Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley sits down with Client Technology Coordinator Brenda Khalil to discuss how to get started digitalizing an organization’s risk management program.

Show Notes: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to Rancho Mesa's Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Alyssa Burley⁠⁠⁠⁠

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Brenda Khalil⁠⁠

Editor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Megan Lockhart

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

© Copyright 2024. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved

Transcript

Alyssa Burley: Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa's Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa news, brought to you by our Safety and Risk Management Network, StudioOne™.

Welcome back everyone, my guest is Brenda Khalil, Client Technology Coordinator with Rancho Mesa. Today, we’re going to discuss how to get started digitalizing an organization’s risk management program.

Brenda, welcome to the show.

Brenda Khalil: Thanks Alyssa, happy to be here!

AB: Imagine you are working in a highly productive organization. Over many years of trial and error, the team has streamlined their operations to the point of a well-oiled machine using good ol’ paper and spreadsheets. Then, your insurance broker offers a digital risk management solution and you are faced with the prospect of transitioning your manual process to a digital platform. This is the scenario that many Rancho Mesa clients have faced and successfully overcome.

Now, mobile applications have become an integral part of daily life by streamlining everything from banking to finding a ride in a city. And, manual tasks can now be completed easily from a mobile device.

So, Brenda, why haven’t most businesses implemented this mobile technology into their daily operations?

BK: That’s a great question. And, there are a few reasons.

They may not have the support they need to help them plan the transition, and honestly, they often don’t know where to start. Sometimes, the change can be overwhelming.

AB: So, let’s address the planning and support required to transition a manual process to a digital platform. What do you recommend?

BK: Well, transitioning a manual process, like the administration and documentation of toolbox talks, safety trainings, jobsite inspections, and other risk management activities to a digital platform does not have to be a daunting task, though it may seem that way at first.

With proper planning and support from those who have helped others digitalize their manual processes, you can significantly increase the chances for success.

Utilize resources like Rancho Mesa’s client services team to provide best practices for each manual process that will be replaced by a digital platform.

AB: Absolutely. And, our client services team has guided many clients through the process of implementing the SafetyOne™ mobile app and website. So, we’ve seen how to best make the transition as seamless as possible.

And, once an organization has decided they are ready to make the move to a digital platform, they often ask how they should begin. So, what do you tell them?

BK: I typically recommend starting with digitalizing a process that has few barriers to implementation, yet will still have a significant impact on operations. 

Therefore, utilizing digital toolbox talks (like tailgate talks, safety meetings, and others) is typically the best process to tackle first.

Next, review your existing toolbox talk process and document the steps. It may be helpful to ask the following questions, such as: Who decides which topics will be used each week? Where is the content sourced? How is the topic content distributed? Who administers the toolbox talk (or tailgate talk for your safety meetings)? Where are the toolbox talks performed? How are employees tracked who participated in the toolbox talk? And, where is the documentation stored?

The answers to these questions will help you identify who will need access to the toolbox talks in the digital platform, whether through an administrative website or a mobile application.

AB: Alright, now that they’ve identified their current process and who will need access to the digital platform, what should they do next?

BK: Next, we recommend our clients identify one to three people in the organization who are excited about being an early adopter of the new technology.

They should be excited at the prospect of streamlining the manual process of getting the toolbox talk content each week, performing the safety meeting, passing around the sign-in sheet, and making sure the signed paper makes it back to the office and in the correct file cabinet.

These early adopters can be an administrator, foreman, supervisor, or safety manger, depending on who is responsible for performing portions of this task.

AB: So, why is it important to enlist a small group of early adopters and not make the change for everyone all at once?

BK: The early adopters will function as the organization’s initial testers, cheerleaders, and then coaches for the rest of the team.

So, they will test the digital process by accessing toolbox talk content and documenting the meeting attendance with both pictures and signatures from their mobile devices.

And then they will report back to their organization’s leadership on how the new process is working.

This gives the organization a chance to work with their insurance broker’s client services team to offer suggestions for minor adjustments to the new digital process.

Meanwhile, the early adopters will naturally promote the new technology to their co-workers and get others excited for the launch of the new process.

And once the new digital toolbox talk process is tested and adjusted as needed, it is ready to be released to the rest of the organization. There will be a learning curve, of course, but the early adopters will be familiar with how the streamlined digital process works and will act as informal coaches for new users of the platform. 

AB: Yeah and we’ve have seen this scenario play out over and over, and it really is the best way to get the most buy-in from those in the organization.

So, what are the benefits of changing an internal process like the toolbox talks from a paper system to a digital platform?

BK: So, changing a well-established process can cause some people within the organization to question why is the change is needed in the first place.

So, we recommend just being prepared to explain the reasoning behind the transition.

Explain the benefits that will be felt by both the employee and the organization.

Employees will spend less time on paperwork, so they can get back to their other job responsibilities.

And, no longer will a supervisor have to worry about where the sign-in sheet went from yesterday’s safety meeting. All the documentation is digitally uploaded to the cloud and instantly accessible to those who need it.

The organization can ensure compliance with the OSHA safety meeting requirements and eliminate lost paperwork.

No longer do organizations need file folders full of sign-in sheets with, unfortunately, illegible signatures.

Digital records are easily accessible and filtered by date, project, topic, etc. in order to streamline the process of retrieving data.

All of these things save time, effort, and increases compliance, which ultimately translates to reduced costs. Who wouldn’t want that?

AB: Exactly. And Brenda, if listeners have questions about how they can digitalize their safety program, what’s the best way to get in touch with you?

 BK: Clients can contact me at bkhalil@ranchomesa.com or they can call me directly at (619) 486-6562 and we’ll talk about the SafetyOne platform. Or, they can always sign up for our SafetyOne webinars that walk them through its capabilities and how to set it up.

AB: All right, and we'll include a link to the webinars in the episode notes.

Brenda, thank you for joining me in StudioOne.

BK: Thanks for having me!                                                                                                

AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning in to our latest episode produced by StudioOne. For more information, visit us at RanchoMesa .com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.