sending an email to everyone on a team where your blaming one person is unpleasant, nasty and bullying

[iwanttowalkoutofwork]

So this morning I got into work to find an email along the lines of

"Please all can you make sure you give all the information needed so avoid problems like below:"

Below was a link to a peice of work I did that had some knock on (minor) affects and had my name plastered all over it.

Firstly I could of given more detailed notes for the file that might have prevented it but to send an email to everyone pointing out my mistake has really upset me. The person that did this email has a much easier job than me, doesn't have to write anything - just review other people's work to tell them of mistakes. I'm not perfect I make mistakes , but I'm not in a serious job where anyone's life is at stake. Its just a clothes shop!

Aibu to be upset by this? I want to just forward it to my manager and to say I find it not productive to blame one person and highlight their minor mistake to everyone.

I haven't actually condoned the email being sent. I've pointed out that we only have one side of the story (and one in which the person making the mistake has taken no responsibility for it and seems to be attempting to deflect attention away from her).

(Have written this on my phone from the toilet, if that helps anything.)

It's unprofessional to send an email out to a whole dept. that clearly identifies an individual who has made an error.

The correct way to deal with such mistakes is to discuss it with the person responsible in private as well as what you expect them to do in the future so that the same mistake isn't made again.

If there are concerns that other people may make a similar mistake then you with discuss it with staff in 1-2-1 or team meeting, but with any references to individuals or projects that identify individuals removed.

That's what a manager should do. Poor email etiquette and managerial behaviour isn't acceptablr even if an employee has made a mistake.

But so had the OP *Disapponted!

She stated that in her last post!

Shocking lack of attention to detail there Disappointed - hope that doesn't see you ending up in court

I had something similar happen to me a few years ago. I was a member of a professional association and accounts hadn't paid the membership invoice on time and I'd received a reminder which I forwarded to them. An email came back copied to the entire floor (not just my department) telling me to email the right person (not the generic address) and saying she'd cc'd in everyone else to show how annoying it was to have your time wasted!

There was a storm of protest from other people on the floor (not directed at me, but the accounts woman) and HR got involved without my having to say anything (though I don't believe any real action was taken against her). The funny thing was I was working from home and had popped out for an early lunch, so I saw all the emails from my colleagues before I got to one from accounts. But it was pretty unbelievable behaviour, especially when they simply hadn't paid the invoice on time so it was their fault I'd even had to contact them!

So yes public mud-clinging is unprofessional at best and bullying at worst and needs to be dealt with pronto.

Disappointed, yes, we only have one side of the story. And it's a short story at that. So how on earth can you so confidently proclaim Your attitude to work stinks.?

Based on your posts here, YOUR attitude stinks. 'stop making mistakes, OP.' What a silly thing to say.

YANBU. my boss sent us all an email with problems with ME.
he then gave ME a written warning saying others have complained. it's not fair. I do feel like it's bullying. i'm still in training.

OP, I think that rather than going in to your manager and saying that '"it's not productive", and that this person has a (perceived) easier job than you, and that you "could of written more detailed notes but you didn't" etc, I think you should play it in a different way.

Say that you would respond better to emailed examples of good work, rather than emails which publicly name and shame. I am just thinking that the manager may well say, "well, you made the mistake and they were pointing it out to you, as it is their job to do". Just to cover yourself.

I think you will have to accept responsibility for the mistakes too and make every effort not to do it again because making a fuss at this point could put a spotlight on you.

Thanks again, so much useful advice.

To give a bit more flesh I didn't do anything particularly wrong, but what I changed had impacts for other areas. Their issue is I didn't say it had a bigger impact, probably because I didn't have enough time to look at it and go into massive detail as the workload is very high ATM. Also he could of looked what I changed and realised it had a larger impact. I just find it him defending himself by critising me publically. Like a headmaster that would call you onto stage to publicly shame you.

I guess its the offices attitude in general to be rather negative, I deliver 9 bits of work flawlessly but I only ever seem to hear the negative feedback of the 1 that needs some more work on. I know I sound like a child wanting my well dones for doing my job, but this negative attitude is really grinding me down.

Did the piece of work have your name on it?

Ok look I don't think publicly shaming a member of staff is ever acceptable or appropriate

But if you made a mistake, you have to accept it. Not say "well he should have seen what the impact would have been"
But no, it shouldn't have gone out to everyone.

Could HAVE.

I'm the world's biggest pedant but even I'd know to let this slide in this thread. I mean, an OP posting about how they're upset that a mistake has been pointed out to the entire workforce, so you decide to pick apart and point out her grammar in front of everyone to add to it?!

"major banks, hedge funds and telecoms companies"

Interesting word 'telecoms'.

Is that intended to be an abbreviation of 'telecommunications' and, if so, would one not normally indicate it as such?

I'm amazed that a HR consultant imagines a non-anoymised shaming email issued by a party not even the OP's manager to be an appropriate way to approach work error correction and team learning.

It is not.

Thus, Disappointed; I suspect your "HR consultancy" work is actually a bit shoddy in some respects. I wouldn't put business your way.

At least we know Katie Hopkin's nn now, eh Disappointed

Aibu to be upset by this? I want to just forward it to my manager and to say I find it not productive to blame one person and highlight their minor mistake to everyone

I'd suggest you calmly talk with the person who sent out the email. I wouldn't get your manager involved by forwarding the email, which could end up exploding in a big viral chaotic mess of more emails, more confrontation and jagged nerves.

If you can sit down with the person and try to resolve the matter professionally, you could find it blows over. Rather than it blowing up in your face because your mistake will 'stick' far longer than their email distribution habits.

It's a bit like arguments with the next-door neighbours - the best approach is always, be conciliatory, talk facts, avoid finger-pointing and come to a quick mutual agreement on how to resolve in the future.

I don't care if you have an HR Consultancy or whatever Disappointed, being unpleasant for the sake of it is never pleasant. Neither is telling lies. I'm afraid the 'I don't make mistakes' bullshit is just a bit embarrassing.

yanbu

Disappointedone, I work in an industry where mistakes can mean that patients are treated incorrectly, at in extreme cases, die. In such an industry it is CRITICAL to analyse errors. The most robust system for doing this is a 'no fault' reporting system, with full analysis of the root cause of the incident and preventative actions (CAPA.)

We find that if minor errors are reported willingly under a no blame system, we can work out glitches in systems. I once worked for a company that brought in new management - they decided that all errors needed to be fixed on someone. Even to be associated with (not causing) an error was punishable. Result? No one reported the minor errors. And they snowballed. And things went very, very badly tits up.

Human error is often the weakest part of a system. Only by reporting, analysing, improving to you reduce it and get idiot proof systems in place.

As a manager, it's also very important to me that my team are praised in public, critiqued in private. I would never send an email like this. I would hold an anonymised 'lessons learned' sesh if needed. I will, and indeed do, pick up on my teams mistakes, but I never humiliate them in front of colleagues and if one of them sent an email with someone else's mistakes in, I'd carpet them .

I want to walk, in this case I would have discussed this error with you one on one. Id want to see you acknowledge the error and we'd talk about how it happened and how we can prevent it happening again. It depends how serious it was, and if there was any intent or negligence.

If it was just a common or garden fuck up, I'd make sure I said that we are all human, don't beat yourself up about it. Don't do it again, learn from it, and move on.

If it was something we could all learn from, I'd anonymise it and present at one of our regular lessons learned meetings - we use these to see where things went wrong and how we can stop it happening again. They are a no blame, positive learning forum.

I absolutely would not send an email like that out. Poor management skills !

Sorry, so his job is to correct and edit. Which he has done. He's then used a recent report as an example of the errors he's regularly receiving from your team but kept it anonymous - and you think it's bullying because it happens to be your work?

How exactly is that bullying? He's doing his job and from your description of him, you obviously have a chip on your shoulder and take him doing his work well as a direct personal attack.

Proof your own work next time.

Sensible advice skiptonlass - what you describe is a good culture, having a supportive manager on-board with a no-blame 'learning culture'. In this case it seems they may well be a part of the problem, for that person to effectively 'grass-up' a colleague and spread the shit dirt by the easiest means - email distribution.

I think the Manager should be setting ground-rules regarding how email should be used - definitely not the way that person used it!

dissapointed is the lovely 'Xenia' one of your clients? if not, don't delay approaching her, she'll love you.

Thanks daisy. I do try :)

Unfortunately my manager is a shit, but I try to keep my little team running well and treated like adults.

HeyDuggee, it seems your reading comprehension skills are a bit lacking. The OP says 'had my name plastered all over it' - so clearly it wasn't anonymised. Hope this helps.

If you're sure they all know it was you anyway, you might reply all with something like:

'Thanks for your email x, I see I didn't include enough info on that and I will make sure to next time. Please let me know if there's anything else we need to have a chat about '

The smiley is the icing on the passive aggressive politeness cake.

Iwanttowalkout
It sounds to me (with my HR hat on) that this colleague isn't your favourite, and rightly or wrongly you're not keen on him.
He has now emailed the team highlighting an error you made which you were upset about at the time.
Understandably, this has been a double upset- he's a plum who is pointing out something you did wrong.
The best but hardest course of action is to ignore it. The person most bothered is you. The rest of the taem probably didn't click the link and just did a virtual "eye roll" when they saw his bossy boots email.
Speak to your manager in supervision and tell him you thought it was a bit upsetting he worded it that way, linked to your work.

OP since said that her name was not on it but it was a recognisable project.

"He didn't name me expelicity, but linked to my work and everyone knows I did that project"