Everyone makes mistakes. As long as humans are involved, mistakes are a part of life. Yes, we should try to minimize them, but the fact remains that someday, someone, will make a mistake.
You have a super employee, conscientious, reliable, terrific on customer service. But one day, he makes a costly mistake. A big mistake. A mistake that makes a dent in your operations. He's mortified by his error, sincerely repentant and feeling awful. But you're torn. Intellectually, you realize that it's a one-time error by this stellar staffer that he'll never repeat, but the reality is that this mistake hurts.
How do you forgive and let this go? Try this exercise:
- Honestly review all the mistakes you yourself have made (you know you have — admit it!) and the cost of those mistakes
- How did you feel when you realized your mistake? Remorseful? Embarrassed? Ashamed? Guilty? Stupid? Afraid?
- Did self-recriminations make you feel any better and did they rectify the situation?
- Did you learn anything from your own mistakes?
- Have you repeated those same errors?
- Have you become a better businessperson by virtue of learning from mistakes?
- How do you feel when someone reminds you of your past mistakes? Does it resurrect that initial feeling of remorse and regret and leave you paralyzed in the past?
Now answer those questions using your employee's name, not your own. Can you empathize with what this employee is experiencing? Does that empathy mitigate your need to blame?
Holding your employee hostage to blame does not repair the mistake; it ruins your relationship with him — and maybe even with the rest of your staff who will be looking to see what punishment is served up.
An angry confrontation (whether public or private) with possibly even a suspension or termination, tells your staff to hide their mistakes to avoid a similar punishment. Do you really want your staff covering up errors that should be fixed? Hidden mistakes frequently lead to bigger mistakes that are covered up. Unresolved errors can lead to your company’s downfall.
Take your employee aside. Reassure him that while this mistake was a costly one, he is nevertheless a valued employee. Ask him how the mistake happened — carelessness? Shortcutting protocol? A loophole in procedure? Making assumptions? Fatigue?
Get to the bottom of how this occurred.
Collaborate on identifying and resolving the underlying cause of the error. Ask how he intends to learn from this to avoid repeating this mistake. If your ego is strong enough not to worry about appearing weak in front of your staff (that’s another article), share one of your old mistakes, how you resolved it and improved your business acumen in the process.
When you approach this experience as a valuable learning opportunity for you and staff instead of a punitive failure, the outcome is a more dedicated employee bent on improvement, a healthier relationship between you and your staff, and you've earned more respect as an effective leader.
