Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Work

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

Original poster

Huge fuck up today

131 replies

HugeFuckUp · 11/09/2023 18:28

And I’m still on probation. 😭 In my job you have to be signed off by supervisors in different areas before you are allowed to do it alone. Today I completed a task that I have not been signed off on (and completely screwed it up) by mistake. I’ve been signed off to produce designs in area A. I had a request come through for A but with a tiny bit of C. I didn’t realise that C meant it needed to be put through as a new task type. To make it worse one of my fundamental calculations was ever so slightly out so the whole thing is wrong. I have to confess all of this to my boss tomorrow morning. Help!

OP posts:
Original poster
HugeFuckUp · 11/09/2023 21:27

To be fair to DH he partly wants me to contact old job because he thinks new job is beyond my capabilities and is causing me stress. I was happier in previous (much easier) role. I didn’t think he was right but after today I think he might have a point

OP posts:
weirdoboelady · 11/09/2023 21:28

HugeFuckUp · 11/09/2023 21:22

I have found out tonight through doing some digging that roughly only 1% of cases that are checked each month are ever given an “unsuitable” grading, and it’s made me panic all over again. Not good to be in the bottom 1% whilst on probation is it. 😭

Well no, but how big is the sample size, and what proportion of that 1% are people on probation? If probationers handle 2% of the cases that are checked then potentially up to half of probationers are given an “unsuitable” grading....

If I were your boss it would count for a lot that you had tried to contact me the moment you found out about this.

lapsedbookworm · 11/09/2023 21:30

HugeFuckUp · 11/09/2023 21:27

To be fair to DH he partly wants me to contact old job because he thinks new job is beyond my capabilities and is causing me stress. I was happier in previous (much easier) role. I didn’t think he was right but after today I think he might have a point

Quite odd for him not to be reassuring you that you are capable of this. Is that normal for him? Usually partners support each other not tell them they aren't good enough

greenbeansnspinach · 11/09/2023 21:34

All your feedback has been positive up to now and you’ve made one mistake- and you immediately contacted the client and explained and did your best to contact your manager. It sounds like you are perfectly competent in your new role, would be soon bored in your previous one, and maybe your husband will learn to have faith in you!

Unicorn2022 · 11/09/2023 21:37

HugeFuckUp · 11/09/2023 21:27

To be fair to DH he partly wants me to contact old job because he thinks new job is beyond my capabilities and is causing me stress. I was happier in previous (much easier) role. I didn’t think he was right but after today I think he might have a point

Every job is stressful when you are learning and don't know exactly what you are doing yet.

With a husband like yours, who needs enemies?! He's supposed to be your biggest supporter! What makes him such an expert on your professional capabilities?

socialdilemmawhattodo · 11/09/2023 21:38

I was a Trustee for a fabulous charity. So please note not a doer. Everyone who did had to follow national standards and a % was reviewed each quarter (tiny %). If the reviewer didn't agree with the assessment then that was a fail. Our team might have assessed a situation to be a 2 - if the reviewer believed a 1 or 3 - fail. It was utterly stressful for our teams. You could have dealt with a situation better than expected and still fail. It was crazy - so your team/manager might know exactly why you did what you did, because it was the best thing to do, but perhaps not the correct thing to do. We fought this at national level over several years and things did improve. So as others have suggested - acknowledge the failure on process, but not all of the emotion. You need to be clear headed and calm. We all make mistakes.

Nosleepforthismum · 11/09/2023 21:39

OP please don’t worry. I did 15 years in law and the amount of fuck ups I’ve seen (and did myself) would make your bum clench with anxiety hearing about some of them. Not a single person was sacked and one person sent an extremely large sum of money to the wrong account which was one of the more “oh shit” moments!

From your employers point of view, it’s a bloody expensive and time consuming pain in the ass job to fire someone and then rehire someone new and go through all the training again. Most companies are really not looking to sack you for any minor fuck ups. My DH owns a company and you’d have to be really really shit at your job and costing the company money consistently to be sacked. Mistakes happen, please try not to worry.

Pushpull · 11/09/2023 21:40

At the moment yes you're absolutely stretched. And you might have been 'happier' in the old role but don't compare your worst days here to a general feeling in your old role. Right now it's hard but if you can get through this you might be even happier and fulfilled than you ever thought. So stick at this - it sounds like you're more capable than you (and he) are giving yourselves credit for.

Apologies if in off beam here and he genuinely is super supportive and kid but this has made me feel a bit hmmmm

RunAwayTurnAwayRunAwayTurnAway · 11/09/2023 21:43

Can anyone tell me what sort of job role/title an issue like this could relate to, please? Many PPs seem to know/understand the situation but I don't but would like to know. TIA.

Hibiscrubbed · 11/09/2023 21:48

Does your husband ‘neg’ you in other aspects of your life? You likely wouldn’t have the job if you couldn’t do it. And as you said, all other feedback has been 💯.

He’s undermined you throughout this hasn’t he? “See, I told you you couldn’t do it. Contact your old job, go on…”

Northby · 11/09/2023 21:53

OP I guarantee you need to CHILL OUT. I work in a highly regulated/lots of money flying around/etc profession and mistakes happen. It is what it is. You’ve done the right thing - seniors want you to say “I’ve done X wrong, but I’m doing Y to fix it”. You’ve already fixed it, there were no adverse consequences save for minor embarrassment on your part, so what’s the problem? They’re a big client, you aren’t their usual service provider, they’ll know you’re new, they’ll be happy with the rest of the work they’re getting from your company (on larger projects no less, I assume!). No harm done.

Just learn from this not only in terms of the practical element with internal processes, but for yourself mentally. It’s no good getting yourself in a stress when things go wrong. You are capable (hence good feedback so far), you just lack confidence. Why shouldn’t you do a job that ma challenge you, but that ultimately you can do?

And your DH needs to be more supportive or STFU!!

nerdandgeek · 11/09/2023 21:56

I think the fact you recognise the mistake and took responsibility says a lot about you as a person and that means a hell of a lot more then covering it up or denying responsibility. As an employer I'd want that sort of person aboard

WyrdyGrob · 11/09/2023 22:00

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 11/09/2023 20:54

If your error, as a probationer, was only picked up on the off chance by a colleague, then the company’s checks and balances procedure is not robust enough. It cannot rely on you, as a probationer, telling them whether or not they should be checking your work because you’re not signed off for it. Particularly if this is in any way automated - you shouldn’t have authority to complete a task without a second stage authentication. You may have fucked up but you are in no way the biggest fuck up in this.
(Go on admit it, you’re the one who didn’t tell Alan Sugar he’d have to pay full U.K. dividend tax if he was a member of the HOL aren’t you? 😉)

i came on to say this tbh. I’m a manager and have had member of staff do something similar — actually not a probationer, he was just a bit gormless and sweet, and sent a load of technical designs through to the client within them being checked and signed off. Predictably, with glaring errors.

i saw it as being managment systems (ie my) responsibility, rather than his, as the systems should have prevented him sending anything not signed off. We revamped the system and retrained those at the pointy end.

Your system certainly shouldn’t rely on a probationer spotting that it contained that secondary sign off of a task.

Z1hun · 11/09/2023 22:00

We all make mistakes OP. I once forgot to place insurance for a large company who subsequently had a claim and my company had to pay over £1m in damages, 5 years later still at the same company. At least you realised your mistake before anything seriously affected the customer. We all learn from our mistakes and you wont make this one again for damn sure

Echobelly · 11/09/2023 22:04

One thing I learned is own up ASAP and take responsibility. People make mistakes. You don't need to grovel, you don't need to do yourself down, just be willing to learn and be clear how you're going to prevent it happening again.

oioicheeky · 11/09/2023 22:06

@HugeFuckUp Don't stress.

The mistake has been identified, client has been notified, everything is fine.

You made a mistake and now you are doing what you can to fix it.

These things happen.

The big issues are when people try to cover up mistakes, and are dishonest, sneaky etc etc.

Those are the people who will end up being sacked.

Not people who make honest mistakes whilst they are still learning.

Original poster
HugeFuckUp · 11/09/2023 22:17

weirdoboelady · 11/09/2023 21:28

Well no, but how big is the sample size, and what proportion of that 1% are people on probation? If probationers handle 2% of the cases that are checked then potentially up to half of probationers are given an “unsuitable” grading....

If I were your boss it would count for a lot that you had tried to contact me the moment you found out about this.

Show quote history

No most of those checked will not be probationers. It basically means 2/3 people a month are making similar sized mistakes to the one I did. DH said that they can’t be firing 3 people a month. He is supportive generally. He just thinks I push myself and work too hard.

OP posts:
ASoapImpressionOfHisWifeWhichHeAte · 11/09/2023 22:22

Go to your boss, own up and have a plan to solve whatever deficiency in knowledge caused it. Good luck.

aspirationalflamingo · 11/09/2023 22:24

He just thinks I push myself and work too hard.

I think I agree with him based on the very hard time I've seen you give yourself this evening.

Hawkins0009 · 11/09/2023 22:27

All the best op, I'm similar, confess first soon as possible then try to hope for the best

Talkwhilstyouwalk · 11/09/2023 22:30

You need to put this into perspective. Nobody died. Nobody escaped from prison on your watch.....

You are human, not a machine.

Really world implications yes, but the error was picked up in time. These things really do happen to the best of us and it's how you deal with them that's important. Talk to your boss about what you have learned from this and give feedback on process improvements or ideas to prevent errors like this from happening again.

ICanBuyMyOwnBooks · 11/09/2023 22:31

It seems as though there is a gap in their processes. From what you've said it sounds as though they're relying on probationers to categorise the work correctly (the difference between A and C) and then submit for review, or not, accordingly. I doubt you are the first person to be caught out in this way. Does the same senior staff member review A and C? If so then it would make more sense for everything to be under review until all task capabilities have been signed off ie even if you can do A, all your work is reviewed until you can also do C.

Cinai · 11/09/2023 22:31

Good luck for tomorrow! Try not to stress out too much, get some sleep. You have some great advice here how to approach the meeting with your boss. I don’t think you get fired for one mistake. You got this!

Whatyoutalkingabouteh · 11/09/2023 22:53

Mistakes happen- you’re human. If you kept repeating mistakes then yes I’d be concerned but here it sounds like you took steps to rectify it as soon as you found out, you tried to call your boss. You didn’t try and hide it or make excuses.
I’d say sacking you would be harsh.

CarbsAreNotMyFriend · 11/09/2023 22:57

Ahh so sorry you're panicking, we've all been there! Remember they desperately don't want to sack you. It's expensive and a PITA to train someone, the last thing they want to do is let you go! If I had a member of staff who was this conscientious and concerned about an error I'd be thinking they were a great hire. Genuinely.

P.S....I don't think the manual is as shit hot as they think it is, otherwise it would have included what to do with a task that was partially task A/partially task B etc.