5 Ways to Get Management Support for Your RCA Program
Root Cause Analysis is no different than any other program at your company. It requires management support. Here are five ideas to help you get that support.
1. Open Your RCA Training to Management
If you are having an onsite TapRooT® course, open it to more people who do not do investigations, including managers. Even those who might not do investigations should understand the process and how root causes are determined, that way when they see a report later they will understand. You can also schedule a 1-day training at your company just for managers providing an overview of the TapRooT® System.
2. Show Management Results
If you can’t convince them to attend, show them an example of a completed investigation and how you drove the evidence down to the root cause and got to corrective actions. If you can show how you solved an important and/or ongoing problem, that will make your case much stronger.
3. Use Metrics To Prove Your Case
This brings me to another point; sometimes you have to show people that you do have problems that need to be solved, so use your metrics to do that. Incidents, near misses, audit findings, hazard reports, and many other sources of data are available to you to make the case. If people do not see a compelling reason to change, they won’t. (And if you are not trending your data, you should be.)
4. Show Them How Improving The System Is Better Than “Fixing” Workers
Managers must also understand that blame and discipline are like fixing your problems one person at a time. Fixing workers is not the answer. Until you can show them how to get to the true root cause level by looking for weaknesses in the work system, they might not understand this.
5. Speak Management’s Language
Managers speak the language of money. If they understand just how much money is being saved by improving, they will be your advocates. Managers should also understand how root cause analysis ties into the organization’s goals; maybe it is cost reduction or maybe it is a key metric other than money. Show how your efforts make a difference.
This is food for thought but more so a call to action. Tell your managers today how important root cause analysis is, educate them, and enlist their support. Invite them to a 2-Day TapRooT® Course or bring them to the Global TapRooT® Summit. You will be glad you did.
