Having a vision is essential to good, effective and profitable business practice. It is a clear statement of goals and objectives set within an agreed timeframe.
John F Kennedy had a vision in 1963 “To land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth before the decade is out”. In 2014, he would not have got away without mentioning “and within budget”.
With sound leadership and vision, a manned space flight strategy was developed. JFK’s vision was fulfilled in 1969.
Do you think the same result would have been achieved if he had given the Star Trek vision of “to boldly go where no one has gone before”? A vision must be achievable.
So why is a health strategy important for a company? The answer is ‘If you do not know where you are going, you are likely to end up somewhere else”.
Agreeing a strategy with your company health adviser helps you make decisions on how to get where you want to be from a health perspective; agree the tactics of how you will get there, stay on course and maintain direction.
Many years ago (when I was much younger and technology was older), I was sitting behind the pilot while travelling in a small light aircraft between locations in the Middle East. It was one of those planes where there was a curtain between the cockpit and the passengers. In-flight refreshments were obtained by leaning back, opening the cool box and helping yourself.
After about 30 minutes in the air, I started to notice a strange beeping noise. I leaned over to my colleague and asked if he heard the noise, and to check if we should be worried.
He replied that it was the pilots’ direction finder. The beep tells him if he is on course. The longer the interval between beeps the bigger the course correction he has to make.
Aren’t health and business strategies just like that?
You need to know where you are going and where you want to be. You monitor and review your progress. If you cannot hear the beeps in business and health start to worry – you are off course.
Use strategy as your direction finder.
But I hear you saying “That is all very obvious. There is nothing difficult about this concept. I understand my business, the risks and where health fits in. No problem”.
Perhaps, but let me ask you to consider a game of chess. How many possible moves are there in a game of chess?
Well, there are 10108 (10 to the power of 108) possible moves.
Surely business is much more complex than chess and therefore it is easy to get lost along the way.
Add into the mix confounding factors such as health and safety legislation and employee health and suddenly you are lost at sea, or up the creek without a paddle.
Your health strategy allows a structured approach to achieving your goals.
Just as in chess, you need to assess your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, while looking after the health of your workforce.
The health Check Mate in business is the industrial injury, the employee with noise induced hearing loss or occupational dermatitis, quickly followed by the claim for a sizeable compensation pay-out.
Dr William Freeland is medical director of medical services at International SOS/Abermed
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