How to be a good employer (2 of 3)

The no-blame workplace

This is really a subset of feeling safe but it is so important that it deserves its stand-alone spot.

Attitude is such an important factor in any work environment and positivity is a big part of attitude. Blame, on the other end of the scale, is one hundred percent negative.

When I was in the first year of my first job, I had a boss who wanted to do something that I knew the Board would not like. I begged him for his own sake not to do it. He did it. I was not senior enough to attend board meetings but I had my spies. When the Board thumped the table, he went to water and told them that I did it. I have never forgotten how I felt when I found out. I had feelings of betrayal, of injustice and of downright fear. It was only by the greatest stroke of good luck that I had fluked this job and I did not want to lose it. I can still remember where I was standing and which way I was facing when I thought “Nobody deserves to feel like this. If I ever become a boss I will never blame anyone”. Decades later, I have, by and large, kept that promise.

A little later, the Deputy Chairman, Ted Seaby, lowered his voice and said “Don’t worry, we know it was him and not you”.

There is a good example in the NRL. When a player drops the ball, his teammates rush in to tousle his hair or pat him on the back. They are sending positive messages. “Bad luck, mate”. “You’re ok”. “Let’s go”. That is not a natural first reaction but all sixteen teams do it, so that tells me the psychologists have been at work.

Blame is destructive, on the football field or in any other workplace.

It took me a little longer to convince myself that my no-blame policy applied to me too. I used to beat myself up when I made a mistake. Now, I simply ask “How do I fix it” and “How do I minimize the risk of it happening again”. I never say “How do I stop it happening again” because there is no perfect person on earth, or if there is she is keeping herself well hidden. Obviously, it could not be a man.