You've done it this time

If an employee or work colleague makes a significant mistake at work then counting to 10 or advising the colleague to count to 10 can help businesses and Prime Ministers alike.

Despite headlines generated by MP John Tamihere's negative comments about other Labour Party members in Investigate magazine, Prime Minister Helen Clark says little is to be gained by over-reacting to a colleague's mistake.

"I tend to look for the best in people and a mistake has to be fairly big for someone to be lost over it. Of course, that approach can be hard to maintain in a high-profile job when everyone is baying for blood," says Clark.

Clark's handling of Tamihere's mistake, including her suggestion that he "breathe deep" over his proposed resignation, exemplifies a no-blame approach to people-management that bears further analysis, say employers and management communication experts.

"In that incident, Helen Clark displayed an understanding that human beings are not robots and don't always make good decisions. She handled what was probably a personally hurtful situation well. It was professionally handled," says corporate communications trainer Clare Kelso.

Alistair Dickey, general manager for construction and building products firm Hilti, says he wouldn't have fired Tamihere.

"But I would have brought him in and asked him why he had those beliefs about his own organisation. An employee can develop wonderfully but then outgrow a company," says Dickey.

Dickey, whose organisation has grown 25 per cent a year in the past five years, says a no-blame management approach works only when it is a subset of a wider, value-driven business culture.

He likens this to a bus with the "right people in the right seats" and company culture, rather than senior management, in the driver's seat.

"One of our values is courage and courage allows people to make mistakes and own them. A no-blame culture never works if it is used on its own - it has to be a subset of the overall organisational culture and it has to come from the top," he says.

Kelso says talk of no-blame workplaces and work culture is timely because New Zealand organisations tend to have a blame culture.

"Organisations like OSH try to force people to be responsible through legislation rather than accept they will act responsibly anyway. That scares a lot of people, who then don't accept responsibility when they make a mistake because they worry they will be in [legal] trouble," she says.

Ownership of mistakes is important, according to employers, because if an employee won't accept responsibility for a mistake, then no-blame management can't be successfully applied.

"Often, the person who causes the mistake is the one who feels the worst about it. So you don't hang the employee out to dry. Positive action can be taken to turn the situation around.

"I would be tougher on someone who didn't acknowledge their mistakes when everyone else knew they were responsible," says Karyn Arkell, executive director for public relations firm Consultus.

Kelso says the answer is to set up a "no fault" reporting system, where mistakes are owned and no blame is apportioned, but the owner of the mistake must still take responsibility for fixing it.

"So if I upset a client I must say it was me that upset them and then do something about it. There should be no consequences for me as long as I have taken responsibility.

Clearly, taking personal responsibility for mistakes is important in a no-blame management culture.

But what if the person who stuffed up is unrepentant, defensive or only grudgingly sorry?

Again, Tamihere comes to mind. "If you want people who are just going to roll over and say things that people want to hear and then do other things, that ain't me, forget it. I'm not in this business to express no views," Tamihere told the Herald last week.

However, while Kelso believes Tamihere has been slow to take responsibility for his mistake, Clark says it isn't wise to place employees or colleagues under permanent mistake watch.

"Some people might need some help for a while. But you do have to draw a line under it."

Surely, though, there is a limit? Doesn't the presence or absence of a "no-blame" approach depend on the severity of the mistake? Clark admits some mistakes can go too far.

"There have been several occasions where I have said yes, that is a step too far and people have had to take time out. One example is a colleague who was picked up on a breathalyser test."

Similarly, Dickey says some people can have their tickets permanently revoked.

"Some people get off the bus for career development reasons and we celebrate that. But we don't let people go on and on with mistakes. If you do everything you can for an employee but they keep making the same mistakes it can be a functional problem, an incompetence.

"We then go through the normal legal processes the bus has to stop and the employee does have to get off," he says.

Arkell says while it is important for an individual or team to own a mistake, that owner may not be solely at fault.

"You have to understand everything that happened around the mistake before deciding on a course of action. You would also need to look at your own processes and systems and know if they have failed," she says.

"You have to have a good understanding of all the facts and consider the employee's overall skills and performance against the [incident]," agrees Dickey.

Dickey says Hilti hasn't had to deal with mistakes of a "serious nature" because the company pays close attention to people, processes and culture, and approaches any mistakes carefully. And the employers say a humble, kind and cautious approach to mistake-management usually pays dividends.

"If you treat someone else's mistake with humility and empathy as Helen Clark did, that person will be motivated not to make that mistake again," says Dickey.

In an election year, Clark no doubt hopes that analysis is correct.

Tips for a no-blame workplace

* When someone else makes a mistake, don't take the moral high ground - nobody's perfect.

* Don't react until you know exactly what happened, and how and why it happened. Remember that emotions run as high in workplaces as they do in homes, more so in a competitive environment.

* Guidance, training or counselling for even severe mistakes generally produces a better result than disciplinary procedures. However, illegal actions are often exempt from a no-blame approach.

* If customers, work colleagues or the public have been affected by a mistake, inform them as soon as possible of the mistake and the action you will be taking.

* If you make a mistake, don't try to cover it up no matter what your position in the organisation. Own it and take responsibility for trying to fix it.

* If an employee makes a mistake, consider whether there is anything in the communication, information technology, procedures or processes in your organisation that may have contributed to the mistake happening. Address these in partnership with the mistake owner.

* If a person makes repeated mistakes, they may be in the wrong job, or may have overstated their abilities on entry to the job. Respectfully and gently raise this possibility with them.

* Similarly, some star performers outgrow their jobs and make reckless mistakes through frustration or complacency. Respectfully suggest they consider developing their career further in another area of the business, or with another employer.

* If the respectful approach meets resistance, formal procedures may be necessary for repeated mistakes.