Long Service awards 2017

On Saturday 13th May, I attended the Essex long service awards, this is a great event that celebrates colleagues who have stayed loyal to First for a substantial period of time (in one colleagues case being part of the industry for over 50 Years). Building upon celebrating, we now incorporate individuals who have also been nominated under the 'Extra mile awards'. I was honored to attend and it was an absolute pleasure to see individuals recognized for the commitment they have shown not only themselves but more importantly to others.

 

We are starting to celebrate more as a company which is great news and deservedly so.  As celebrating success is part of a company's safety culture.  Also it is a positive response that we drive to gain reactions from, rather than reacting to the negatives.  Learning is far more enjoyable if it is positively reinforced. 

1. To learn and adapt:

To recognize what’s working well and why, and if there is something that you can take from it-why not inspire or replicate in other actions and goals. So basically you can do more of it!

2. Developing a success mindset:

 A large part of success is about your state of mind – so it’s about having a success mindset and cultivating it. Focus on what you’ve accomplished, rather than a never-ending list of to do's.  Celebrate every success, no matter how small the win, this will balance and develop a strong success mindset.  Celebrate and be proud of yourself!

 

3. Motivation:

Motivation is also connected to mindset – because we are motivated by our successes. So give yourself as many opportunities to be successful as you can.  Notice the small accomplishments along the way. If you break your goals down into milestones, actions, and trigger actions, your steps are more achievable and completing small steps builds up to big ones. 

4. Feeling good:

One of the best reasons to celebrate success is simply that it feels good.  We’re driven to make changes in our lives because we want to feel better, be happier and feel good.  Success triggers the happy neurons in our brains. When we anticipate achieving something or we achieve it – and it feels good, so we want more of it.

5. Sharing success:

Share success, it creates team spirit! Recognize your own success and others will too.

 

I also had the pleasure of saying goodbye to
Mr. Mick Colman, who recently retired from
Basildon as Staff Manager. 

learning at work week 2017

LEARNING AT WORK WEEK

 Learning at Work Week is nearly here, it's from  Monday 15th of May to Friday 19th of May.  All the Essex depots are carrying out a variety of fun and engaging themes.  The 2017 theme for Learning at Work Week is informative & creative!

You can put this information to use in any way that adds value to your home and working environment.

Who can take part?

  Anybody can join in!

What opportunities does it provide?

Learning at Work Week is not prescriptive in terms of what you can do and how you should use it, instead it provides ideas and inspiration.  Whether you want to develop new skills to aid your mindset or challenge yourself, the decision is yours.

The Week promotes an inclusive approach and encourages the extension of opportunities to learn to all employees, especially those who may not currently participate in learning.

Why take part?

• Changing attitudes to learning and work. Positive!
• Positive perceptions at business and individual levels
• Stimulating and collating feedback, ideas and perspectives that inform future planning
• Drawing on employees own knowledge, passions and interests to create engaging activities as well as, wider sharing and collaboration in the workplace
• Greater recognition and an understanding of different ways to learn in the workplace
• Encouraging a broader perspective on how learning and development happens and how employees can take advantage of new ways to learn – from traditional classroom based training through social media to team meets for generating and sharing learning
 
• Bringing employees from different parts of the business together or partner organizations in to learn from each other, sharing best practice.

Greater awareness of learning, motivation, engagement which all enhances our work environment.

My input to Learning Week, focuses on horticulture and fitness.  These two areas can be therapeutic and offer a more balanced life approach; one which can also help deliver benefits within the workplace.  Both these topics can help to balance the mind and promote exercise as well as enjoying the outdoors.  Let's not forget it also allows the learning of new skills.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN?

 

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How we build trust

In my last blog I spoke about near misses this week I want to discuss trust.  After all, it's the cornerstone of all our lives.
Trust is about reliability and doing the right thing. It's also a big factor that will determine success in your job and life.

Do colleagues perceive you as trustworthy and honest? How do you perceive them? Trust is a characteristic that builds respect and loyalty, as well as a supportive and safe work environment. Distrust increases tension and negative "Backs to the wall" behaviour, which can erode staff engagement of a team and ultimately productivity.

Trust

 



Below are 5 steps to build trust in the workplace:

1. Be Honest and communicate:
The first step in building trust is to be honest.

• Tell the truth even small lies are dishonest  
• Share honest information, even if it's to your disadvantage   
• Don't steal -others ideas or misuse them.

2. Be Consistent: 
 It's not enough to be trustworthy only on Mondays and Thursdays.

• Work to our 5 values set the highest standards  
• Do what you say you will do
• Fulfill your promises and if you can't, explain your reasons for this.

3. Be Honest in Non-verbal Communications:
Body language plays a large part in non-verbal communication. So, to increase trust through body language:

• Look others in the eye with comfortable and direct eye contact  
• Exhibit open body language by using open arms and not folded ones as this can cause a communication barrier.

4. Have a Mutually Beneficial Attitude:

Blatant self-serving agendas may cast doubt on one's ability to trust and be trusted. In reality, everyone has self-serving agendas, but it is the level of harm to others that determines the level of trust in that person.

5.To increase trust:

• Genuinely care about others and promote team work  
• Have beneficial relationships with open communications  
• Willingly accept information and reciprocate.

Where am I next week?

On Friday 28th April I will be available in the Chelmsford Bus station canteen between 11 am and 2.30 pm to help with any questions that you may have.

Save a Life. Near Miss/Hazard Reporting

This is the safety triangle 

Why you should care about this in Essex?

Within Essex, in any capacity you should care about safety because of the concepts of injury causation and prevention, we need to know about as many near misses as possible; this extensively helps us when working proactively.  In promoting this approach we can possibly prevent an incident from occurring rather than reacting when too late, after the actual event has happened.

Let's look at some facts:

·    A mathematical relationship exists between the numbers of accidents of   similar types and their severity

·    The most common cause of workplace accidents is unsafe acts of colleagues

·    Reducing the overall frequency of workplace injuries will produce an equivalent reduction in the number of severe injuries. 

SO WITH THIS IN MIND, HOW DO WE CAPTURE NEAR MISS REPORTING?

1.          Reward and recognize every opportunity when a colleague reports something, thank them and use a touch point
2.          Use the feedback forms (Hadleigh/Colchester as examples) then create your own or just have a conversation with your supervisor or manager and make them aware
3.          Encourage feedback from everyone on all road conditions in all seasons

4.      Start a 'Near miss reporting saves lives’ campaign.

·   Firstly, talk to colleagues, ask if they have experienced a NEAR MISS or HAZARD; welcome any news, challenging news gives us all the opportunity to be aware and alter our actions if need be, especially if it keeps everyone safe. Positive news means we are doing something right.  We are, after all, striving to be a generative company.

    Secondly, using PIC/NIC analysis proactively means we can look at near misses and carry an idea forward, preventing injuries. We learn from situations and experiences.

     If anybody wants support in actioning a local PIC/NIC, for  a behaviour that they would like to resolve, then please contact myself through the normal channels and I am more than happy to support.

 

    Next week, I will be in Hadleigh depot on the afternoon of Tuesday 11th April to answer any questions you may have and discuss any concerns.

 

 

out of the frying pan

This week, I had a somewhat unnerving experience with what can only be described as one of those moments in life which you can not prepare for. On Wednesday, I was working in Croyden and had to make my way  back into London to Waterloo station to catch a train to Southampton.  On my inwards journey people started to chat and make me aware of the terrorist attack which was unfolding in the centre of London. I suddenly realised I was heading straight onto the danger zone thoughts raced through my head 'What am I doing putting myself at risk' surely South West trains wouldn't put anybody into the danger zone?
All staff at the station were informative and calm. The train guard assured me that Waterloo station was on high alert and all staff were aware of the fluid situation.  Working together and being vigilant is a key response in a situation like this. 

Here is a First principle which we all should be alert to:

In Essex we must always be ALERT!  We must always use our skills and judgment to protect not only ourselves but all others that we are responsible for.

If in doubt, please report it.  It is better to be safe than sorry.

Our Values brought to life

One of the biggest challenges we have is how to highlight our 5 Values within our work environment. How we achieve this needs to come form ourselves and through delivering a valued service. Making a difference begins with us. The words outlining our values need to be brought to life so that we have confidence and pride in delivering them.

Firstly, let us look at our vision:

It's what we do, moving nurses, teachers, cashiers, carers, doctors, students and importantly the vulnerable from A to B. Importantly, supporting our community and everyone within it.

Next, let us look at our values. Day in day out colleagues live these values without realizing what they are achieving.  We should celebrate the importance of our actions and strive to consistently meet our values and share them with our community. 

 

 

Finally, the driver who takes pride in his job by driving safely; looking out for his passengers; leading by example is demonstrating all of these qualities.  Too often a good job can be under estimated, make a mental note of your successes and be proud.



Your Voice Update

Your Voice Surveys closed on Saturday night and this snap shot was taken on Friday lunchtime but shows how well we did in Essex completing the surveys. It was pretty much agreed by all participants that this survey was concise and easy to complete with relevant questions which will make a difference once the results are published and the action plans developed.
I believe that it is important that 'YOUR VOICE'  is part of all of our agendas throughout the year, so we can all challenge at all levels regarding how to make our work place and work environments an improving and great  place to work.

 

 A massive thank you to every one involved, as this means we will

have raised over £1600 for Prostate Cancer UK

 

During my time helping complete the surveys a lot of interest was shown in how to find out more about this terrible disease and I will be looking in the future at possibly getting a representative of PCUK to spend time with colleagues discussing all aspects of Prostate Cancer. Colleagues have spoken to me about different experiences; questions and points of concern always cropped up.  Talking and gaining knowledge really helps.

 

I also want to comment on the massive result that Both Colchester and Clacton achieved prior to Christmas raising over £1255 for St Helanas Hospice. Charity work is so rewarding and also helps to engage our customers whilst invoking community spirit.

 

In the week prior to Xmas, Hadleigh and Chelmsford raised over £85 for Prostate Cancer just by donating and wearing a xmas related  item.

On Friday 3rd March I will be available in Clacton Telford road,
between 10.30 and 14.30.