ImagesMagUK_June_2021

64 images JUNE 2021 www.images-magazine.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT KB Marshall Atkinson is a production and efficiency expert for the decorated apparel industry, and the owner of Atkinson Consulting and co-founder of Shirt Lab, a sales and marketing education company, with Tom Rauen. He focuses on operational efficiency, continuous improvement, workflow strategy, business planning, employee motivation, management and sustainability. www.atkinsontshirt.com Change is what you are after, not an argument consequences to these employees for making the mistake. This may or may not have an effect on the employee in question, but it will serve to teach other employees regarding the correct way to do something. What to do: Pretender mistakes First, you have to separate the ‘honest mistake’ from the ‘pretender mistake’. This is sometimes tough. Are they making the mistake because they are not trained enough or skilled enough to do it right? Or are they making the mistake because of apathy or some other reason? What’s really going on here? For this type of situation, I am recommending more patience and questions initially. You have to determine the real situation. If they can’t comprehend how to do something correctly, it is up to you to work with them until they do. However, at a certain point, you have to label the situation correctly and be smart about how you are handling the employee in question. One way that has worked for me in the past is called ‘The four pieces of paper’. At a meeting, you will review each page with the employee in question, and both sign and agree to what is written. 1. Write out the problem on one piece of paper. Be clear and detailed about exactly what they need to do. 2. With their help, write out exactly what they need in order to handle the situation correctly on the second piece of paper. Your job is to provide them with whatever they need. 3. On the third piece of paper, jot down what they can get or earn if they do it right. What will it mean to them or the company? This is the positive reinforcement for a successful outcome. It doesn’t have to be extra compensation. Sometimes getting out of the doghouse is enough. 4. Lastly, on the fourth sheet of paper, write out what will happen if they don’t do what’s needed. This is about consequences. Be clear. Will they be demoted? Will they be fired? What to do: Ignored mistakes This type of mistake is about teamwork and your company culture. Correcting an ‘ignored mistake’ entails getting everyone to buy into the fact that the work that you do is a product of everyone’s involvement. When someone is making a mistake, others can’t ignore that fact. They should share with them the standardised, correct way of doing something: “Here, let me show you.” This can kick in when you have built a solid foundation of teamwork in your company. People want competency and feel empowered to speak up when they see something that isn’t quite right. A-team players want to work with other A-team players. But, they know that not everyone is at their same level and will gladly lend a hand to show others the way. The solution to the ‘ignored mistake’ case is more about who you’re letting on your team than forcing corrections. Correcting mistakes is about building positivity For something to be wrong, that means also that something must be right. I’ll bet you do more right than wrong every day. What you want to celebrate constantly is that positive nature for your shop. What are you consistently doing right? Are you talking about that and holding that up as an example? Are you clear about what success looks like in all facets of your business? When your management or leadership team seeks to correct mistakes, they are working on building a culture that defines what is the correct way. If we only paddle on one side of the canoe, we’ll only travel in circles. Making a course correction, even if this means extreme employee discipline such as termination, helps to move things in a positive direction.