Table of Contents
We all make mistakes, in life and at work. There’s no other way to grow and develop. What matters, of course, is what we do about our mistakes.
So what should you do when you make a mistake at work?
No employer expects you to be perfect. Every employer is looking for people who are able to learn from their mistakes and move forward rather than make their mistakes bigger and cause further problems in the workplace.
The mistake itself can be pretty much anything. Maybe you served a restaurant-goer the wrong meal. It’s not earth-shattering, as long as you handle it well. A profuse apology and immediate replacement with the correct meal should do it.
And what if you didn’t really make the mistake? Maybe you brought the customer exactly what he ordered and he decided he wanted something else and accused you of getting his order wrong.
That does happen.
You could argue with him and insist on being right
Your manager isn’t going to appreciate that and you could find yourself out of a job. When you’re fired for arguing with a customer, will it help to know you were “right” about the order?
Or you could just say, “Sorry, perhaps I heard wrong.”
You’re not even admitting to anything, but the customer is getting what he wants. And you’re keeping the customer happy and yourself employed.
Another example is getting the time of an interview wrong
Maybe the interviewer gave you the wrong time, or maybe you wrote it down wrong. This is no time to get into a power struggle. Both should say, “Ooh, sorry, maybe I got it wrong.” No harm, no foul, and another date/time is set.
It doesn’t matter if you have it on tape before 100 witnesses that the other person got it wrong. Why does it matter?
I’ve seen people hold onto that need to be right. I’ve had several people talk their way out of an interview because they were so worried about being right that they lost sight of their goal – getting a job with that organization.
I had an administrative assistant submit a document with faulty math. The difference was huge and could have cost the organization a lot of money. Fortunately, someone caught her error before it became a disaster.
All my admin, who was on probation at the time, had to say was, “I‘m so sorry! So glad you caught that. I will be much more careful going forward.” As long as it didn’t happen again she would have been fine.
Instead, she needed to keep making the point that everyone makes mistakes and it shouldn’t be that big a deal. She just kept at it.
She didn’t pass her probationary period and this failure to handle a mistake with grace and responsibility was a big part of the reason.
In positions where we are working with the public (retail, customer service, hospitality), we often see people not at their best
The same is true for healthcare and social service jobs. It is our responsibility to stay professional, courteous and respectful, regardless of what the other person is doing. (If you really don’t want to work with the public, check out 15 Jobs for People Who Don’t Like People.)
I’ve heard staff use that old adage, “Respect is earned!”
No, in the workplace that’s not true.
If you’re at work, you have to treat everyone with respect regardless of what they’re doing.
I’ve spoken with some staff members who find this impossible.
Poor behavior by customers is almost always a reflection on the customer and not the person providing the service. However, some employees feel that this is such a violation of their personhood, that they are not able to do the job.
I’ve been able to help some through this; others have had to resign.
I often ask my employees, “So what?”
“Customer A called me stupid.”
So what? We all know you’re not stupid. You’re smart enough to understand that the customer is being rude and would have been rude to whoever happened to wait on her that day. It doesn’t have anything to do with you.
If you were polite to her regardless of the way she was speaking to you, then you did a great job. This will be remembered when an opportunity for a promotion comes up.
“Client B said I stole from her.”
Did you steal from her? I didn’t think so. Client B suffers from a serious mental health challenge and says all kinds of things that are not necessarily true. If you are a decent person who would never steal from anyone, then you know it has nothing to do with you.
“But people will think that I’m a thief.”
Really? Why would they think that? If you’re an honest person, why would you think that other people would take the word of a witness who is known to be unreliable?
It’s really not complicated.
If you do the best you can, in good faith, you never, ever, have to worry about what anyone else says
If you don’t, people know it, including your colleagues and your employer, and will treat you accordingly.
When I’m trying to make this point to people, I often reference Kate (and yes, that is her real name). I ask, “What would you think if someone told you that Kate was running around the office cursing people out?”
Usually they say they wouldn’t believe it. No matter who said it. Because Kate is a person who you just know did not do that. This is based on the way Kate behaves and carries herself at work every single day. She is professional, kind, respectful and does her best. Always. She isn’t perfect, because she’s human. But when she makes a mistake she owns it and corrects it professionally. If someone else is behaving inappropriately she does not get dragged into unprofessional behavior. She continues to behave as she should, regardless of what anyone else is doing.
Kate never has to worry about what other people say. For more examples, check out How to Know if you have an Attitude Problem at Work.
On the other hand, if you’ve had incidents of inappropriate behavior at work, people won’t know what to believe. If I’ve seen you raising your voice to a customer, then what am I supposed to think when a different customer complains about you? I didn’t see it this time, but I know it is possible.
“But I’ve changed!” you say. That’s wonderful. Keep it up and you can earn back the reputation that you want and deserve.
