4.23.2010
“What gets measured, gets done” is a popular saying in performance improvement circles. There is more though. Yes, true as this is, measurement – and I’ll go a step further here and say auditing – is just part of the “gets done” piece. When crafted within a context of breakthrough performance, EHS auditing and the audit function in an EHS department can be a catalyst for accelerated performance improvement and EHS integration. EHS auditing is commonly viewed as a necessary evil or burden to satisfy regulatory and legal requirements. Within this context, the results are predictable. There is little if any enthusiasm; there is a struggle; and there can be challenges with inter-rater reliability.
When EHS auditing is formulated through an organizational learning and systems thinking lens – supported by an integrated EHS management system structure – the function shifts from being summative to formative, as program evaluation professionals would say. There is a shift toward action research that fosters partnership in solving EHS challenges. Audits are viewed as opportunities to see things not previously apparent. Casual links and patterns are distinguished in a way that people can see their roles in the “organizational systems” and see possibilities to alter the system and their roles.
Read More
Posted By Charles Redinger | in Auditing & Metrics, Emerging Issues, High Performance Teams, Innovation | Tags: Aspects/Impacts, Audit Department, Audit Program, Collective Wisdom, EHS, EHS Audit, EHS Auditing, EHS Management System, EHS Performance Measurement, ISO 14001, ISO 19011, OHSAS 18001, Systems Thinking | No Comments »
4.19.2010
Organizational culture is complex and according to many experts, not well understood. EHS professionals often think about culture in terms of a “safety culture.” While safety is clearly important, the topic of culture is all-encompassing.
An area that I continue to explore is how can EHS departments and their professionals impact overall organizational culture? Said another way, how can you build and leverage your EHS culture?
Professor Ed Schein of MIT is regarded as an organizational culture pioneer. I recently heard him speak. The title of the lecture was “From Managing Organizational Culture to Leading Multicultural Teams.” He shared how his thoughts on organizational culture have evolved over the past several decades and discussed some of the material in the soon to be released 4th edition of his landmark book, “Organizational Culture and Leadership”.
Read More
Posted By Charles Redinger | in Emerging Issues, High Performance Teams, Innovation, Strategic Thinking & Planning | Tags: EHS Culture, EHS Leadership, EHS Management System, EHSMS, ISO 14001, leadership, Learning Organization, Organizational Culture, Safety Culture, Systems Thinking | No Comments »
3.26.2010
Auditing is a tough subject. The term rarely conjures pleasant thoughts. It’s often a dreaded event for the auditee. For the EHS department, it is a complex endeavor that the EHS professionals often don’t feel they fully have a handle on, as issues of program validity and reliability swirl around. With internal audit programs in large companies, scheduling can be a nightmare with auditors swamped by primary-non-audit duties. While the audit job gets done and reports are generated for the C-Suite, Board of Directors and External Third Parties, the EHS audit programs I’ve observed often miss the mark that the EHS department want to hit.
Some of the recent EHS audit program challenges I’ve observed are 1) integrating EHS management system audits with existing compliance audits, 2) developing procedures to close the gap between EHS program/system upgrades and the audit tools measuring them;, 3) training auditors how to audit the EHS management system, and, 4) identifying leading indicators that can hopefully shorten the audit process or be used in site/plant self-assessment activities. Read More
Posted By Charles Redinger | in Auditing & Metrics, Corporate Social Responsibility, ISO News, Risk Management, Sustainability | Tags: Auditor Training, CSR, EHS Audit Program, EHSMS, ISO 14001, ISO 31000, OHSAS 18001, Sustainability, Systems Thinking | No Comments »
3.25.2010
I have worked with several EHS departments to increase their performance and cohesiveness. In partnership, we’ve addressed performance beyond simply meeting regulatory compliance, rather looking at ways they could integrate EHS deeper into the organization and impact sustainability and CSR. A starting place in all of these engagements has been to get the EHS management system up-to-snuff and firing on all cylinders. Beyond the EHSMS, we then focused on:
- Team vision. Developing a strong vision based in the team’s collective wisdom.
- Communication skills. Strengthening internal and external communication and generating alignment.
- Team learning. Developing mechanisms for feedback, analysis and integration.
- Systems thinking. Strengthened skills in systems ID and mapping.
Read More
Posted By Charles Redinger | in Emerging Issues, High Performance Teams, Management Systems, Personal Mastery, Strategic Thinking & Planning | Tags: Collective Wisdom, CSR, EHS, High Performance Teams, Sustainability, Systems Thinking, Team Vision | No Comments »
