THE SECRET TO CREATING MORE ENGAGED AND EMPOWERED WORKMEN

“Engage and empower workmen for them to drive our Vision Zero Harm,” emphasised our CEO & Managing Director, Mr. S N Subrahmanyan, during his keynote address at the Safety Month – 2020 inauguration. At first consideration, it seems an obvious solution to tackle the menace of increasing fatalities and incidents at various L&T Construction project sites. Several studies have revealed how ‘engaged’ workmen are more productive, more committed, more willing to go the extra mile and, most importantly from our perspective, less inclined to leave a project. Most project managers and EHS Heads at L&T Construction struggle with the migratory and unskilled nature of our labour force but the inescapable fact is that making workmen feel ‘wanted’ and ‘a part of the project’ go a long way to improve the safety of a site because at the end of the day, “everyone wants to return home safe after every shift,” points out K N Sen, EHS – Head, MMH SBG.

Welding demonstration to workmen

“The difference between an engaged and a disengaged workman is obvious,” remarks Stephen Phillip Storey, Head – EHS, Heavy Civil IC. “In fact, you even see it amongst our employees. Some who come in 10 minutes early eager to start work every morning are far more committed, productive and engaged than those who literally drag themselves to work doing nothing more than what they are told. The same is the case with workmen. Some are more involved than others and the secret is to motivate those chaps to spread their positivity to the other workmen at site.” The million-dollar question, however, is how to make this happen and there are some basic thumb rules that project managers and EHS Heads could follow to work towards creating a more engaged and empowered workforce.

Mobile training program to workmen

Why am I doing what I am doing?

Clarity of role is perhaps the most important aspect of engaging a workman. Often, either due to lack of time or patience or a host of other reasons, managers and supervisors are seen directing workmen to do some seemingly disconnected work for that day alone without explaining to them why they are doing it or how what they are doing will help overall project delivery. “This is the perfect recipe for disengagement,” warns M Kamarajan (MK), EHS – Advisor, B&F IC. “Without sharing with workmen the importance of what they are doing, they will remain disconnected and uninvolved in what the project team is trying to achieve. They start to move about aimlessly and disinterestedly from one day to another, from one task to another and are prone to leave sites at the drop of a hat or helmet,” he smiles at his pun. There is nothing of interest or value to hold them back. It is the onus of the senior management at site therefore to seek and find the early adopters who can be the prime drivers to make others appreciate the importance of their work and take pride in what they are doing. It is a gradual shift starting with a few that expands as leadership demonstrates care for and trust in their workmen which in turn get translated into creating and maintaining a safe work culture.

How am I contributing to the success of my project?

“One important message that we used to engage workmen at the Statue of Unity site was to impress upon them that they were actually involved in creating history by building the world’s tallest statue,” shares Santhosh Bhaskar, the successful EHS Head at SoU. While daily pre-job briefings and tool-box talks are essential, it is equally important for workmen to be made aware of the big picture, the larger project objectives and how they are contributing to building vital infrastructure. “Actually, sharing the big picture is an excellent way to instil pride in workmen,” agrees P Nagarajan, EHS – Head, B&F IC, “and this is one big advantage that we at L&T enjoy because almost every project that we do involves nation-building and by explaining this, gives workmen a larger purpose than just doing some unimportant work at some site.”

“I am somebody at site!”

“At Heavy Civil IC, because of the size and scale of our projects and the huge number of workmen involved, it is very easy for workmen to be treated as ‘invisibles’ at site,” shares Stephen. “Just imagine the pride of a workman if he is addressed by his name!” What Stephen is referring to is the law of reciprocity that if you recognize a person, he or she will be more inclined to give back more which is how relationships are built. It creates and enhances perceptions of fairness amongst workmen; more importantly, it drives other workmen to want to be similarly ‘recognized.’ “Recognition has a very positive multiplier effect,” says Subhamoy Maitra, Head – EHS, RREC SBG, “they become more receptive to our safety messages; they become our ambassadors to spread the safety message amongst the rest of the workforce.” Rewards are undoubtedly important, but recognition weighs heavier and, “recognition can even be in the form of better habitation for the workmen,” mentions K P Ravinath, EHS – Head, L&T GeoStructure. “When they are better rested and contended, they are more enthused to work that, needless to say, will improve overall productivity.” Satisfied workmen attract more of their ilk which has two advantages for the site: bigger, like-minded gangs who are more likely to stay longer. 

Workmen being trained to remain safe in water

Training and counselling

“Training makes a workman feel wanted,” shares KPRn, “makes him feel that the organization is serious about him and values his contribution.” Training is a continuous affair due to workmen coming and going so Santhosh and his team would have trained some 20,000 although even at peak time, the size of workforce at the SoU site would have been about 4,000. WISA, the new digital system of workmen induction, is going a long way to help K S Sudheesh Kumar, EHS – Head, WET IC and team to train workmen better. “Today by maintaining records, we are able to provide unique training to workmen rather than retraining them the same trades if they re-joined us.” Counselling also helps in inculcating a safe work culture as S Sairam, Manager – EHS at Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant site explains. “If a workman is found guilty of an unsafe act at site, we counsel him of the possible harmful consequences of his act and how he should have ideally acted in that situation and if a person commits 3 violations, stringent action is taken that can even mean termination or monetary penalty on the subcontractor.”

Gas cutting demonstration

Empowerment

When all these factors work in concert, workmen feel empowered to actively contribute to the success of a site. In fact, MVSatish,Whole TimeDirector&Senior Executive Vice President (Buildings, Minerals & Metals) during his welcome addressattheSafetyMonthinauguration mentioned an important initiative. “We have empowered workmen to intervene and stop another workman if the latter is committing an unsafe act,” he said. “Such empowerment along with their ‘right to refuse to work in an unsafe condition’ is bringing extremely positive results among the workforce,” he added.

“Near miss reporting is another strong indicator of workmen empowerment at site from an EHS perspective,” points out Subhamoy, “because it shows that they are fearless about raising the flag if they see an unsafe act or an unsafe situation, confident in the knowledge that there will be no retribution if they do so. That, to my mind, is the best situation to have at any site.”

Very often, due importance is not accorded to our labour force although they are the ones at the firing line doing the work; their wellbeing, their sense of belonging and their commitment can make or break a project – a fact that is not always acknowledged. It is high time that we do so.

A dramatic briefing of an electrical hazard