Category Archives: management and leadership

The Accidental Supervisor

Posted on September 13, 2013 by mavity2012

My longtime friend, Linwood Smith, V.P. Risk Management of T.A. Loving Company selected this title for a presentation he asked me to make at this week’s Carolinas AGC combined Annual Safety and Human Resources Conference.  Linwood and I share several … Continue reading →

Posted in cultural changes, discipline and discharge, employer benefit plans, management and leadership, performance management, supervisor development | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“SINGLE SERVING HR”

Posted on September 4, 2013 by mavity2012

While reading Howard Risher’s insightful article, Why We Need To Hold Managers Responsible For Employee Performance, I realized that many of us treat HR like the “single serving friends,” Tyler Durden calls people he meets on planes and uses only one … Continue reading →

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OHS Online: More About “Why Do Employees Choose To Get Hurt?”

Posted on August 1, 2013 by mavity2012

OHS Blog: Why Do Employees Choose to Get Hurt? August 1, 2013 05:13 by Howard Mavity Despite having handled nearly 500 workplace fatalities, I once found myself hanging three stories from a gutter because I had wedged a piece of … Continue reading →

Posted in employee engagement, hazard assessment, management and leadership, OSHA, reducing injuries, safety programs | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Tired Workers Cheat And Use Bad Judgment

Posted on July 17, 2013 by mavity2012

 I have always assumed that exhaustion affects our judgment, makes us sloppy and unsafe, and more prone to anger.  Behavioral research supports my assumptions.  Perhaps our first wellness step should be a campaign to get employees to sleep . . … Continue reading →

Posted in aging workforce, attitude/culture, cultural changes, employee engagement, employer policies, management and leadership, wellness | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Is Employee Engagement A Fairy Tale?

Posted on July 16, 2013 by mavity2012

My answer is “no,” but the article below reminds us that we must develop “engagement” strategies that recognize the highly imperfect nature of the work world and the effects of the loss of the old “social contract theory of employment.” To … Continue reading →

Posted in attitude/culture, cultural changes, employee engagement, employer policies, hospitality, management and leadership, safety programs | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Icons and Idiots

Posted on July 16, 2013 by mavity2012

I’d love to hear some comments about Bob Lutz book, Icons and Idiots: Straight Talk On Leadership.  Those in the auto industry must have especially interesting observations.   Read from the Economist review below: Icons and Idiots: Straight Talk on Leadership. By … Continue reading →

Posted in auto industry, books and articles, cultural changes, management and leadership | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Employee Engagement or Involvement?

Posted on June 26, 2013 by mavity2012

At some point we shifted the discussion from employee “involvement” to employee “engagement.”  One dictionary defines “involvement” as:  the act of taking part in an activity, event, or situation The same dictionary defines “engagement” as: the feeling of being involved … Continue reading →

Posted in attitude/culture, cultural changes, employee engagement, management and leadership, reducing injuries, safety programs, union organizing, wellness | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Why Is Common Sense So Uncommon?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by mavity2012

Don’t get me wrong. I make a handsome living in part because common sense is anything but common. However, I like to prevent labor and employment problems, and I’d do anything to reduce the number of workplace deaths.  So I … Continue reading →

Posted in employer policies, harassment, hazard assessment, management and leadership, reducing injuries | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Why Do Some Establishments Deliver Such Fine Customer Service – And What Does This Have To Do With Safety?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by mavity2012

I’m on my 16 hour flight back from South Africa to Atlanta and processing my experiences.  Surely such a varied and unusual adventure will provide me with fodder for some philosophical musings which lead to my usual practical “Action Points” … Continue reading →

Posted in attitude/culture, employee engagement, hospitality, management and leadership, recruiting, retail, safety programs, union organizing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Part 2: Now Let’s Find Out Why Employees Make Those Bad Choices

Posted on May 2, 2013 by mavity2012

A few days ago, I ended my analysis of “why workers choose to get injured or killed,” by proposing that as a possible first step to learn the answer, employers should determine their unique safety “culture.”  Attorneys like us can … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, cultural changes, employee engagement, generational differences, management and leadership, reducing injuries, safety programs | Tagged , , | Leave a comment