If you can remember when you were a kid you can learn something about motivation. Some adult, probably your parents told you to do something. Did you do it right away? Probably not. You asked a very important question, “WHY?” You weren’t asking out of defiance, you really were curious why it should be done. Early in our life we want to know the why’s about everything. It may be the beginnings of our search for the real meaning of our life. But before I become too philosophical what can we learn from our youth? All of this ultimately leads us to:
When we know the answer to the question, “Why?” we are more likely to takeaction. The question, “Why?” is what I call the motivation question. The answer to the question, “Why?” if it appears to be in our own best interest will result in our taking action. Once again the key is, “Why?” from their viewpoint. If you want to motivate someone what you really need to answer is, “Why Should I Do this?” Once they understand why they benefit from the behavior they are more likely to work that way.
What then is the solution? Well, it seems to me that if someone has a reason they don’t wear their safety glasses we have a few choices. First, listen to them. The reason might be legitimate and there may be a solution. For instance, if they fog up all the time we can look for a pair that doesn’t pose that problem. Second, if their reason is not sound from a safety viewpoint we can motivate them to use them. How do you do this? By giving them a better reason to wear the glasses than their current reason they do not wear them. It is vital to realize that with all other communication we must think from their point of view.
People act often based upon emotions. If their reason why is based on emotion it is unlikely that persuading them with a logical reason will work. For example, it is unlikely that there is a person in this country that doesn’t understand that cigarettes cause cancer. Yet every day new smokers
start the habit. Why? Because they are motivated to. For kids, looking more adultish, fitting in with their friends and other emotional reasons outweigh the logical reason not to smoke. Knowing this the anti-smokingadvertisements do not focus on the logic of not smoking for your health. Rather, they have billboards that say, “If you smoke you stink.” Appealing to emotions to win the argument is the smart way to go in this case because the reason they are smoking is based on emotions.
Remember to think like your audience and ask why they are doing something. Then determine if the reason why they do something is emotional or logical and you are well on your way to motivating your employees to work safely.
Are you looking for more solutions? If so, you may ask the question, “Why should you go to www.drebinger.com ? Well, we have developed a site that is a resource for you. First each month there will be an article by me with tips on communicating safety effectively. Second, just for fun or to helpyour safety presentations we have a “Trick of the Month.” This feature actually teaches you a magic trick you can do to fool your friends. Why, indeed. Just go to the lemon on our home page and you will be directed to information about my Dynamic Safety Meetings Institute where you could join other safety professionals and discover how to answer the question, “Why?” for your employees thereby causing them to take the action you are looking for. This is three days focused on how to make meetings motivational and interesting. It is being held in Las Vegas on October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 2002.
Why Las Vegas? Well, for one reason it is a great place for meetings and it is a location many people want to go to. The prices for rooms are outstanding as the hotels want your business. Rest assured we will be getting in a full days program starting at 8:30am and ending at 5pm each
day. I will be teaching my very best stuff at this event and you don’t want to miss out. Also, the entire three days is being recorded on CD’s so you can review what you have learned and share it with others at your office.
For more information go to: http://www.drebinger.com/page/page26.html
Or to sign up right now go to: http://www.drebinger.com/page/page26a.html
How often have you looked for a gift or prize for a safety meeting or promotion? Most of the items I see given out are great but they don’t have a connection to safety beyond the meeting or the presentation. This last year I was looking for a fun solution to this problem and the answer we came up with was a special safety gift. Imagine a paint can full of chocolate chip cookies… but beyond just cookies the label is loaded with humorous comments that will cause the recipient to keep it on a shelf where they can show it to their friends. The label mentions safety in several places reminding the recipient of the importance of safety to them. If you would
like to see what this can looks like go to:
www.drebinger.com/page/page12.html
I hope you have found this ezine helpful. The next issue will cover the next Deadly Mistake of Boring Safety Meetings...
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