Handling mistakes at work

In all spheres in life, we make mistakes. Is there room for forgiveness at work when mistakes happen? We mess up a great meal at a family function when we over-salt the meals. We pour water on the sofas or leave taps open only to find our homes flooded upon return. We buy the wrong shade of paint and forget to pick change from the local market. In other words, we live in a world where mistakes are a common fabric.

However, mistakes at work are among the most dreaded due to the repercussions that accompany them. Mistakes have cost people promotions, while others have had to be laid off. Some of these mistakes cost the employer great deals of revenues hence the reason why many employers will not want to be seen to be tolerating mistakes. This coupled with the presence of many perfectionist bosses only serves to make the workplace a branded mistake-free environment.

Mistakes are however not evil. Every progressive workplace should learn the art of celebrating the mistakes of its staff. Just as in day to day living, mistakes are a common indicator that learning is ongoing. Mistakes generally happen when staff are either experimenting on some concepts or are interacting with a phenomenon for the first time. This is how learning happens both for adults, just as for children. A work environment where staff make no mistakes is a cause to worry for management. It might just reflect the lack of interest in growth or discovery or could just be that staff are overcome with fear hence would rather maintain the status quo.

This is however not a ticket to go on a mistake-making spree. Mistakes are costly and learning should be evident through the experiences. When you make a mistake at work, you may want to consider the following remedial plans.

Admit your mistakes. This is one of the most difficult things to do. From the very early age, we are not socialized to accept our mistakes. This was due to the consequences of admitting wrong doing. We would rather die than admit our mistakes. Admission of mistakes is a brave and intelligent step towards appreciating the lessons accruing from the experience.

Don’t blame anyone else for your mistakes. When God asked Adam whether he had eaten of the forbidden fruit, he quickly turned the heat on Even who comfortably passed the blame to the serpent. This is human nature. We never mind finding a quick scape goat to blame for our mistakes. Senior staff would always place the blame on the juniors while the juniors blame the bosses for the mistakes. This trend leads the company to nowhere. It never shows the source of the learning curve.

Don’t stay on the floor after the fall. Falling may not be the problem, remaining on the floor is. After admitting you have made a mistake, rise from the floor and move on with life. Don’t be too harsh on yourself. Learn the lessons, develop ways of remedying the consequences of the mistake and live your life. Mistakes are lifelong experiences that we must seek to celebrate and learn from.

Juggling between work and school

The schooling wave has hit the streets. A keen observation in the evenings in the main cities and towns reveal a heightened flow of traffic from the educational institutions, an indication that Kenyans have conspired to go back to school. And they have gone back in droves. And the motivation for getting back to the classroom is as varied as the working students. As we draw towards the end of the year and the start of another, many workers are bound to make resolutions to head back to class or to complete studies abandoned mid-way through. However, as we make those great schooling considerations, it is necessary to consider a few thoughts from those who have gone through the path.
 

It is important to ask ourselves the simple ‘why’ question. Why are you considering going back to school? What is the push or what is the pull? What motivates you to become a student after those years and is the motivation internal or external? Internal motivation could be factors like a desire to become great in your area of specialization or a push to meet your well-articulated personal goals. The motivation could also be external in which you find yourself seeking to study so that you are not ‘left behind’ by your peers or seeking to impress your significant others.

Whatever the motivation, for a working adult, who may have been out of school over the last couple of years, just a reminder that schooling is no joke. It is a hard and serious engagement that requires commitment from start to end. For a working student, it is a challenge since you will have to make time either in the evenings or over the weekends to get to class and other associated engagements like the group work to complete assignments and projects. 

This means denying yourself time to relax after work or the weekends to join your family and friends for social events. This can wear out even the strongest of the persons. Having pressure at work and pressure at school in addition to the pressure at home can easily tear someone apart. Only the strong and daring consider engagements. And I hear some of you say, yeah, it’s not easy.

Being a working student is never a ticket for getting to work late or leaving early. It is rarely a consideration when job roles are worked out hence the worker needs to find mechanisms to ensure he develops a schedule with the other team members to ensure they give the best to their jobs even as they pursue their studies. Rapport with your boss and team mates is critical. Increasingly, many employers are providing for flexible working hours where such persons can report early to work and leave slightly earlier to be in time for their evening classes. This flexibility however requires great discipline since you will have slept relatively late and yet have to be among the first to report to work.

Finally, as much as it depends on you, seek to pursue your studies or your project in a line not so far removed from your daily engagements. Spreading yourself so much could be detrimental to your mental and physical health. In case you must undertake a research project, consider one along your daily work so that you won’t have to move out of your path to complete the task.

Who is looking for a job?

As Bob sat on the couch reflecting on how the year has been, his mind flew back and forth through the various interview panels he had faced over the last couple of months. In most of the cases, the job was too close yet too far as none of the highly anticipated opportunities generated into employment. He had raised his levels of faith and hope through the year only to feel disappointed when none of them turned out to be what he expected. To him, the year has been dragging its feet towards closure and is longing for the Groove Party at the end of the year to bid farewell to this year.

Apparently, talking to Bob, it sounds like he has been over confident about himself and wonders why no one seems to notice him. He is an honest young man and is committed to keeping the job he finds for as long as the employer can keep him. In spite of being a Generation Y fellow, he has made an agreement with himself that he would pursue consistency in his chosen career path and would not be as jumpy as his peers. And yet, even with this inner commitment, no job seems forthcoming.

On the flipside, as the year wore on, there are several employers who have been struggling to fill certain positions. The HR management has posted several job adverts and facilitated numerous interviews but they still don’t seem to land on their candidate of choice. The teams have even moved beyond the competitive process and considered head hunting and are still yet to land a good candidate to fill the positions. 

With these scenarios, something then must be wrong. How come there are many job seekers who like Bob, are busy seeking for employment while there are employers who can’t find appropriate candidates to hire. Where are the jobs and where are the job seekers? These are critical concerns as we draw to the close of the year. What could be some of the reasons why job seekers are not linking up with the jobs?

In certain incidences, job seekers are straightjacketed in their job search. They only wait for the adverts through the mainstream media for them to send in their applications. And with the setting in of frustration, the job seekers often find themselves applying for virtually any available position regardless of whether they are qualified for it or not. Others never want to reveal to other people that they are still seeking for jobs for fear of being laughed at. With this approach, they lose great opportunities of networking for job search. No one around them knows that they are seeking for jobs hence no job references are made to them.

Finally, as a job seeker, be like a job seeker. Job seeking is not a joke and the process should be honored. I have encountered job seekers who walk into an interview room seemingly wondering why on earth they were invited for the interview. They fail to impress the panel by not being conversant with what is expected of them should they be hired. In other cases, they behave in relatively immature ways like dressing in fancy hairs and clothing as though they were on their way to a fashion show. This leaves me wondering where the true job seekers are since some jokers are spoiling the show for genuine seekers of jobs.

‘Sibling’ Rivalry at Work

While most us will have gone through our early childhood as best of friends with our siblings, many have had to endure the rivalry that exists between children in the same family. The competition for the parents’ attention is high and the pressure to outdo the other is great. Most of the siblings would go to great heights to ensure they emerge as the favorites while their siblings end up in failure. But as much as rivalry among siblings had been considered negative, it also comes with its positive bag of goodies.

There is a replay of the home rivalry at work. While most of the competition among siblings is instigated by the kids who feel either left out or not appreciated, there are times when parents engineer such competition. At work, it is also known that many employers develop mechanisms to pit one department against another. You would have competition among two marketing teams, each with clear targets and objectives. The performance of one team is measured against the performance of the other. This is meant to encourage the teams to be creative, flexible and play ball better as a team.

When companies set you up for competition, there is little you can do since the performance of one team would always be used to explain why you should not have been unable to meet certain targets. There is no way you would say the market was harsh when your competing team is making great sales in the same environment. This is super for enhancing team commitment and play at work.

I recently overheard of a company that would produce two similar products targeted at the same market. The idea was to have the different product teams work out ways of ensuring they make inroads into the same market through different client products. This was tough. Why not produce products for different markets than make teams in the same company compete? The logic is simple. The client would be interested in the product and since clients work best with choices, give them the choice to make between product B and P, although they are not significantly different. How many brands of Yoghurt do we see teams competing to sell from the same company?

Since there is little that an employee would in most cases do to alter the strategy of the employer, it is wise to seek for ways of seeing the beauty in the beast. Seek to consolidate your team and develop strategies to win the clients over to your side. You will want to dialogue as teams to ensure you do not clash at the market place. As much as the clients may not get to know of the clash, there would the possibility of developing bad blood between the teams that could make the noble idea of team competition collapse. 

As a team player, concentrate on the product you are selling and not necessarily talking ill of your team mates’ products. In the long run, remember you are from the same parent and the umbilical cord from whence both of you get their nourishment is the same. Compete at peace.

Changing Jobs in December

Hurray. It is December. The year has been hectic and the end of every year usually brings in relief to many. It is a sort of psychological solace as the year draws to a close since employees and business people see the close of the year as a sign of the end of challenges experienced through the year. There are however those who have had a great time through this year and only look forward to greater experience in the coming year. The feelings are indeed mixed and the motivation as we close the year is as varied.

December is arguably one of the months that also serve as make or break for many. It is the month when workers seek for what they consider as greener pastures since there is usually a feeling that starting a new year on a new job is a sign of good tidings ahead. The persons who could have been jobless throughout this year may then be on the roll sending out applications and praying in all ways that they are called for interviews. On the other end, persons already engaged in various jobs are also seeking for what they consider as a well-deserved change since a change during this season could be considered as a morale booster.

With this motivation and perception, the job market is abuzz with activity. Lots of applications are being sent out against a job absorption capacity that may not accommodate everyone. Tensions rise by the day as the calendar moves on with few or no interview invites. With the level of anxiety rising as we draw closer to the festive season, staff get easily irritable as they realize their long desired opportunities are not forthcoming. 

As much as many persons are willing to leave their current places for better and more rewarding opportunities, it could be that more people are unsettled in their seats but still cling on since they have not found space elsewhere. With this, the scenario is of a workforce that is on its toes to leave yet can’t make a move due to lack of space. This leads to reduced productivity and inadequate planning for next year.

Managing staff transitions over December is a challenge for many HR practitioners. Depending on how the employer has managed the staff through the year, it would in most cases tell the behavior patterns at the close of the year. The advice is usually to ensure that HR managers better work with staff supervisors to ensure staff are treated with dignity throughout the year to be guaranteed of stable workforce in the mind throughout the seasons. 

As we experience the wave, many are normally carried away. Some people seek to change jobs for the sake of changing. They seek to change because it seems fashionable to do so. This can be counterproductive. Any job change should be well advised by positive motivations after a critical evaluation of what the next step holds. Hold on and only move when you should, when it is time to move, not because it is December.