Imagine working every day under the shadow of an impending crisis, where the very procedures meant to protect you feel more like a threat. This is the reality for many frontline workers in high-risk industries.
Over 20 years of helping organizations enhance their procedures and human performance programs, I thought I had heard it all. But one conversation stood out: a frontline worker described their procedures as the ‘Sword of Damocles.’ This powerful metaphor encapsulated how they felt—constantly aware of the threat that inadequate procedures posed to their safety.
"Our procedures are the Sword of Damocles"
I'll admit, my knowledge of classical Greek era history is shamefully weak. So that night from the hotel, Wikipedia enlightened me of this Greek anecdote. In the story of the Sword of Damocles, a man named Damocles praises the king for his power and wealth. To teach him a lesson, the king lets him sit on the throne for a day. But as Damocles enjoys the royal perks, he notices a sword hanging above him by a single hair—an unsettling reminder that great power also comes with great risk.
It dawned on me that this guy was not only well versed in this cautionary tale, but he was also illustrating that the front line views the organization's procedures as a terror looming above them, frailly suspended above their heads. The front line felt the procedures incorrect and incomplete. Yet failure to follow them could result in disciplinary action from management. A no win situation for the front line.
Management's perspective was "we have procedures, and our workers follow them. If the procedures are wrong, they'll tell us. We have a good track record of performance in operations."
The front line had given feedback in the past to update and improve the procedures, upon which management hadn't acted. Frustrated and defeated, workers settled into operating the best they know how.
While frontline workers saw procedures as a looming threat, management believed their systems are effective and followed without issue. This disconnect led to a culture of fear and mistrust.
As good as these operators were, operational success each day came from individual decision making on complex conditions in the moment. This all hinged on fallible human beings susceptible to invisible error-likely forces such as:
- time pressure
- fatigue
- distraction
- and cognitive overload
Using correct, complete, contextual procedures would have mitigated much of these risks, relieved these front liners of the fear of punishment, and management would have predictable operational performance because operators are using a robust human factored system for guiding work. Yet their procedures could not live up to this ideal.
Over a one-year focused initiative, we sheathed the Sword of Damocles by implementing:
- Human Factored Procedure Standards: procedure writer training on proven practices, with software to enable consistent high quality content
- Robust Procedure Governance: a formal lifecycle for developing and reviewing procedures
- Frontline Ownership: workers engaged in the creation and revision of procedures to ensure accuracy and trust
- Change Management: strategies that help teams adapt to new procedures effectively
The hair holding the sword of Damocles was the lack of formality in their procedure program; a common organizational blind spot that can result in inconsistent performance and feed a culture of mistrust between front line and management. This becomes more dangerous with each passing day. But with the right enablers of people, process, and technology, a culture of trust can grow!
Do your frontline workers trust that your procedures are accurate and useful, or do they see them merely as tools for enforcement?
Is management focused solely on past performance, or do they prioritize a robust governance framework that supports ongoing human performance?
Just as this tale is ancient Greek history, so too can be the organizational pain felt from a growing divide between management and front line - through smart implementation of a human factored procedure program. If you’re ready to bridge the gap between management and front line, let’s talk about how a human-factored procedure program can transform your organization.
