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| No | 24% | 107 votes | Total: 444 votes | |
| Yes | 76% | 337 votes |
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Add to FavoritesNo. Leadership should hold staff accountable for errors they commit while doing their work. Staff should take the blame for their own mistakes. The company should support any distressed workers facing consequences of their wrong actions at work.
An error by definition is a wrong action that can be traced to bad or poor judgment, ignorance or lacking attention. The result of an error can be devastating especially if peoples' lives are involved. It is my view that the person who caused the error should own up to it. Leadership should stand with the employee to the extent that such a fault may have caused far reaching damages, not to lift the blame from him but to show the employee emotional and other humane support.
For this reason industry places some emphasis on error control measures. With good control, errors can be minimized. It has to be understood that errors are human. One feels sorry for people who make certain "gross" errors that end up in court.
To the extent that control measures are in place for each job assignment, most errors should be noticed and corrected by the control system or person.
It is important to explain my understanding of leadership and staff roles.
There are several layers of leadership in an average company, but it is clear to me that we are not talking about general leadership here. Although management is leadership I take it that we are referring to senior leadership and the company spirit.
The lowest level of leadership includes team leaders and supervisors who oversee the activities of laborers, technicians and clerical staff or production teams. The next level is middle management proper. These oversee supervisors and may in fact include supervisors, depending on the size of the company and nature of the industry, while senior management is a distinct layer. This is the level, I suggest are the "leadership" referred to above.
When we say this company is good, we refer very much to the spirit of the collective, usually a reflection of the top directors and their policies which trickle down through management to production teams.
Visually, senior or top management includes the Board and executive directors of the company. They control company policies, resource mobilization and direct allocation of these resources including staffing in the company. They also appoint middle management. So, when we speak of leadership we include those who may not even know how to use the tools of this industry, people whose specialty may be finance or administration or indeed may hold investment portfolios.
I separate the leadership from the staff who are at the desk or "coal face"; the technical staff and the clerical staff who do the "donkey work," the digging, pulling and other menial tasks. (Menial tasks are not necessarily insignificant. They make the company what it is.) There are tasks for skilled and for unskilled workers, tasks for specialized workers and so on and so forth.
Here is an example: A nurse is taking a ward round in the morning. She administers a drug to a patient using someone else's drug sheet. The patient gets a visible reaction. Who should take the blame for that? Should the hospital Superintendent take the blame? I don't think so.
Take the train driver who falls asleep and runs a red light, resulting in a train crush. Who should take the blame? Should the General Manager of the Railway Company? I don't think so.
Causes of staff errors can be placed in one of two very broad categories: those resulting from lack of skill and those that happen in spite of having the skill. Those resulting from lack of skill must be blamed on poor Leadership who employed incompetent people in the first place. Leadership can be blamed for employing people who are unqualified to do that work. Every mistake they make should be placed on management's table.
The other type of error can happen to anyone who does some work. On a given day, things can slip out of one's hand. No matter how many error controls are in place, it is human to err. The blame should not be shifted, but support for the person making the mistake should not be taken away either.
Learn more about this author, MacDonald Chaava.
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Yes
As a manager, I believe leadership should take the blame for their staff. The staff is only as good as their manager. Training is a major role in leadership. You are trained to train and you hired that person to work for you, therefore, you take responsibility.
Yes, the staff should be accountable for their actions and the manager must follow through with any disciplinary action. Being a good leader is training good staff. The manager is there to make sure the business is running smoothly, making executive decisions, and following through.
Most employees will respect their manager when they are leading and "running the show". It all starts with leadership. You will get the most out of your employees when you show you care. Get involved, listen to the staff, and solve problems. Stay on top of what is going on and incorporate team work into the business. Encourage everyone to ask questions and if you don't know the answer, that's ok, it's a good way for you to learn too. Businesses have many resources and phone numbers to call, all you have to do is ask. There are many operations in the store that I manage that I still need to learn. If I have a question, I want to know the answer and I call a coworker at another store or I email my Djstrjct Manager. One way or the other, I will find out.
Communication is another key role in leadership- always keep your staff up-to-date on any important customer service relation. Hold regular meetings, let the staff know what is expected of them in their position. Let them know of your expectations as a manager.
Give them positive feedback for a job well done and constructive feedback when they are not performing their duties properly. Be kind but get the message across. Treat everyone the same and the entire staff will treat you respectively. Employees like to be recognized for their hard work and want to learn by their mistakes. Being able to communicate properly will give the employee a better understanding of what is expected in the workplace.
Get involved in the day-to-day operations with the employees. Work side-by-side. The more they see you do, the more they will do! And they are likely to follow your lead and copy your actions. Be a leader, that's what your getting paid to do. So, yes, the manager should be held accountable for their staff's errors 100%!
Learn more about this author, Emelia Rose.
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