The Impact of Leader Standard Work

Posted on 02/15/2022 by CATALYSIS

On a recent afternoon, Peter Mariahazy, Chief Administrative Office for Catalysis’ and the host of our podcast, The Lens, had the opportunity to sit down with Trevor Hall, Vice President of Human Resources, Communications, Continuous Improvement and Appeals at Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board to discuss the value of leader standard work, specifically the impact of leader standard work when starting a new role. Below are excerpts from their discussion:

Peter Mariahazy: How did the experience of you starting your current role with leader standard work compare to previous experiences in starting a new role

Trevor Hall: So probably similar to many others, my past experiences coming into a new role have been both exciting but a bit unnerving. There are just so many things that you just don’t know. The routines, the things you need to be successful in the role and sometimes you have to learn those things from scratch. But this time I did have leader standard work established. Did have some familiarity with that standard work because I reported to the person that had been using it at that time and certainly it was a very positive experience for me because that leader standard work being identified gave me a starting point to work from. I worked through a process of figuring out what it took from him and now me to be successful in that role and started from that point and refined it forward as I learned some things that were unique perhaps to myself or some of the evolving nature of what was needed of me.

Peter Mariahazy: Did you have some reservations or concerns about starting in this new role but using leader standard work developed by someone else?

Trevor Hall: Probably like anyone coming into a new role there is a little reservation, but coming into this new role and having the experience of working alongside the person who developed it in the past, I knew that that individual had been experimenting along the way… It certainly did give me some confidence coming into the new role, I knew that it was something that tried and tested and I improved upon it. It wasn’t static and was current as far as what the needs were. There is always some apprehension on how this is going to work for me but again jumped into it.

It gave me some confidence in coming into the new role, but it also helped minimize the disruption to of those that I was going to be working with. They saw a little bit of predictability in what they were used to, while also seeing a leader who was attentive to working with them and identifying some changes I could do in my standard work that would be beneficial to them as well as myself.

Peter Mariahazy: What have you learned by using leader standard work?

Trevor Hall: Certainly one of the key learnings for me is taking additional time for reflection. To see, how is it working, what is the impact of what I am doing? Are there things I should do differently, things I should do better? I’m learning that there is always a process of relooking at things. Seeing if there is a different way to invest my time…It really again for me is just having some clarity of is this the best way that I can do my role as I know today. It’s constantly evolving those processes knowing that I’ve never reached perfection. Knowing that there’s always something to do differently.”

To hear more details about Trevor’s experience coming into a role with established leader standard work, and also his learnings, subscribe to our podcast and check out the recent podcast episode.