That didn't turn out so well. The photo at left says it all.
But the program that indirectly brought me to Brazil was a huge winner.
Its name is TenSquared, referring to the management-worker teams of ten per company and the 100 days in which the program sets and achieves goals. In 2015 it will be extended to four countries.
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Beat Grüninger of BSD (L) and your blogger in
São Paolo. Photo by Alice Tepper Marlin. |
Brazil in 2014 has the world's 7th-highest gross product whether measured in nominal or purchasing-power-parity terms.
However, the country's rapid growth, as in some other fast-growing countries with lagging infrastructure–has sometimes been at the expense of workplace health and safety.
In February I got to talk with some of the participants in a milestone of the innovative TenSquared program, originally put together by Social Accountability International (SAI) and the Rapid Results Institute. It came out of the Social Fingerprint program at SAI.
Workers are often aware of safety hazards long before management, and one reason that deadly accidents happen so often is that communication channels have been choked off like hardened arteries.
My overall comment is that I am hugely impressed. In the aftermath of major workplace accidents there has been a lot of finger-pointing by those eager to find culprits to punish. This Brazilian program creates a model for actually doing something about workplace safety from the bottom up. To my mind, Brazil's leading in this area is more important than winning the World Cup.
The 100-Day Program: Team, Goal, Process
The idea behind the experimental program is that the way to address challenging problems like workplace health and safety is to engage both workers and managers in generating and putting in place systems that will sustainably ensure compliance.
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Jane Hwang, SAI (L) and Tu Rinsche,
The Walt Disney Company. |
From those who had been through the 100 days of the program, there was a buzz of excitement from the outcomes. I interviewed the key local organizer, Beat Grüninger, and other participants about it.
Each team chose ambitious, measurable goals that the members believed they can accomplish in 100 days.
The teams that met in February 2014 were at three different stages. One was starting off. One was at its 50-day mark. The third was at its 100-day mark.
- Managers and workers at first met separately in the first stage of team-building. Each half of the teams did some initial work on their own and began to use the program's planning tools. Then they met the rest of the team to pool their different perspectives, work out details of the problems to be addressed, agree on measurable goals to be met, and begin a process for meeting these goals.
- The 50-day meetings focus on overcoming obstacles, modifying goals and adjusting the process. Sometimes the initial goal is achieved in even fewer than 100 days and sights are raised. Others have to redouble efforts and dive into more innovation and engagement to meet their goals.
- The 100-day meetings are given over to celebration of achievements and giving initial thought to setting a second 100-day goal. At the 100-day meeting, the teams are asked whether they want to (1) Proceed to a higher level of the goal at same location or agree on a different goal OR (2) Help other units in a different part of the company or facility achieve the goal they have accomplished.
At the end of every day of the meetings, the program coaches review how the meetings have gone, to see how they can improve the process for the next iteration.
Program Outcome
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Danny Manitsky of Rapid Results Institute (L)
and Jane Hwang of SAI. |
The pioneering program is engaging workers in Brazil to address root causes of health and safety issues in factories, using mobile technology, internal team building and change management. The program forms worker/manager social performance teams focused on improving health and safety, and makes measurable improvements in one specific health and safety issue in a 100-day Rapid Results project.
The principle of this worker-engagement program is that teams of workers and managers jointly set goals that can be achieved in 100 days.
At each of 18 factories, the program team first obtained the agreement from the chief executive to participate. The CEO selected five managers and workers elected five representatives to participate.
The significant outcome was that
of the 20 worker-management teams in 18 participating factories, all attained measurable, ambitious goals within the tight 100-day schedule.
Here is how they did it:
Morning, First Day
On the first morning, workers and managers from each team met separately to begin to decide about their 100-day measurable goal.
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TenSquared project leaders. Alice Tepper Marlin
at left. Front: 100-day project staff and Tu Rinche
of Disney. Right: Brazil team leaders. |
Many workers were doubtful that anyone would listen to them. By the end of the morning they were engrossed in identifying hazard risks on the factory floor and rating the degree of danger. Management, on the other hand, got right to work mapping risks in the workplace, and pondering how to obtain resources to make changes.
When the two groups met together, they learned some mutual respect. Workers were pleased to be brought into management thinking about the problems, and often had a better understanding of the causes of workplace hazards and a better idea of how best to address them.
Afternoon, First Day
In the afternoon of the first day, all members of each team met together. They compared their maps of safety risks in the workplace and agreed upon measurable 100-day goals for their team. They set their measurable goals.
Second Day
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L to R: Alice Tepper Marlin, a worker
in a São Paolo rubber factory (trying to
get name), and Beat Grüninger. |
On the second day, the teams use the program's planning tools, developed over many iterations of the program, to figure out how they will reach their goals.
One of the most popular tools in the program is a series of team-building exercises. Often the most important obstacle to workplace safety is a lack of trust between management and workers.
To build trust and commitment to a common objective, and an understanding of the crucial role of innovation, games can be highly effective.
A Sample of Games for Team-Building
Between goal-setting sessions for the incoming groups, and reporting sessions for the more mature groups, much of the work of the coaches had to do with the use of games designed to foster teamwork and collective innovation.
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Managers and workers meet in groups
with coaches to set goals. |
Groups were given a choice of lectures or games. Invariably, they preferred the games. The games were designed to get the teams of managers and workers to work together to set goals and follow a process.
The Folding-a-T-Shirt Game - Each team was taught how to fold T shirts very fast. Object: How to teach effectively.
Tennis Ball on Sheet Game - The challenge was to keep the ball in motion without it going off the side.
Passing the Tennis Ball Game - Each team passes a ball around among team members. Object: How to do it very, very fast.
Keys to the Worker Engagement Program (TenSquared)
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| The Folding-a-T-Shirt Game. |
The program worked in phases to reach key outcomes. The elements were:
- Listen to workers’ voices.
- Establish complaint-management and resolution systems and communication channels needed to sustain the improvement process throughout and after the program’s conclusion.
- Generate immediate and sustainable measurable improvements in occupational health and safety.
- At each facility, form and empower an Internal Social Performance Team, consisting of workers and managers, to manage future improvement projects.
Benefits for Managers and Workers
Managers learn that what workers know, and the respectful inclusion of workers from beginning to end, can be vitally important in getting the job done.
Workers learn management tools and many think of themselves differently, seeing themselves doing management work and able to move up in the hierarchy if they are interested. For workers, especially migrant workers, having a channel to communicate unsafe working conditions is hugely important.
Sample comments of participants from two Brazilian companies:
Abengoa Agricola Manager: "We were able to show to our senior management that our efforts as a team were able to achieve the results even in a time of scarce financial resources. This was for me one of the most rewarding moments."
Worker: "The project was great and provided us, through the trainings in São Paulo, a lot of competence to talk about health and safety to our colleagues."
Bignardi Manager: "The main difference in this project was everybody's great commitment. We had other projects in the factory which sometimes stopped before being completed, as the staff was not involved and committed to the objectives."
Worker: "The physical effort required in the factory was reduced significantly. This was one of the most rewarding results for me."
Project Support
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| The Tennis Ball on Sheet Game. |
The program (TenSquared) was supported by a founding grant from the Walt Disney Company. The development and testing of this highly successful program was provided at no cost to the participating Brazilian companies.
The participating companies contributed to the program by allowing employees significant time off for the project while they continued to be compensated.
Companies sent applications to be included in TenSquared by writing to SAI in November and December 2012. Approximately 50 companies were selected. The program ran in waves in 2013 and 2014.
Program partners include The Rapid Results Institute, which contributed its experience in project facilitation and change management and worked jointly with SAI on design of the program.
- The LaborLink program of Good World Solutions, involving a mobile technology to survey workers and measure the awareness and impact of the program in an efficient and anonymous manner.
- The Cahn Group LLC.
For more information about TenSquared, visit
www.sa-intl.org/brazilworkerengagement, or contact Jane Hwang, President and CEO of SAI. Email JHwang@sa-intl.org. TenSquared is being extended or tested in four countries:
- In Brazil by SAI/RRI and TenSquared's local partner BSD headed by Beat Grüninger.
- In Turkey by Akut through a program headed by Dundar Sahin with the support of the Walt Disney Company.
- In China, on an experimental basis, supported by HP suppliers.
- In India, again on an experimental basis, supported by Tata Steel.
I write about the biographical and economic threads in history. Special interests include symbols of family, such as coats of arms, and the behavior of families in a crisis.
