Company: DHL, Westerville, OH
Nomination Submitted by: Fahlgren Mortine
Company Description: DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Internal Communications - 100 or More Employees
 Nomination Title: Step Up for Safety Elevates its Message in Year Two
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated PR campaign or program, or written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- Optional: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 55 words used.
[REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
December 2022
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted industries across the globe – none more than the supply chain industry. DHL Supply Chain, the world’s largest third-party logistics provider, adjusted daily procedures to prioritize associate health and ensure life-saving supplies were delivered on time.
After the pandemic, leaders realized the meaning of “safety” had changed. Important safety behaviors had been abandoned and were now just one more thing on their exhaustive to-do lists. This opened DHL to serious risk. It survived COVID, but if it didn’t do something to reinfuse meaningful safety behaviors, business would suffer. People would get hurt. Something needed to change.
In response, DHL launched its Step Up for Safety campaign and outlined its objectives:
- Make safety present in every interaction throughout each associate’s day.
- Reinvigorate the safety conversation; create a feeling of accountability and ownership.
- Celebrate proactive safety behaviors versus lagging indicators.
- Create a program where everyone can participate, regardless of region or site size.
- Engage all levels of the organization.
Some initial results from year one:
- 250+% spike in behavior-based safety conversations in January – June 2023 (compared to January – May 2022)
- More than 20% of all intranet commentary featured positive conversations using #stepupforsafety
- Campaign posts were in the top 10 of most engaged posts for the year
To ensure continued interest in Step Up for Safety in year two, the team integrated additional objectives to drive engagement:
- Incorporate campaign pillars more directly
- Maintain high interest and participation among most engaged sites
- Continue to encourage participation at sites
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
The Marketing and Engagement team obtained corporate health and safety data for all sites across North America and referenced Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) data to understand associate attitudes surrounding safety.
Findings included:
- Engagement varied by site. There was no consistent approach to safety.
- Supervisors lacked the skills to communicate about safety effectively.
- Safety conversations were reactive. They only occurred after an issue took place and were disciplinary in nature.
- Safety was often a topic discussed during pre-shift meetings, but without excitement or energy.
- Achieving continuity and message retention after a launch would be difficult with a 62% turnover rate.
These findings informed the strategic framework and messaging focused on personalizing safety, encouraging more open and positive dialogue.
Four Key Message Pillars:
- When you do your part, everyone benefits.
- It’s not about statistics. It’s about people.
- Safe actions at work make a real difference.
- Our commitment to safety is unwavering.
[REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2023. Even if your initiative started before 2023, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2023 only (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Pre-Relaunch
- Developed Safety Game Day video series, playing off College Football Game Day. The first video featured [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION] and VP of Operations Excellence at DHL announcing the relaunch, the four site visits [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION] would make to top performing locations and results from year one.
- Shared refreshed resources, including new campaign signage and posters, success stories, new prizes and ways to better engage drivers specifically.
Launch
- Encouraged relaunch parties at each site.
- Launched leaderboard via Safety Game Day video so sites could track performance.
Ongoing Efforts
- Refreshed recognition program rewarding proactive safety behaviors; recognition came in the form of pins and recognition cards; pins could be collected and then turned in for prizes; prizes ranged from backpacks, hats and shirts to custom Nikes.
- Associates continued to post their recognition cards on the “Graffiti” walls within each site, to gain recognition for proactive safety behaviors.
- Four additional Safety Game Day videos shared.
Results
- More than 69,000 items were ordered from both individuals and the sites through the #StepUpforSafety Rewards and Recognition Program.
- Sites hosted events for the campaign's relaunch.
- From April - August 2024, 191 sites reordered Step Up for Safety swag.
- At relaunch in April, Step Up for Safety articles surpassed previous benchmark by 55%
More impressive were the additional business impacts
- Hazard and near-miss reporting increased by 174.43% and 153.46% respectively when you compare Jan-Aug 2023 to Jan-Aug 2024
- Lost time injury frequency (LTIFR) and recordable/Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) rates continue to improve month over month
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