuasion and encouragement. Finally, the third, highest stage is motivation based on conscience, self-control, and self-motivation. Here, leadership tactics are built on cooperation and creating an atmosphere of trust.

Psychophysiology of Safety: How Stress Affects Thinking

The presentation details the psychophysiological aspect of safety. The speaker uses an example to show how stress shifts an employee into the "red zone" of thinking, where critical thinking is suppressed and the likelihood of errors increases. According to research, transitioning from a stressful state back to the "green zone" of critical thinking can take up to 2.5 hours. Under stress, a person's memory deteriorates, intellectual potential decreases, and motor reactions slow down, which often causes industrial accidents.

To ensure safety, it is critically important to form safe automatic thinking. In an emergency situation, when a person is under the strong influence of stress hormones, it is automatic skills, developed through repeated practice of correct actions, that save lives. Critical thinking requires time and a calm environment, so relying solely on it in emergency situations is dangerous.

Tools of Influence: Balancing Reward and Punishment

A culture of change requires the competent application of influence tools. The speaker emphasizes that while fear and punishment can yield quick results in the initial stages, in the long term they destroy the psyche and reduce employee engagement. Constant stress leads to high cortisol levels, which suppresses the immune system and reduces work performance.

To transition to higher levels of safety culture, it is necessary to develop a sense of shame (awareness of not meeting the team's expectations) and conscience (internal self-control). A favorable environment, where rewards for correct behavior prevail, promotes an increase in employee engagement up to 80-95%. Punishments remain necessary only to stop conscious violations and dangerous behavior.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to determine what stage of safety culture development your organization is at?
• Which motivation tactics are most effective at different stages of team evolution?
• How do stress and hormonal levels affect employees' ability to make safe decisions?
• What is the difference between critical and automatic thinking, and how to use them correctly to reduce injuries?
• How to transition from management through fear to a culture based on trust and conscious responsibility?