Dear Jobs Guru: ‘I’m so ashamed of silly mistake that value my firm a packet’
Reader Kim made a costly error at work and now fears her reputation is in tatters. Luckily our Jobs Guru James Innes is here with some advice…
We’ve all made the occasional unfortunate decision(Image: Getty Images)
I made a mistake last week that is going to cost my company several thousand pounds!
It was entirely accidental and I told my manager as soon as I realised, but I feel dreadful about it. Nobody has shouted at me and I haven’t been formally disciplined, yet somehow that’s making me even more nervous.
I’m terrified that everyone now sees me as careless or unreliable. I keep apologising and replaying what happened in my head.
What should I do now? Can one expensive mistake ruin my reputation?
Kim, Caterham
Well, first of all, stop waiting for someone to shout. You’re at work, not school, and a raised voice is hardly a reliable measure of how serious matters are.
Owning up to your mistakes is never easy(Image: Getty Images)
A mistake that costs money will concern your employer; of course it will. But your reputation will now depend at least as much on what you do next as on the original error. And I can think of a fair few politicians, not to mention celebrities, who can attest to that!
If you haven’t already done so, tell your manager the full story promptly. Don’t soften awkward details or wait to see whether the problem somehow disappears. Explain what happened, what the financial effect appears to be – and whether any of the loss can still be recovered.
Then turn your attention to preventing a repeat performance. Be honest about what caused the issue in the first place. If workload or poor procedure contributed, say so factually – but don’t use it as camouflage for your own part in the mistake.
Most decent managers know that competent people sometimes make expensive mistakes. What truly damages a reputation is hiding one, blaming somebody else or making the same mistake twice.
Top Tip:
Own the mistake, explain the facts clearly – and bring a practical remedy. A manager may forgive an error but concealment and excuses are much harder to overlook.
It’s important to keep all the evidence(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Spotlight On: Who’s to blame?
There’s often a rather revealing difference between a workplace that investigates a mistake and one that prefers to hunt for somebody to punish.
A sensible employer will want to know whether the error came from carelessness, inadequate training, a weak checking process or a workload that made mistakes almost inevitable.
That’s not the same as pretending nobody is responsible, no. It’s simply more useful than a theatrical telling-off. You should take responsibility for your part, certainly. But don’t volunteer to carry the blame for a broken system just because you were the unlucky person holding the parcel when it fell apart.
If several people could have spotted the problem and nobody did, the company has learned something important too. (Whether it chooses to learn from it is another matter…)
Get a head start in your job hunt with James’ new book, The Job You’ve Always Wanted – out now from Pearson at £16.99.
Our Jobs Guru, James Innes, is a best-selling careers author and founder of the world’s leading group of professional CV and resume writers .
