Mistakes are a part of life, but how you choose to respond to them in your business can greatly impact your culture and your ability to foster true accountability.
When a crew member damages a property or bids a job wrong, you might feel you have to respond in a disciplinary manner to set the tone, possibly deducting from their wages the cost of their mistake. However, this form of accountability creates a culture of fear within your organization.
Why Punishing Mistakes Backfires
When you choose to punish your team for mistakes, they will be more likely to hide them, lie or shift the blame to others.
One possible example is if a crew member accidentally prunes the wrong shrub on a client’s property. Instead of informing you so you can proactively inform the client, they stay silent and hope no one catches it. When the client notices, they call furious, and now the issue has escalated and possibly hurt your reputation.
If your team is constantly fearful of repercussions, they are less likely to have open communication, be willing to be innovative, or try to grow. Problem-solving is key in the landscape industry and the last thing you want is for your team members to be too afraid to step up and suggest a solution.
Also, newer employees will be reluctant to move into new roles if they know any missteps will be met with strict consequences.
Over time, always responding to errors harshly will erode your team’s morale and sense of psychological safety. Staff members will either disengage or leave the company entirely. Working under punitive leadership can quickly drive away key talent as employees want to work for supportive owners.
Choosing to chastise employees instead of delving into why a mistake happened in the first place can result in similar oversights happening again on future projects.
Building Real Accountability
The desire for accountability isn’t bad, but how you go about achieving it is critical. Fostering true accountability requires creating a safe space for your team members to share their missteps.
Reinforce that these mistakes are learning opportunities, not the cause for a reprimand. For example, you want employees to feel comfortable bringing up any close call incidents so you can identify the root cause as well as any patterns.
Leading with curiosity instead of criticism will help you uncover what led to a mistake happening. One-off errors can help you identify gaps like unclear standards, rushed training or missing SOPs.
As a leader, you have to own your contributions to that employee’s failure. Were they provided all the training, tools, support and realistic timelines in order to be successful? You can’t expect employees to deliver if they don’t fully understand their roles and responsibilities.
Once you have ensured your staff has all the necessary tools for success, then you can expect team members to take ownership and accept responsibility for when things go wrong.
Celebrate those who speak up and work to resolve things after a mistake has occurred. The most important thing is learning how to do better moving forward.
