Member Article

Fessing Up

The Tipster recalls walking through a rather upmarket departmental store in the north east of England pushing the latest addition to The Tipster Family in a rather swanky buggy.

On leaving the said departmental store and looking down at said swanky buggy The Tipster realised to his shock and horror that Tipster Junior had purloined four pairs of evening socks; a pair of braces; and a dicky bow tie. The Tipster nearly collapsed in horror and quickly skidded the swanky buggy around (at a speed which would have impressed Michael Schumacher) to take the goods back to the store.

The Tipster then had to give a rambling five minute explanation to the Senior Store Detective as to how the above goods entered the buggy. Full of fear The Tipster could see his career drifting down the River Wear. The said store detective was, how shall we say, a rather burly chap and it was clear that The Tipster was feeling under the cosh. On finishing his explanation the store detective gave The Tipster a steely gaze and burst out laughing. Don’t worry he said I could see by the shock on your face that it was unintentional.

Now this is a situation which often occurs in the workplace, tight deadlines, demanding situations, pressure to achieve means that mistakes can be made.

There are a number of options open to an employee when a mistake is made, namely:-

• Try and hide it.
• Try and deal with it yourself.
• Seek some help.

Employers need to create an atmosphere and a structure whereby the latter route is the option. This could be outlined in a performance policy; articulated during induction programmes and reinforced at performance review stages. This is a good protective measure for employers because if an employee does try and hide an error then they can point to documented evidence that there is a no blame culture and that employees are encouraged to share problem issues. This means that if an employee flouts this principle then there are clearer grounds for disciplinary sanction.

Where there is evidence of a cover-up by an employee there should be:-

• A full investigation.
• Consideration of the background issues which have lead to the problem arising.
• The opportunity for the employee to explain their situation.
• Ample time for the employee to prepare for a disciplinary investigation.
• A full hearing (conducted by someone who was not involved in the investigation).
• And an appeal procedure in place as well (again held by a different person).

As per usual prevention is better than cure. Having the correct culture and procedures to deal with problems is the best way forward. This procedure can also be run in conjunction with a whistleblowing policy which allows other employees to bring issues to light. Ultimately, however, all the policies in the world can only operate if the right cultural tone is established in the first place. So if you find an extra pair of socks in your trolley make sure that they are returned to the rightful owner.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Gibson .