Siemens Mobility Rolling Stock business undertook a comprehensive internal ‘cultural inquiry’, asking staff at all levels and across the whole organisation for their views on the company’s safety culture, effectively asking ‘what safety looked like’ to them, together with their thoughts on how it could be improved. One of the clear insights was the desire to intervene when something was not right – be it about quality or safety or well-being. As a result, the company took the decision to implement a completely new approach to Health and Safety, with a clear much sharper on engagement and conversation, rather than purely compliance.
Challenge
The key challenge for Siemens Mobility was to provide a course that is more than a safety initiative for all people in Siemens Mobility.
It has been described as the beginning of a change in culture. The intention was to make conversation, and thus communication, more open & inclusive & to make good listening the route to change.
Delivery
Dramanon produced alongside Siemens Mobility a 75 minute programme, run 3 times in the day to different groups of maximum 12 people, which extended the idea of intervening to considering the whole conversation – not just the stepping in but also the other person in the scenario accepting the comments. The heart of the cultural intervention that Dramanon brought to life was framing not just what it takes to intervene – ‘The Courage to Step In,’ also recognising what it takes to listen and to hear when someone identifies an issue – ‘The Character to Accept.’
Thus this initiative has two distinctive attributes – considering the emotional aspects of stepping in and accepting AND developing the conversations that can take place to resolve and improve.
The programme was promoted in conferences and symposium – lots of interest was built up and followed through.
The commitment to ‘Talk to Me’ is not just carried by the number of people that have attended the workshops or indeed by the inclusive nature of the attendance, with contractors, third party workers & partners employees attending. It is also held by the attention to understanding the context of each location, involving local managers & staff so that the right issues are presented in the workshops. This created a strong sense of ownership for local management. It means that Talk To Me fits in with each location, where the conversations from the workshop are directly related to the specific working environment and the follow on activities can be matched to the context. Dramanon demonstrated they were very resilient and responded swiftly to demands from Siemens Mobility, adapting and changing the content accordingly sometimes at very late notice!
How Our Services Helped
Our services were implemented in a number of ways.
We delivered the sessions to every Siemens Mobility depot in the UK. We ran a pilot session at the top of the day to a group who could model the session to ensure it would be absolutely specific to the audience attending. We immersed everyone in the training by delivering it on their site, sometimes at the edge of the track using props and a team of actors alongside a facilitator.
Multiple vignettes were run-each with a conversation. The stories from the participants make each session unique. Through this process actors are deeply engaged with the people and the organisation.
Progress Continues
Siemens Mobility are now moving Talk To Me to rest of the organisation – different topics – more wellbeing related.
Industry interest is being generated by word of mouth.
Talk To Me stands to shape wider industry culture – where conversations reinforce & develop relationships & processes.
In the client’s words
Working with Dramanon during 2018 & 2019
Dramanon’s creativity is characterised by their ability to understand our real life issues and to translate those into dramatic scenes that trigger recognition in their audience without registering concerns that any individuals are being singled out. They regularly achieve the highest accolade where participants approach them and say in hushed tones ‘That’s interesting! That sort of thing does happen here.’ At the same time Dramanon have been open to try different forms of presentation. They have experimented with short vignettes as well as delivering more traditional playlets. Courageously they have held back from always using the jeopardy to harvest the dramatic moment, rather they have been prepared to maintain the tension of what might happen. This has been a significant factor in having really searching conversations. Very importantly it is not just the drama where the innovation has occurred.
Dramanon have been keen to try out different ways of engaging with the audience and have tested out different and more testing forms of interaction and involvement.
Dramanon have not been tied to a single house style of presentation. This has meant that they have willing to adapt not just programmes but within separate deliveries. This has meant that we have been able to adjust performances to suit local contexts and sensibilities. This agility has meant that the work we have done in each location has been ‘owned’ and adopted by local leadership teams and has been understood better by the local teams. This has been particularly important with regional differentiation where Dramanon have provided actors with the appropriate background and accents. As I say this is not just between programmes but within; where their agility and openness, has in the end, meant that the messages and discussions have been more effective.
Their focus on delivery has been exceptional. This has ranged from their accurate planning and logistics – 100% of the time – to their care in preparing many teams to ensure that they were able to deliver multiple events over a sustained period. We have found that the teams have shared information on audiences and the content to ensure their readiness. Small details are important to their success, which has meant getting hold of the right workwear or just having a ‘bolt’ to play into the stories. What has been very impressive is how the actors and facilitators have been engaged with their audience and have contributed to sharing feedback, helping us understand the themes being developed by the participants.
To deliver successfully Dramanon have focussed as much on the facilitation of events as the acting. Making sure that the great drama is carefully woven with thoughtful and provoking facilitation. Spending time on this aspect of the delivery has meant that audiences are engaged and the business objectives have been achieved. The facilitation has been a vital part of the success of our work with us.
I can strongly recommend working with Dramanon. Their combination of skills and attributes has meant that our goals in all the projects we have worked on have been successfully attained. We will continue to work with Dramanon on an ongoing basis.
