While everyone makes mistakes in the workplace, it’s important to know and understand which mistakes could have long-lasting effects on your career. Take a look at the top 4.
1. You’re put off after one mistake. The only way to grow in your career is to accept new challenges and bigger responsibilities.
However, with new tasks you also run the risk of making mistakes. And if you’ve always been a star employee you might not be used to making mistakes and persevering until you get better.
Don’t put yourself down about not understanding something – it’s ok. A sure-fire way to hold yourself back in your career is to shut down once you’ve made a mistake. With enough practice you’ll get better at your new tasks and you’ll soon become an incredible employee again.
2. You don’t handle feedback or criticism well. Some people are really not good at accepting criticism at work. What you have to realise is that constructive criticism will only help your career in future.
If you were previously not used to getting told that your work could be better, and how you could better it, you might become defensive and come across as immature and unprofessional.
Getting constructive criticism is not an attack on you; the person giving the criticism might have more experience in the field and give you advice that will only help you get back to being a top employee. Be careful not to push helpful advice away.
3. You’re not polite. No matter how great your work is, if you’re not polite to your colleagues, you won’t get very far. A good manager won’t allow for such behaviour in the workplace and you’ll soon get a reputation of being ‘hard to work with’ – no one likes to hire someone like that.
4. You’re uncertain of what your boss expects of you. Make sure you regularly refer to your Key Performance Areas that your boss has discussed with you.
No matter how great you are at organising functions, for example, if it’s not what your boss needs you to be good at, you’ll never accelerate your career. If you don’t have a KPA, set up a meeting with your manager and discuss what is needed of you.
Check your performance plan regularly to ensure you’re doing what is required of you, and then tackle additional tasks.
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