Do mention the 'F' word

Even in the most civilised offices the 'F word' is being given an airing by switched-on managers and people coaches, while in others it remains a dirty word. But workplace failure doesn't have to be obscene, says Jean de Bruyne, an organisational psychologist for consultants QED Services.

De Bruyne says while a traditional response might be to apportion blame or try to remove someone who has failed the organisation, today's businesses are slower to point the finger and are starting to view failure as an indication that change is needed - either within the organisation, for the individual, or both.

"A number of organisations just try to get rid of a person [who fails], because, depending on the nature of the failure, it can be costly to always give someone a second or third chance. However, individual failure is often company related, particularly if the culture of the organisation has recently changed," says de Bruyne.

She says although individual failure is perceived as negative by society and people prefer to deny or hide it; failure is normal and can be a useful wakeup call. People learn from failure if they are not 'punished' or demoralised for it.

Nicky Harrison, national HR manager for freight company DHL Express, says her organisation understands the benefits of not apportioning blame. If a blame culture is allowed to pervade an organisation, people don't feel able to stretch and make their own decisions about what is best for the customer, which is what DHL Express wants its people to have the freedom to do.

"We encourage our staff to think outside the square - inevitably there will be some failings, but it's possible to learn from these and fold that learning back in to [the job]," says Harrison.

She says workplace language is changing with 'failure' being re-badged 'developmental need' and because it is hard for people to admit they are failing, employers also benefit from creating a workplace where people feel safe to speak up.

"If the failure is severe and impacts the company, we would still look at what is behind it - the problem might be with that person's manager or that our business frameworks are not robust enough. Failure is not about ring fencing and holding one individual responsible; it's a bigger picture. We do everything we can to ensure our people understand what's expected of them by developing transparent processes and methodologies," says Harrison.

At the same time Harrison says repeated and similar failures by the same person may lead to termination warnings being issued - DHL Express makes a distinction between the types of failures that will and will not be tolerated, and tries to ensure staff know what these are.

John Wenger, director for performance consultants Quantum Shift, says failure is best viewed by employers and by those who fail as useful information rather than something to feel bad about.

"You've got this information, so what do you do with it? A traditional response might be to initiate disciplinary action that makes people feel bad, but failures often occur because there is an area in people's role development that is lacking, or has been under-developed," says Wenger.

He says most people have the ability to do the job they were hired to do, but pull out patterned responses to situations because they're used to the same ways of doing things. Others have unintentional 'blind spots' or develop a narrow vision of their own role and responsibilities which leads them to fail others.

"Today's workplaces rely on complex teams where there may be only one person in each role. This leads to challenges when people work with someone whose job they don't understand. It doesn't take a lot to encourage people to be able to see across an organisation as opposed to having a silo mentality," says Wenger.

He says if an organisation views mistakes as disasters, this inhibits people's ability to learn from them. At the same time, employers can't react to all failures with an ineffectual slap on the wrist. De Bruyne says employers are businesses not counsellors, and some people repeatedly fail because they are ill-suited to a position. If so, both employee and employer will benefit from agreeing that the failure is indicative of a mis-match.

"People often won't admit this because it can be career limiting and they worry about what friends will say or their partner will think. I tell employees they own 50 per cent of the employment relationship; if they want to stay in a role and are failing, they will need to come up to speed with the requirements of the job or communicate their problems," explains de Bruyne.

Harrison says for people to communicate failure, or imminent failure, they need to see open communication in action first - if an employee observes a peer failure being managed in a way that is appropriate, they trust they can be open about their own failures. She says employers also need to be clear about managerial accountability - if an employee's actions result in a negative impact on the business it should be addressed with the individual, but also with the manager.

"A manager's answer of 'it's nothing to do with me' is not acceptable, because one situation badly handled could set a precedent that might eventually lead to a [blame culture]," says Harrison

Wenger says when a blame culture exists someone in the organisation is always looking for a trail to a scapegoat. Turning that around requires starting at the top.

"We've noticed that a lot of organisations don't value their HR people and HR people are not [well] connected to the chain of command. We say let's look at where all the strengths are and what's working well, then where are the blind spots?" says Wenger.

He says failures require holistic analysis because the most obvious reasons are often not the real cause.


Managing failure

* When inducting new employees, don't focus on protocol that follows mistakes or failures. Instead be clear that the person's skills are valued, that the work environment is an empathetic one, and that open communication is valued and applauded.

* Don't expect or anticipate failure. Develop a culture of open communication and treat any failure as a learning opportunity - de-brief and deconstruct.

* Make sure success is also analysed and celebrated; avoid the perception that you only put failure in the spotlight.

* Be careful to 'walk the talk' of any vision statements. Employees who fail don't appreciate hypocritical lectures - they do appreciate managers who serve as role models and inspire them to improve.

* If a failure is the result of a non-workplace issue, neutrally ask: "how do you think this is affecting your work?" This gives the person a chance to reflect and the manager a chance to be supportive.

* React to failure on a case-by-case basis, but know your boundaries and be sure staff do too.

* Encourage people who repeatedly fail to take a few days to consider what they enjoy about their job, what they do well at and why they think they are failing.