Last week, we discussed the first step in achieving strategic alignment - identifying the strategic objectives of the organization. The next step in the process is to identify the objectives of health and safety (H&S) and then link them up with those of the organization. Let's look at how to do that.

Identification of H&S Objectives

What are strategic objectives? Strategic objectives are distinct from day-to-day activities. They are put in place to improve results on a long-term basis, as opposed to simply maintaining the status quo.

Identification of objectives is especially important to the extent that H&S is not currently operating under a strategic plan. I'm a big believer in the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

Linking H&S and Organizational Objectives

Once you identify organizational objectives and those of H&S, the final step is to determine whether there are any logical linkages between the two sets. It is the linkage between the H&S and organization objectives that we mean when we talk about achieving strategic alignment.

An Example of Alignment

An example might be helpful. This example comes from an actual case and is not a hypothetical. It involves an organization that had as one of its strategic objectives to take non-value added cost out of the system so it could price its products more competitively and become the number one selling brand. To achieve this, the organization undertook a major initiative in manufacturing to hold the cost of a case of product flat for the next four years including inflation, price increases for raw materials and labor costs.

When H&S became aware of the initiative they set up a meeting with the VP of Manufacturing. At this meeting, H&S management clearly explained what it could do to contribute to the effort to hold down or reduce the costs of producing a case of the product. At first, the VP was skeptical. But H&S management explained that it had recently deployed an H&S management system and was confident that it could reduce the overall injury rate, enabling the organization to maintain or even reduce its workers' compensation costs over the next four years. This hit home with senior management who were all too aware that workers' comp costs had been rising 13.5% per year and that this rise was increasing production costs.

Once the VP understood what H&S could do to hold down workers' comp costs and therefore the costs of production, he enthusiastically embraced H&S's proposal. As a result, the organization achieved strategic alignment between organizational and H&S objectives.

The overall results were dramatic. The H&S management system was even more effective than predicted. As a result, during a four-year period when workers' comp rates across the industry were on a steady rise, the organization not only held its workers' comp costs flat but reduced them by a net of 23%.

Conclusion

When H&S achieves strategic alignment with the rest of the organization, it provides a mighty boost to the entire business. But since the business leaders tend to regard H&S as a staff function, it is generally up to the H&S managers to supply the initiative. The task is to identify what the organization is trying to achieve and to offer concrete and clear examples of what H&S can do to contribute to their achievement. Do it right and you will break down the business management's skepticism and be embraced as part of the team. When and if that happens, you and your organization will achieve strategic alignment.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY

Deadly earthquakes rock Italy.

November 23, 1980

An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale devastates southern Italy, killing 2,735 and injuring about 7,500.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AMERICA'S ROADWAYS

EVERY 21 MINUTES: A road departure fatality occurs.

EVERY 60 MINUTES: Somebody is killed in an intersection.

EVERY 120 MINUTES: A pedestrian is killed.

EVERY 24 HOURS: 117 people die. Cost: $630 million.

Source: US Federal Highway Administration. Figures are from 2003.

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