Feedback could be the greatest gift you can give another person. It all depends on your approach and how the other person receives your gift. When done right, feedback builds trust, inspires growth, enhances improvement, and makes the person know and feel you truly care about them.

The intent of the person giving the feedback is so vital. Your intent should be to reinforce, uplift, and guide the person. The person receiving the feedback should feel like the person giving the feedback has good intentions and cares about them. Stating your intent to a person makes it very clear.

Feedback is often thought to be purely about correcting mistakes. Applying this to usual workplace safety, it equates to stopping people who violate safety regulations, correcting, writing up, suspending, and possibly termination employment. If you want superior performance, most of your feedback must be about encouraging safe work behaviors, creating engagement, supporting employees, and thanking them when they are working the right way. This is known as positive feedback, which is the most effective way to influence the habits we desire.

• Timely – Act quickly and do not delay giving feedback. If your intent is to demonstrate that you care, it is best you deliver feedback immediately. If it is not safe to do so, deliver the feedback as soon as it is safe. Giving feedback about one’s safety a day or more later tells them you do not really care about them.

• Focus on What You See – Focus on what you observe and avoid all assumptions. Let’s take the example of a person not wearing their seatbelt while operating equipment. That is a fact, the reason they are not wearing it would be a pure assumption, unless you ask them why.

• Balanced Delivery – Share your feedback constructively and concisely. Your body language and tone are more important than what you say. Keep your arms unfolded and do not become emotional. People will absorb and reflect your energy. Be it positive or negative. When you deliver corrective feedback, first seek to understand and ask why they are doing what they are doing. Then share what you would like the person to do. You may say “a better way to improve your safety is x, what do you think?” Listen to what they think and do not interrupt.

• Be Specific – Avoid vague phrases like “great job” or “that didn’t go well”. Words like always or never tend to. Feel exaggerated and can trigger defensiveness. Reinforce the exact behaviors or outcomes you desire. For example, “Thank you. You did an excellent job of doing a complete 360 of your truck prior to backing up.” a person questions your feedback; you may perceive it as resistance or an argument when they are simply just trying to understand.

• Encourage Two–Way Communication – The art of giving feedback is making the conversation two way. Asking questions will make this happen. Some excellent questions include: “Based upon your experience, what do you recommend?”…”How do you feel about this approach”…”What’s a better way to do this?”…What help or resources do you need?” Always end the conversation on a positive note. Thank the person for taking the time with you.

• Follow–Up & Follow Through – If the person committed to follow your feedback, check in, observe and if they have improved, let them know you really appreciate their improvement. If they have not improved, go back to step 1, and ask the person “Did you try what we discussed?”, “Describe what happened”, “What challenges did you experience?”, “Do you have another idea or approach?’. Make sure you add all 6 ingredients discussed.

I have been asked by many people “How have you mastered providing such excellent feedback that influences people?” My answer is, “a lot of practice.” Practice helped me and will help you reach your highest potential. Making note of what worked great and what didn’t work great. Ongoing refinement and more practice. You have my 6 Key Ingredients, curated for over 30 years.

New approaches feel uncomfortable at 1st and these 6 ingredients may seem like a lot of work. I will ask you to use this approach on three separate occasions, taking 5 minutes to reflect what went well and what did not. I am 100% confident that with practice, this will feel very natural to you. Remember, bring your positive energy, body language and always end the conversation on a very positive note. This positive experience may be the only positive experience for the day.

When we walk past safe work behaviors and through safe environments without saying anything, we have missed huge opportunities. Take advantage of providing positive feedback, by pausing, asking someone how they are doing today, and complimenting them on their safe work. Providing immediate, specific positive feedback takes seconds and makes people feel so appreciated. You are recognizing them doing the right thing.

Many leaders have asked me how long I need to give people positive feedback. I ask them, “how long do you want the safe behavior to continue?” How much does this Positive Feedback cost us? Seconds of our time, to demonstrate we care enough to pause for a moment, see the person, engage, and thank them with specific appreciation. This minute or two of interaction could be the difference so the person returns home safely to the people that love them most.

Don’t tell someone you care about “drive safe.” Instead, tell them “wear your seatbelt and focus on the road.”

Be the difference. Make it a great day!

Check your Intent. Pause and focus prior. Begin the conversation so people feel you care about them.
Use the 6 Ingredients. Try it at least 3 separate times, taking 5 minutes after each to reflect and write down what worked well and what didn’t work well. Refine each time and practice to reach your highest potential
Deliver + Feedback, Daily. Challenge yourself by beginning small. One or two interactions each day. You will see the difference it makes and realize, what if I did this more each day?

Next Week, We Will Explore: How to Create Safety Engagement

If we define engagement as being focused on the task at hand. On a scale of 1 – 10 (10 being Fully Engaged), how would you rate your workplace safety engagement?

• Discover a proven method that creates immediate engagement
• Learn how to keep people engaged
• Explore how high levels of engagement leads to top performance

Make it a great day!

In 1995, my wife and I packed up and moved west in pursuit of opportunity and the dream of building a future for our family. Today, 29 years later, our twins—our greatest pride—are beginning their own journeys at rival colleges in Arizona. They are my “Why,” the driving force behind everything I do, including my passion for workplace safety and accountability.

Over the past 30 years, I’ve worked across multiple industries as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), leading efforts to create safer, more accountable work environments. From commercial insurance companies to some of the largest construction firms in the country, I’ve seen how accountability—or the lack of it—can make or break an organization. In 2012, my partners and I founded a safety consulting firm, built from scratch, with a shared mission to improve workplace safety.

Through it all, one thing has remained clear: a culture of accountability is the bedrock of highly successful businesses. But it’s not just about policies and procedures—it’s about engaging and empowering people to take ownership of their work and safety. It’s about showing that you genuinely care about your people. In this blog series, I’ll explore how leaders can foster this culture and, in turn, create engaged, safer, and more resilient organizations.

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