What You Should Do When An Employee Makes a Mistake

One of your employees went over a deadline to get a report on a crucial client. Correcting this error costs time and stress, hinders your department and hurts your organisation's reputation.

So how do you deal with the offending employee?

Better methods to address workers' mistakes

Managers need to keep in mind that employees join organisations. Still, they quit managers, especially if they had a bad experience with a manager that demoralises or unfairly blames their employees.

These responses are not healthy nor supportive of individual growth or organisational improvement. These are the steps for a better answer to an employee mistake:

1. Don't assume. 

When you quickly blame an employee, there's a high chance you're blaming the wrong person. Managers need to start with a more diplomatic conversation and focus on the team than an individual such as saying "What could we have done differently to achieve better results?". This approach is more helpful than "What could you  have done?"

When an employee made a mistake, it's best to not assume.

2. Do your homework.

Consider factors beyond an employee's control could have caused the mistake; for instance, clients who were not communicative. Ask reflective questions, such as: 'If we did this project again, what could we do differently to change the result?'  or 'How could I have supported you and your team better?

Say that you will meet them the next day to learn their thoughts. After the meeting, the employee is likely to spend their time thinking about what could have been done differently since they will need to answer that question.

3. Don't wait for problems to get worse.

Get feedback from employee's performance, behaviours and attitude. You should also recognise your employee's efforts because many employees, generally, say they only hear from their supervisor when they did something wrong. 

Managers need to show balance when communicating with their employees. 

4. Examine the employee's track record. 

Does the employee keeps repeating the mistake, and have they learned about it? Or is it a rare mistake for the employee who is usually careful?

5. Do consider motivation. 

Some mistakes happen because an employee takes a risk by trying something new. You don't want to discourage reasonable risk-taking. You should acknowledge the employee's initiative but then explain why, in this case, their judgment or execution was wrong.

Don't show your bias towards your employee.

6. Don't show your biases. 

There can be unconscious bias in how a manager reacts to a mistake depending on the nationality, sex or race of an employee—for instance, resolving to racial stereotypes when an employee made a mistake.

7. Do watch your language. 

When discussing a mistake with an employee, it's essential to start the conversation by showing appreciation. Say something positive about the employee that relates to performance, behaviour or attitude. You should not insert 'but' or 'however' because that negates the positive comment.

Managers should lead with curiosity. For example, a manager should know that if they say something like "I'm confused, please help me understand this", it's not a sign of weakness. In reality, their employees will respond better because the manager expresses vulnerability. 

When you ask questions, you encourage learning and growth. But when you criticise, you trigger a combination of defensiveness and dejection. 

Managers should start focusing on what the employee did wrong, not the employee as a person. Do not say "You did not try" or "You did not work hard enough."

A manager can be positive but still clear on consequences. For instance, "I want you to succeed, so I want to be clear: If this kind of mistake were to happen again, I'm afraid your employment with us would not continue.' "

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Source: SHRM

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