IA7 Organisational Factors Flashcards
Define Health and Safety Leadership
“The process of interaction between leaders and followers, through which leaders can exert their influence on followers to achieve organisational safety goals”.
Leadership is a process that involves influence
Leadership occurs in groups and involves common goals and purpose
List the types of safety leadership
- Transactional
- Transformational
- Servant
- Situational and contextual
What are the Advantages and disadvantages of the transactional type of leadership
- A :Creates clear structures defining what is required and the associated rewards or punishment
- A: The transactional leader is effective in guiding decisions aimed at cutting costs and improving productivity.
- D: Assumes that employees are simply motivated by reward and exhibits predictable behaviour.
- D: Employees may not engaged with rules and procedures
- D: Creativity of employees are supressed
List the advantages and disadvantages of the transformational type of leadership
- A: The most proactive style of leadership
-
A: Focuses on motivating, inspiring, and
encouraging workers to improve their performance. - D: Potential lack of accountability or disciplining instances of non-compliance.
- D: May not see H&S problems in detail (only big picture)
advantages and disadvantages of the servant type of leadership
- A: Empowers workers by supporting new ideas, sharing power, putting the needs of others first.
- A: Helps people develop and improve performance.
- A: Creates an environment of trust with the workers.
- D: Style is unnatural to managers, takes time to adjust and see results.
- D: Not able to influence employees that are resistant to change.
- D: There is low level of control over the employees.
- D: Too soft for private sector where the needs of shareholders, customers and market competition are more important.
advantages and disadvantages of the situational and contextual type of leadership
- A: Adapts a leadership style to a “maturity level” of those being led.
- A: Support their followers (employees) based on their individual needs and capabilities.
- A: Workers will improve their skills, maturity and independence.
- D: Not suited to large organisations where it can be seen as favouritism by some workers when they see that others are treated differently to themselves.
Behavioural Attributes of an Effective Leader
- Vision
- Communication
- Credibility
- Collaboration
- Action orientation
- Accountability
- Feedback and recognition
Leadership style based on the assumption that people will follow a person who inspires them and the ways to get things done is by generating enthusiasm and energy
Transformational
Leadership style based on the assumption that people are motivated by reward and punishment and social systems works best with a clear chain of command.
Transactional
Leadership style based on the assumption that leaders have a responsability towards society and those who are disadvantaged
Servant
Leadership style stating that leadership of workers must be adapted to the skills and job maturity of the individual worker, and that there is no single “best” style of leadership.
Situational and Contextual (Hersey and Blanchard)
Benefits of Effective Leadership on Health and Safety Culture and Performance of an Organisation.
- Reduced sickness absence. Workers are healthier.
- Enhanced productivity. Workers are happier, and better motivated.
- Reduced costs and reduced risks. Absence and worker turnover rates are lower, accidents are fewer, and the threat of legal action (both criminal and civil) is lessened.
- A better reputation for corporate responsibility among investors, customers, and communities. This generally leads to greater investment and increased sales.
- Lower insurance premiums.
- Tax benefits and state subsidies and grants.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is …
” the integration by companies of social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis.”
To be socially responsible means going beyond fulfilling the legal expectations, by also investing ‘more’ into human capital, the environment, and the relations with stakeholders.
Internal influences on health and safety within an organisation
- Organisation goals and culture (behaviour and expectation of people)
- Finance (primary resource, impacts health and safety budget)
- Production targets (work pressure may lead to stress, increase of accidents & incidents at the workplace)
- Trade unions/labour unions (as member of safety committees will actively improve health and safety)
External influences on health and safety within an organisation
- Legislastion
- Enforcement Agencies
- Tribunals/Courts
- Contracts/Contractors/Clients
- Trade unions
- Insurance companies
- Public opinion
