We talk a lot about attitude, attendance, appearance, ambition, accountability, acceptance, and appreciation here at The A Game. And there’s a good reason for that: those are the fundamental values that form work ethic. And while work ethic is a necessary condition for success in the workplace, it alone cannot guarantee you much more than opportunity. Skills, connections, leadership, and even luck all play roles in success, and there are a multitude of great resources out there to discuss those issues.
But one of the most commonly overlooked workplace requirements in all of this is safety. And that’s not really a surprise. You can speak and train endlessly to improve leadership. It’s an in-demand skill that’s hard to find and takes years to properly develop. But safety is a bit dry. It’s deceptively simple. And it’s all-to-easy to think that you’re doing it right. And that seems to be the view from the C-Suite, all the way to the store level.
And with the view that pervasive in management, the natural teenage tendency to move the opposite direction of authority, safety, prudence, and procedure only makes the problem worse. So, if you’re addressing teens about the issue, you’ve got to hit them where it counts.
Right where it counts.
That’s probably a large part of why workplace accidents are a major problem for employers of teenagers. The statistics are damning – it’s a major problem that no doubt costs businesses buku bucks. And that’s why the Texas Mutual Insurance Company decided to put together a campaign called One Wrong Move to talk to young employees about their safety at work.
You can find the website for the campaign at http://www.onewrongmove.org/index.html
I encourage you to take a look at the site. It’s a great example of ways to reach teens when you’re talking about an important subject that doesn’t have the sex appeal of Facebook or video games.
When you look at the posters and ads, pay attention to the way that the campaign uses real-life examples that will matter to teens. Rather than focusing on time lost at work or the costs to the company, the campaign focuses on the time away from work that will be affected by a bad decision at work. Whether it’s having makeup done embarrassingly or missing play time at sports, the consequences the campaign discusses are painful and very real for a young person.
Additionally, the campaign has a great aesthetic feel to it and it attacks via multiple media, with an online quiz, posters, billboards, a movie theater advertisement, and a radio spot. These are all elements we paid close attention to in creating The A Game’s certification and curriculum materials, so I know how difficult it can be to go through the process of creating a product that speaks to teens in their language and still communicates important messages.
One thing I’d like to see that I don’t see is an element that incorporates text messaging and a little bit more social media (the primary means via which teens communicate), but it’s overall a very well thought out and executed campaign aimed at reaching teenagers. So, whether you’re looking for some inspiration when it comes to reaching teens, or if you need to talk to some of your young employees about safety, or both, take a look at the One Wrong Move campaign.
TJ Wihera is the Director of Development for the Bring Your A Game to Work Initiative. Contact him via e-mail, or check out www.theagame.com. The A Game helps youth learn that work isn’t a bad thing so that they can lay the foundations of great careers.
