Why Leadership and Management Skills are Essential For People With Technical Backgrounds
Environmental health and safety (EHS) and occupational health professionals are known for their impeccable technical skills, but often have little formal training in management and leadership. In most science, engineering, and public health programs, coursework is already overflowing with important topics that need to be covered, and management and leadership training tend to fall by the wayside.
However, that doesn’t mean those topics aren’t important. Management and leadership skills are essential for both technical people who have been out in the working world for a while, and for those who are transitioning or would like to transition into higher-level roles.
“Leadership and management skills are critical to being successful,” says Lou DiBerardinis, co-Program Director of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Executive Education’s Management and Leadership Skills for EHS Professionals. “These are the so-called ‘soft’ or ‘human’ skills such as communication, active listening, time management, strategic planning, performance measurement, and managing programs.”
As emerging issues, including artificial intelligence and sustainability, play a increasingly big role for major organizations, leaders need to be consistently educated on these topics to provide successful leadership. By learning how to bridge the gap between environmental health and safety technical skills and leadership skills, participants can successfully lead their institution.
The Lessons of the Pandemic
Often, environmental health and safety professionals assume greater leadership roles within their organizations during unprecedented periods of crisis. This was particularly demonstrated during the beginning of the pandemic. As a result, many environmental health and safety professionals now have greater leadership roles within their organizations.
“That was the first time that a lot of people who are not environmental health and safety professionals learned that PPE, wearing masks, and ventilation was important, and needed to be able to understand that to lead and manage to develop those programs,” DiBerardinis shared.
Since then, leaders who have both technical backgrounds and leadership skills have become increasingly in demand. Whether it’s testing how to best disinfect disposable masks using radiation or organizing the collection of PPE from labs for distribution at hospitals, EHS professionals are consistently called upon to demonstrate adept leadership skills.
Through lessons of both functional leadership, a form that’s focused on effectiveness and cohesion, and transformational leadership, which is focused on creating and sustaining change, participants possess the ability to develop clear strategies and measures for the successful integration of health, safety, and the environment into the culture of an organization.
Who Needs to Further Their Knowledge?
Environmental health and safety (EHS) and occupational health professionals who are looking to move into higher roles need to be equipped with managerial and leadership skills. Whether it’s managing and motivating employees or conflict resolution and negotiation, the principles instilled in Management and Leadership Skills for EHS Professionals are looked upon favorably by hiring institutions.
DiBerardinis shares that the course, which uses lectures, small group discussions, and case studies, teaches participants “to be able to sell themselves and their program, and to be able to demonstrate that they provide value to the organization, which in turn, should help them advance their career.”
The program frequently draws health, safety, medical, and environmental professionals in the following roles:
- Industrial Hygienists
- Safety Professionals
- Radiation Health and Safety
- Biological Safety
- Environmental Management
- Occupational Medicine and Health
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health offers Management and Leadership Skills for EHS Professionals. This program provides participants with the skills needed to improve environmental health and safety performance within their organization.
