2 key reasons your team members make mistakes (and how to deal with them)

accountant accounting work culture work environment Aug 20, 2020

So how do you react when one of your employees, one of your team members, in your accounting firm, makes a mistake? Do you come down on them like a ton of bricks? Or does the superior in charge, the senior, do the same with the juniors if they make a mistake? Or are you quite forgiving?

You see, in my view, a mistake only happens because of one of two things not being in place:

  1. The first is a lack of training and the second is the lack of a system. So the first one, a lack of training. A mistake can happen if the person involved doesn't have the requisite training, the competencies, the knowledge to have done that particular task or project in the way that you expected it to.
  2. The second one is the lack of a process or a system. So in the absence of, say, a checklist or if it's something like doing a VAT return or a payroll where a process or a checklist could be put in place to ensure that each step is followed and no mistakes are made. In the absence of a checklist, mistakes can happen.

So if we view mistakes as either lack of training or a lack of a system or a process or a checklist, then we can see mistakes in a new light. Rather than coming down on your team member, employee, like a ton of bricks, create that sense of safety, that sense of trust and caring which will help to engender a more positive working culture.

Because let's face it, when most employees want to do well, they want to please and they want to be a positive contributor in the workplace. If they make a mistake, they're probably already kicking themselves for doing so, so don't add to that stress and pressure by coming down on them hard for any mistake they have made.

Instead, see it as an opportunity to put in place a process or a system or provide additional training so that it doesn't happen again. And, of course, with any mistake use it as a learning opportunity for everyone involved.