Employees are human, and mistakes will happen. But great leaders know how to minimize the damage while turning the mistake into a learning opportunity. Here’s how to respond when employees make a mistake.
Find Out What Happened
Don’t jump to conclusions. Instead, ask for more information. What was the employee doing right before the mistake occurred? Were there other people involved? Was the person distracted by something? Exactly what was the mistake? What happened next? When did the employee realize that a mistake had been made?
Check the Employee’s Response
The next step is to find out how the employee feels and thinks about the mistake. Look for signs of accountability, remorse, and an attempt to set things right. Good employees genuinely don’t want to make mistakes, and will take personal responsibility for learning and growing. If your employee seems unconcerned or tries to blame others, it may be time for coaching or even disciplinary action.
Look for Patterns
Are other workers making similar mistakes? Has this employee made a lot of recent mistakes? Finding the patterns can help you determine the root cause of the mistake and decide what to do next.
Determine if There’s a Corporate Issue
Some mistakes are not the employee’s fault at all. They might have been poorly trained. There could be a breakdown in communications. Maybe the company hasn’t provided all the needed tools and technologies for the employee to do their best work.
Evaluate and Implement Solutions
Once you have done all this detective work, you should have a good idea of what was behind the mistake. If it was simple human error, you can let it go and shift to minimizing any damage the mistake might have caused. A corporate issue means that you will need to do what you can to implement better systems, such as stronger training programs or improved communication.
If the problem seems to lie with the employee, you may need to take disciplinary steps. But be careful. Workplace discipline should be focused on helping the worker grow and learn, and should never be punitive. Often a simple conversation and coaching plan can go a long way toward helping an employee improve.
Need More Staff?
Learn how Custom Staffing can help you find and recruit the best industrial workers today.