Episode Details

In this episode of Leading and Learning Through Safety, Dr. Mark French explores how the tasks leaders assign can influence employee engagement, leadership credibility, and the effectiveness of workplace safety programs.

Drawing from research published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, the episode examines the concept of “illegitimate tasks”—work employees perceive as either unnecessary or unreasonable. Unnecessary tasks are activities that seemingly should not need to be performed at all, while unreasonable tasks are perceived as falling outside the legitimate responsibilities of an employee’s role.

This distinction has important implications for safety. Safety activities such as audits, inspections, observations, checklists, and employee engagements should have a clear purpose. When organizations establish quotas simply to generate metrics, but fail to review the information, address identified hazards, or make meaningful improvements, employees can begin viewing those activities as meaningless exercises rather than genuine efforts to reduce risk.

The episode also examines leadership practices more broadly. Assigning unnecessary work to discourage employees from seeking a leader’s time may solve an immediate inconvenience, but it can damage communication and eliminate opportunities for coaching and valuable feedback.

Effective leaders should be able to explain why work is both reasonable and necessary. Safety processes are most effective when employees understand how their efforts contribute to protecting themselves and others. The challenge for leaders is therefore not simply to assign tasks or achieve green metrics, but to ensure the work behind those metrics creates genuine value.

Ultimately, meaningful safety work requires active leadership, communication, follow-through, and purpose.