How to create a strong culture

With an understanding of the three aspects of culture, you can now work on building a strong safety and health culture for your organization.

Topics Covered:

• Assess your culture
• Understand your people
• Map your systems

Assess Your Culture

Understand Your People

A strong culture requires buy-in from every level of the organization. Highlighted in the guide’s introduction, the levels include those within your organization (board, leadership, staff, and volunteers) and those served by your organization (clients, participants, or members). As you work to understand the people and levels of your nonprofit, consider formal networks defined by organizational structures and clear lines of authority, as well as informal, social networks that connect people to each other through friendship, kinship, or some other relationship.

As you think about your nonprofit’s people, name who holds the role of overseeing safety. Larger organizations may have a specific safety staff person, while smaller organizations often do not. For smaller organizations, having a senior staff person or board member oversee safety as a clear part of their responsibilities is helpful. As new people join the organization, an orientation process for staff and volunteers that includes a review of safety and health topics goes a long way to instill a strong sense of culture within your team.

Map Your Systems

A nonprofit has several levers (tools, policies, plans, etc.) in place to assist in creating a strong safety and health culture. Use the provided System Map worksheet to note which tools your organization currently has and how safety and health shows up within the tool. In addition to mapping your organization’s systems, take the time to survey the leadership and staff to gain important insights about safety and health in your nonprofit. Use the Safety and Health Leadership and Staff Survey to help assess how systems and practices are actually working.