Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days.

Nobody’s perfect! Sometimes you or someone in your team might not be performing well, and that’s okay! 

Business leaders, we have a question:

Has a team member made a mistake or hasn’t seemed like themselves lately?

Don’t get angry and think you’ve made a mistake hiring them. Try taking them out for a coffee and asking them how they are, check in and ask them how their family is doing and if everything is ok.

A reflection of a business’s leadership and the quality of their culture is in need. How you treat and keep your top performers happy is great but its only surface deep. Instead, focus on how you look after those who might be struggling and what support systems you have in place for them.

People lose confidence and sometimes just need a bit of encouragement- we have all been there!

One of our team members, Steph Graham, shares her story from one of her first internships below.

“I remember one of my first internships, I was given a big stack of 6 weekend newspapers to read over and summarise (if you work in PR you’ll know what I’m talking about).

5 minutes later? My supervisor came back and told me I was slow for not having already read through the big stack.

It stuck with me throughout my first job and I was paranoid about being slow, until I realised that it was okay to be a little bit slow when you’re starting out, because you’re still learning!

The other day I spoke with a bright young candidate who was so excited that she’d landed her first job in PR.

2 weeks later? She was taken into a room and told she was too slow and that today was her last day.

No feedback and no suggestions on how to improve, she was shown the door instead.

She was left confused and her confidence shattered.

A good manager will provide ongoing support and feedback, as well as constructive advice on how to improve.

If not? They should be shown the door!” 

We haven’t taught Siri or Alexa how to plan and execute Marketing campaigns just yet. So we’re still allowed to make mistakes, for now at least…