How asking the 'why' question can improve your fleet performance

A Q&A with NZI Fleet Risk Manager, Mike Radford

Mike Radford believes in finding the “why” in all areas of life – from “why did the team score that try?” to “why did that accident happen?” As an NZI Fleet Risk Manager, it’s a technique Radford has used extensively through his working life to help himself, and the people he’s working with, understand the bigger picture.  

What are you interested in outside of work?

Sport is my main passion, from coaching and watching rugby, to snowboarding and mountain biking or getting out on the water in my boat. I’m also a huge motorsport fan. I love high performing teams, and that applies to business as well.

How did you get into road safety?

I started in the trade as a diesel mechanic in the agricultural sector in Silverdale, just outside of Auckland, then had my own business doing auto electrical. In 2005, my wife and I headed overseas on an OE, firstly to Whistler in Canada and then on to Europe. When we came back, I started work with an assessment company and did that for 10 years before joining IAG six years ago. I’ve moved up from commercial vehicle assessing, to being a technical specialist managing a team of 13, to becoming a Fleet Risk Manager.

Does your mechanical experience help?

Absolutely. I’ve always enjoyed tinkering with engines and have found the technical knowledge developed in my earlier years has made it much easier to connect the dots between insurance and risk management, and how we can support commercial fleets.

How would you describe your role?

My role is about listening to clients’ needs and seeing how we can come up with something that will make their lives easier or better. At the end of the day, I simply want drivers to get home safely.

How does the “why” approach help with your work?

One of my biggest passions is coaching community rugby. I teach scrum techniques and get players to understand the “why.”  Not the how or the what. The same logic works with clients. If they can understand the “why” – the cause and effect behind their trucks crashing – then the right training and tools can often be quite easy to implement. For example, if the “why” is fatigue, then we can put Guardian cameras in the cabs to alert safety managers and wake drivers when they are feeling the effects. We can also run stress and fatigue seminars to help educate drivers and help them identify the tell-tale signs.

Does everyone need to know their “why”?

I think so. It’s important for everyone to know what their role is in a business and what they are all working towards as a team. I remember being told a story where the US President went to a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral and saw a janitor standing there with a mop in his hand. The President asked him what he did. The janitor replied, “I’m part of the team who puts rockets into space.” So, the entire team, not just the astronauts understood the “why.”