Why Hotels Need to Embrace Mistakes

In business organisations—and in hotels, of course—mistakes are forbidden. There is no room for failure, especially when it stems from an action taken outside the boundaries set by conventional wisdom. The problem is that mistakes are not only beneficial, but necessary. Of course, we are not referring to an error that shakes the foundations of the entire organisation, but rather to the mistakes employees make in their day-to-day work. We say they are beneficial and necessary because mistakes are one of the foundations of learning and improvement. An organisation’s progress towards excellence—the goal every hotel should pursue—requires that learning and those mistakes. However, a mistake will generate only negative effects if we are unable to analyse it and draw the appropriate lessons from it. It is worth remembering the three pillars of human resources management: training, freedom and responsibility. Training helps minimise mistakes; freedom is the environment in which employees operate and where those mistakes may occur; and responsibility is the means through which employees analyse their mistakes and draw the right conclusions. Let us remember, then, that mistakes enable improvement and learning. But allowing mistakes also prevents the organisation from becoming paralysed. An employee who fears making mistakes is an employee who is paralysed, afraid to act and take the initiative. An employee who fears mistakes is an employee who fears responsibility and whose capacity for action is curtailed. Consider mistakes as another management tool, and give your employees the means and opportunities to make them and to analyse them effectively. Remember that your organisation is not perfect: mistakes will happen. Put mechanisms in place to make the most of them, rather than limiting yourself to reproach.