Human error occurs on large and small scales. While your team members try their best, they’re going to make mistakes. Follow these steps to learn why errors occur and how to reduce them.
Common factors contributing to human error
Even your best employees make mistakes. However, some conditions can increase the chances your team members face problems or errors that could have been avoided. Here are a few common causes of human error.
- Fatigue: A lack of energy can increase the number of errors and accidents. An estimated one in eight workplace injuries are related to fatigue.
- Stress: Pressure can also cause errors. To meet tight deadlines, employees might make more errors than normal.
- Lack of training: Team members might not have the skills to succeed, increasing the chances that they mess up along the way.
- Poor communication: Your employees might not know what you want from them, which leads to errors in production.
For example, a fatigued employee is more likely to get into an accident on the road while a stressed employee could speed behind the wheel, leading to hard stops and potential crashes.
The impact of human error on organizations
It is impossible to quantify the impact of human error on organizations. Small mistakes could cause temporary delays while major errors could create safety risks that lead to regulatory fines, reputational damage, and even loss of life.
For example, Boeing agreed to pay $243.6 million because of unsafe work environments in its factories. The poor work environment led to poorly made planes that crashed, killing hundreds and causing untold reputation damage to the company.
In an industry where your employees could be injured, safety compliance always needs to be a priority. A safe work environment can protect employees, equipment, customers, and anyone who engages with your company.
Essential tools for preventing human error
While it is impossible to eliminate human error, you can take steps to reduce it. Here are a few tools to implement within your organization.
Checklists and standard operating procedures
The first way to reduce human error is to develop specific procedures for your employees. For example, instead of telling your team to make sure a fleet vehicle is in good working order before driving, create a detailed checklist for inspecting the tires, lights, mirrors, and brakes before hitting the road. Checklists provide actionable items for your employees to follow, reducing their chances of forgetting something.
PennState has a useful guide for creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) to maximize effectiveness. It includes criteria for deciding between a checklist or flowchart and clearly stating instructions for your team to follow. Use these best practices as you develop your SOPs.
Technology-based solutions
Technology can support almost any company to reduce human error. Software catches mistakes or sends alerts when certain metrics fall out of normal ranges. For example, the trucking industry uses electric logging devices (ELDs) to monitor driving behaviors. Not only can these provide feedback on performance, but they can alert dispatchers to unsafe driving events. Managers can then check camera systems to see why and provide real-time feedback as needed. This allows drivers to correct their behaviors, avoiding errors and keeping the roads safe.
The right tech tools can change how your company operates.
Real-time monitoring and feedback systems
Employees who are unaware of their errors will continue to make the same mistakes. If a manager only provides feedback at the end of the project, an employee can’t correct the problems halfway through. Real-time monitoring systems make it easier to keep up with employees and provide feedback early on.
Effective managers give feedback clearly and often. Modern technology makes it easy to collect insights that guide feedback.
Strategies for reducing human error
While technology alerts employees about potential errors and helps prevent them, good training and leadership can make employees want to do better. You can create a culture of success where your team strives to improve. Here are a few strategies to consider.
Training and education programs
Training and re-training employees helps them embrace best practices when completing day-to-day tasks. Your training sessions can remind them how to do their jobs well and avoid mistakes.
Another way training helps is by teaching employees how to correct errors. Your team members can learn how to stop, evaluate the situation, and make the best possible choice to reduce damage from the mistake.
Just like feedback should be frequent, training should also occur regularly. Consider developing training programs that use small learning modules. Employees can focus on one concept per session instead of getting overwhelmed by a larger training seminar.
Creating a culture of accountability and open communication
Your company culture plays a significant role in how employees handle errors. In a culture that embraces transparency and communication, employees can be honest about the errors they make. Management teams can focus on correcting mistakes and preventing future ones instead of placing blame on the employees who caused them.
This healthy culture will also help your company handle issues with customers. Your team can be honest about the problems and detail steps you plan to take the solve them. This provides a better customer experience and can increase client retention.
Consider making continuous learning a core value, so even your best employees can grow and reduce errors. Lead by example when correcting errors. Showcase how transparency, communication, and solutions-based thinking help teams overcome mistakes quickly.
Measuring and improving error prevention efforts
While it’s impossible to record every error in your organization, you can develop processes for measuring the number and severity of mistakes. Here are a few ways to track your improvement efforts and highlight the value of hard work, detailed training, and clear feedback.
Key performance indicators for error prevention
Manage business efforts by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), or relevant metrics related to individual departments. If you want to reduce errors in your organization, identify the KPIs you would use to indicate success. For example, you might document the number of incident reports filed each month and the number of accidents that require medical attention. When these numbers drop, you’re creating a safer workplace.
Every company and department will have its own error KPIs. The metrics you choose will determine how you collect and analyze data related to them. You might be able to use digital monitoring systems to set goals for improvement or manually collect data throughout the work week.
Setting goals and tracking metrics can help you see where your team is now and how they can improve in the future.
Continuous improvement strategies
Because mistakes are a part of human nature, your team will never operate error-free. However, you can take the goals you set and challenge your team to do better. For example, you might set a goal for a 10% reduction of errors in one month and then challenge your team to reduce the error rate even further once they hit that goal. There is always an opportunity to do better.
Goals and increased training and development can help with long-term improvement in error prevention. As a company leader, you set the culture within your organization. When you keep safety, training, and quality at the top of your priorities list, your employees’ work will reflect those values.
Don’t strive for an error-free workplace. Instead, develop a culture of improvement, learning, and growth. This will help your team reduce errors and work at their best.
