How to Keep The Engagement High Despite Mistakes

How to Keep The Engagement High Despite Mistakes

Having a highly engaged team sounds doable when everything is going according to plan. What happens when mistakes and errors occur? This is when the team closely observes what the boss does. In Japan the usual practice is for the boss to get angry and scold the miscreant. If you want to see motivation and engagement plummet just keep that up. A better method is to hold your judgment until you have some facts to work with.

Be careful of those bearing bad news. They are sometimes giving you a version which suits them, rather than shining any light on what really hapopened. Once we have a clear picture, then we can speak with the person who is responsible. Normally the person making the mistake knows they have made an error and are sorry about it. Their confidence however will have been affected, so we need to get them back in the game and ready to play to their full potential.

This means we should be asking them what they think we can do about this pesky issue that has arisen. By involving them in the solution we get them back in control and it is more likely they will recover their confidence sooner.

If they deny all wrong doing, we should double check what we believe. If it is still the case that they are responsible, we need to make this perfectly clear to them. We need them to face the facts. If they do, then we can start working on how to fix the issue and we have them taking the lead on how to do that.

If they continue to deny responsibility and do not want to be accountable, then we need to have a different discussion about their long term prospects with the organisation.

The key to helping someone come to grips with their error is to not play the man but to play the ball. This means we are being objective, taking the emotion out, concentrating on the facts and not the personality of the individual. We need to separate the person from the problem. The mistake is the problem not the individual. They can fix it and we need to help them do just that.

If we start blaming them as a person their confidence will be shattered and they will not be able to perform at the level we need going forward. Giving the person a piece of our mind may make us feel good, but the whole team's engagement goes down. They see how this person is treated and expect they will get the same treatment if they make a mistake. In Japan, what is the usual formula for not making mistakes? Do nothing! What happened to the idea of innovation and progress. Obviouly if we ask people to try new things then mistakes will happen. The way we treat those mistakes has a big impact on the team's interest in innovating and trying new ideas. Engaged staff are innovators. Innovation is a messy process and problems will arise. We have to be ready for that and we have to be very careful how we handle mistakes.

Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at [email protected]

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About The Author

Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan

In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.

A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, "THE Sales Japan series", THE Presentations Japan Series", he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.

Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.