This presentation addresses methods that might help get CEO buy-in for your company's safety management system.

1. HOW TO GET YOUR CEO ONBOARD
Pitching The Safety Buy-In
Presented by: Dr. Bob Baron, Ph.D
The Aviation Consulting Group
tacgworldwide.com
Copyright © 2018

2. • Approx. 60 min. presentation
followed by 30 min. Q&A
• Prefer to take questions at conclusion
• Slides will be made available after
presentation
Dr. Bob Baron, Ph.D
President/Chief Consultant
The Aviation Consulting Group
Myrtle Beach, SC, USA

3. Buy-In
Defined
The fact of agreeing with, and accepting
something, that someone suggests
If you truly want a safe organization,
you'll need buy-in from the CEO

4. Why can buy-in from upper management be so difficult?
Here are a few common reasons…

5. Too Busy
• “No time” to
discuss safety
issues
• “Too busy” as an
excuse

6. Productivity Focus
• Overly focused on
production
(making money)
• Can be at the
expense of safety

7. Accountability and
Responsibility
• May feel that safety
is someone else's
responsibility or job
• Delegated safety?
• Despite the CEO’s
signature as the
Accountable
Manager/Exec on
the company
Safety Policy!

8. Apathy
• Has no interest in
the safety
elements of a
successful
operation
• Yes, it happens
• It’s well
documented in
previous accidents

9. In terms of safety
buy-in, your CEO
might be-
• Recalcitrant
• Worst possible situation
• Open
• Good situation

10. The Recalcitrant CEO
• This is going to be a BIG problem
• “Doesn’t want to hear it”
• Reactive mindset
• Changes may only happen after a major
event
• Which may include replacing the CEO
• Regardless of what you do, you will not be
able to achieve buy-in from this CEO
• Is this your CEO?
• What are the implications?
• What are you going to do?

11. In terms of safety, the CEO will be-
• Adaptive
• As the company grows, so will the need
for a commensurate amount of safety
protection
• Available
• Has the time to meet with safety
personnel (i.e., SRB meetings, one-on-
one with Safety Manager, etc.)
• Willing to listen
• Listen to company personnel regarding
safety matters
Continued
The Open CEO

12. • Flexible
• Safety needs to be addressed in different
ways (i.e., not just memos)
• Trusted
• Trust works both ways-
• CEO trusts employees
• Employees trust CEO
• Accommodative
• Open to accommodating the safety needs
of the organization
• Aware
• Understands his/her influence on the
production/protection scales
The Open CEO

13. Assuming your CEO is open…
Here are some suggestions to get TRUE safety buy-in

14. First,
Prepare
Yourself
• Gather information!
• Your own organization’s SPIs or
other SMS data
• Outside (external) sources
• Studies
• Articles
• Research
• Presentations

15. Resources
• Safety ROI article/study
(p.16)

16. Resources
• Safety ROI study

17. Resources
• The CEO as a Top-
Level Hazard
• Lessons learned
• More ideas

18. Resources
• The Crash of One-Two-
GO Airlines Flight 269
• A CEO with an agenda
(and it wasn't safety)

19. Then,
Present Your
Case to The
CEO

20. Where?
• Neutral location
• Board room?
• Free from distractions!

21. How?
• You don’t have much time. Be
very strategic and efficient!
• Discussion
• Presentation
• Be prepared!

22. Duration?
• May have to be flexible
• One meeting may not work
• CEOs don’t have much time
• Multiple shorter meetings an option

23. When?
• Yesterday
• Buy-in is important
• There could be links in the chain
connecting as we speak

24. 5 key points to discuss
Remember…this is all about getting buy-in from your CEO!

25.  Safety ROI
• The CEO will listen if you speak his/her
language!
• Safety is an investment, not an expense
• A safe company is a more profitable
company
• Cite from the studies provided earlier

26.  SMS
• Briefly review your company’s Safety
Management System (if you have one)
• What it is
• Its purpose
• It makes the company safer—and—more
profitable!
• The CEO can, and should, monitor the
company’s safety activities on a regular
basis
• Remember, everyone has a safety
responsibility, at every level of the company!

27.  Accountable Executive
• Very important!
• Typically, the CEO is the Accountable
Executive and assumes the overall
responsibility and accountability for the
company’s safety resources
• This, in itself, should drive the buy-in
• Point out that the AE signed the
company’s Safety Policy
• Show the CEO a copy of the Safety Policy
• The Safety Policy is an implied contract
between the CEO and employees

28.  Learning From Failures
• This option should be used if your CEO
doesn’t fully understand, or is a bit
recalcitrant, towards safety buy-in
• Blood and guts approach
• Hopefully you will not need to go this route
• Although it can still be incorporated into your
presentation
• You shouldn’t have much of a problem if
your CEO is open and/or “gets it”

29.  Production/Protection Scales
• The scales are a great concept
• Include/use them to build your case
• Where are your scales at the moment?
• Are they balanced?
• If the scales are not balanced, show
evidence that safety is not keeping up
with production. How?
• SMS SPIs
• Accidents
• Incidents
• Occurrences
• On the job injuries
• Etc.

30. Can you answer Yes to all of these questions?
The CEO-
1. Attends at least 80% of the SRB (safety)
meetings
2. Can tell you his/her roles and
responsibilities in the SMS
3. Visibly supports/endorses safety
4. Is adaptive to safety needs/changes
5. Is available, for safety issues, if needed
Do you have CEO buy-in?

31. Can you answer Yes to all of these questions?
The CEO-
6. Is willing to listen
7. Is trusted
8. Rewards employees for being safe
9. Balances the scales of production &
protection
10.Is proactive in terms of safety
Do you have CEO buy-in?
All 10 questions a Yes?
Looks like you might have CEO buy-in!
Not all answers a Yes? How many were Yes?
Looks like you have some work to do to get
CEO buy-in!

32. Thank You
Bob’s direct contact info:
bbaron@tacgworldwide.com
Skype: bob.baron4
Need help implementing your SMS
or just want an objective SMS check-up?
TACG does it all!
https://www.tacgworldwide.com/SMS-Training-Aviation