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Employee mistakes...

2328 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Flitterfly
How do you handle employees making mistakes?
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It depends...
What kind of business do you have? What kind of employee is it? What mistake did they make?

As a general rule, if it's a one time mistake just make them aware of it and move on. But if it's a recurring mistake or one that uncovers the fact that they are clearly not capable of doing their job, then you need to do what you have to do.
Are the employees hourly or commission?

If they are hourly I would just track mistakes and if the reach your "limit" then...see ya!

If they are commission I would just have it setup as a reverse commission and that would directly affect their commission.

Whatever you decide make sure you let everyone know up front and you keep it fair and consistent.
How do you handle employees making mistakes?
Depends on the error?
How serious is the error?
How often have the mistakes happened?
Where you are located?

I would counsel the employee, put it down to a learning experience and move on.

What is your company policy in regards to errors.

Ultimately, it is up to you. What is acceptable and what is not.

Did they print wrong color in a design?
Wrong placement?
Wrong garment?

gave the wrong change?
sent wrong invoice?
charged too little?

As long as you have priced your work right, you shouldn't be out of pocket money wise, if you need to replace garments.

helps if you can give a bit more info.

My staff make the odd error during a job, but I account for possible errors in my pricing. So when it happens, I don't lose out, I don't make any money on that particular job, but I don't lose out.

I reprimand the employee and remind them of the need to be more careful. Remind them that every job that leaves our business is a reflection of our standards. If a mistake goes out, then others may think we are unprofessional.

I don't dock their pay or anything like that.
It doesn't happen often enough for that drastic measure.
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Its fair to say that employees will always make mistakes at some point .... What you need are the systems and procedures in place to correct the mistakes and that the employee learns from it.

If it becomes serious you need the mechanism in place to progress through to a disciplinary. Just think work flows.
Baseball bat to the head......drag them into the alley, put the "Help Wanted" sign back in the window! LOL

Just kidding...Phil has the right idea, reward good behavior, punish bad behavior, just let them know what the consequences are for mistakes and where the line is.
Your Fired also works ...as for the baseball bat.... well if you can get away with it ;-)
The management gurus will also tell you that employee mistakes are not their fault.
They are caused by management failures in staff training and a lack of effective staff supervision and finally..a lack of effective workplace procedures that work to reduce or eliminate production errors.:p

That's a day of my life I will never get back, LOL
Some management Gurus are good some are plain crazy

Getting your staff to use their common sense is the key ... if they haven't got any perhaps ask them if they should be looking for another job ;-)
The management gurus will also tell you that employee mistakes are not their fault.
They are caused by management failures in staff training and a lack of effective staff supervision and finally..a lack of effective workplace procedures that work to reduce or eliminate production errors.:p

That's a day of my life I will never get back, LOL
More PC BS if you ask me, even the best employees make mistakes, even bosses/management makes mistakes mostly listening to high paid gurus telling them what should be common sense.;)

JMHO
Treat people how you expect to be treated. We all make mistakes, and we are all held accountable for our mistakes.
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