Cross Pollinating our H&S and HR Teams - The Untapped Potential is Immense

I've been having some big conversations recently about the pros and cons of HR and H&S being put into the same team/department. Surface level I know that sounds about as exciting as watching The Wiggles on repeat for 8 hours. But hear me out.

As I was reading through the Gibson ruling, particularly the part re Work as Done, I went down a rabbit hole of how much culture plays a role in supporting those Work as Done conversations. And that for most organisations, H&S would be the likely custodians of those conversations.

It was interesting to hear that we have all seen the same thing - that for the longest time, H&S have done their thing, often having some strategic pillar that speaks to H&S culture and HR have done their thing, with their own strategic pillar that speaks to organisational culture. Sometimes the two never meet. Sometimes they get in each other's way. It was that last bit that really got my brain fizzing. I've been there. I've competed with my HR counterparts for budget, for leaders' time. I've pushed my projects ahead believing whole heartedly that they added more value.

But heres the thing. With a few extra years, and some wide-ranging discussions and observations, my approach to this has changed. I think the idea of a separate H&S culture is load of codswallop.

I think that there is value in cross pollinating soft skill capabilities across both H&S and HR and creating a cohesive response to organisations needs that exist globally throughout the business. Imagine a business where the culture was gold standard, senior leaders were out there understanding Work as Done with their frontline teams and they were actually being told the information they need to make better informed decisions about their systems of work. The bureaucratic filtering system was dead on the ground and the Board and CEO knew with certainty that was their reality. They appreciated the candid feedback and knew they could work with it. The frontline worker felt listened to and respected and was keen to help again.

Underpinning this very aspirational but entirely possible future state is a rock-solid foundation of trust and accountability- but not the accountability that is actually the blame pig with some lipstick on. I'm talking radically candid, caring deeply accountability. The kind that builds people up.

And underpinning all of that is psychological safety. The Amy Edmondson, research supported type. Not the other pop-psyc versions. Skills like this often get boxed into departments, making us believe stupid ideas like HR are responsible for psychological safety.

There's much potential here. So much cohesion to tap. So much capability to build up and an incredible amount of system strengthening that will reduce the abhorrent amount of harm that happens to our frontline workers.

I'd love to carry the conversation on and get some more perspectives on this. What are your thoughts and experiences?