Stopping a blame culture

Often people that we work with struggle with the fact that they operate in what is referred to as a blame culture. In other words, they operate in an environment where people are singled out, blamed, and criticized for mistakes or errors they may have made.
Blame cultures result in higher levels of turnover, reduced engagement, productivity, taking of responsibility, job satisfaction, levels of innovation.
All in all, a blame culture will ultimately have a significant impact on organizational performance.
Given the negative impact on an organization, how do you stop a blame culture? Here are a few tips:
- Create awareness of the negative thought patterns resulting from a blame culture (powerlessness, pessimism, helplessness, anger) and replace blame with accountability and responsibility which in turn will result in positive thought patterns (self-confidence, autonomy, self-reflection).
- Promote co-creation to engage employees through collaboration and a shared purpose.
- Be self-aware about using blame and excuses to avoid taking responsibility. The creation of a no-blame culture starts with you.
- Lead with empathy and care about the person first, rather than the role or function.
- Celebrate errors and mistakes as opportunities for learning.
- Reinforce the desired behaviour, offer guidance and follow-up to ensure it permeates all team interactions.