by Tim Coomer, Specific Software
Today we continue the series inspired by the marathon goals of our actuarial analyst Tony King. Now that we’ve outlined all that being intentional encompasses in part 1, let’s talk more about the root of it all: a vision.
“If you want to reach a goal, you must ‘see the reaching’ in your own mind
before you actually arrive at your goal.”- Zig Ziglar
A vision statement often takes the long view: a bold statement or dream for the future.
Whether it’s for an individual or an organization, a vision drives all other components of intentionality as you strive for the knowledge, intelligence, measurements, discipline, and repetition it takes to reach a goal or level of achievement. In Tony’s case, the vision could be simply stated: he wanted to qualify for the Boston marathon. But a vision statement can be considerably more complex, especially for an organization.
Do I hear some of you groaning now? I’ll admit, the words “vision statement” can conjur the image of a slow and painful staff meeting, something we avoid as much as possible here at Specific Software and SIGMA. But Zig Ziglar hasn’t been talking about goals and visualization techniques for all these decades for no reason.
So, what’s your vision for your workers’ health, safety and productivity, and how should you define it? What things should be considered? Here is a list of questions to get your thinking on the right track.
• What type of workplace do you want to have?
• What is the culture you are trying to create?
• How does the wellness of your employees affect your business, and what is your business’ role in supporting employee wellness?
• How is safety viewed within your organization?
• What is your view of and relationship with OSHA?
• What is the relationship between management and line employees?
• What responsibility do you have in gathering and determining the accuracy of data pertaining to the premium audit?
• Should your organization take time to understand, analyze, and manage the experience mod?
• Are you trying to buy the cheapest insurance possible or do you have a broader goal?
• Do you have a vision for how your agent and insurance company should serve YOU the CUSTOMER?
• Do you or should you have a leader who oversees many aspects of injury management?
• Is there a commitment to having a relationship with a local clinic?
• Do you know what happens right after an injury occurs and how your organization will respond to it?
• How are injured employees treated?
• What do the processes you go through to hire someone look like?
• How is an injured employee returned to work?
• What is the driving force behind your organization?
This list presents a lot of questions to help you form a vision that will guide you through the remaining principals of intentionality. Your complete vision might look something like this:
| XYZ Corporation Workers Compensation Vision Statement
Our organization is committed to a culture that promotes the mental, emotional and physical wellness of our employees, reduces injuries, and mitigates the severity of any injuries that do occur. We believe that the backbone of this culture is effective communication. We take responsibility for our workers compensation program by having a trained injury management coordinator, maintaining accurate records that allow us to prepare a premium audit and thus avoid overcharges, understanding the technicalities and insights of experience rating analysis, hiring people who are fit for the job, establishing and following excellent safety procedures, and looking beyond the lowest bid for our coverage to a long term effective relationship with an agent and insurance company. We optimize effective communication by: training our supervisors on injury management and employee relations; training our employees on what to expect if they are injured; and having our injury management coordinator oversee communication, establish effective clinic relationships, internally market our return-to-work program, measure both subjective and analytical measures of our culture and safety, and build relationships with medical clinics, OSHA representatives, and other professionals who can contribute to our employees’ safety and wellness.
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Does this seem like a tall order? It’s OK if it does! I even considered saying that XYZ is committed to a culture that eliminates all injuries. After all, a vision statement is often the long view: a bold statement or dream for the future. For more about leadership and vision, see An Interview With Leslie Kossoff on Management Leadership Skills, or chapter 10 of The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning, which gives a template and considerations for crafting a “future story,” which is what a vision is.
Of course, having a vision statement is only worthwhile if you compare the actual conditions of your workplace against your vision on a regular basis and work to make needed changes…which is where we’ll pick up next time with how knowledge applies to the power of intentionality.
Filed under: Best Practices
