Organizations around the world are losing billions of dollars due to Human Error. A study by the global analyst firm, IDC, revealed the losses at an average of $624 per employee per year. The findings also highlighted that the real cost may be a lot higher when factors such as reputational damage, loss of trust, loss of life, physical injuries, etc. are taken into consideration.
In 1999, NASA lost approximately $125 million when their Mars Climate Orbiter was lost in space. Investigations revealed that the main cause was a measurement oversight by a small team of engineers who were working on a separate software measuring data in different units (pounds & newtons). This oversight resulted in muddled data and hence, resulted in huge losses.
This reinforces that Human Error is inevitable, not only in businesses but also in other aspects of our lives. While there is no way to eliminate it, there are many definite measures that we can take to minimize it. Technology, automation, training, review, etc. are a few ways of minimizing the impact of Human Error but the one which would give the maximum result would be a solution that focuses on the root cause of r the problem i.e., the Human themself. While the broad framework remains the same, there is not one solution that is applicable to all. The solution depends on various factors like Maturity Level (Organization & Employees), Skill & Competency Level, Training Effectiveness, Culture (within and outside the organization), checks and balances, etc.
First step would be to categorize Human Error as shown in Figure 1. In most cases, a trend quickly emerges within the organization; more than 70% of the Errors would belong to either just one or two categories.
Once the main category is identified, the next step would be to identify the root cause. Again, the root cause would be different for different individuals but in any organization, this would broadly fall between 3 and5 areas. Getting to the root cause would involve skillful probing, analysis, and behavioral science expertise. Figure 2 shows an example of a root cause, a ‘Routine Intentional Error’ of one of the organizations.
FIGURE 2: Root Cause for a Routine Intentional Error
Unless the root cause is addressed for each individual, there will not be a sustainable reduction in Human Error. For example, an employee with a mindset that they can get away with an incorrect practice and an attitude of complacency, is unlikely to change with repeated training or instructions.
Hence the ideal approach to reduce Human Error would be to have a customized approach for each individual that focuses on their behavior and attitude that causes Human Errors. The solution is as follows: create awareness/ sensitivity, an urgency to change, provide motivation and feedback, and build skill to promote desired behaviors and prevent undesired behaviors.
As mentioned above, there is no one solution that fits every organization and therefore, it’s essential to conduct a diagnosis to understand the factors (individual, organizational and external) that contribute to Human Error and then accordingly design the optimum solution.
To know more on how to design the optimum solution tailor-made for each organization and employee, please reach us at contactus@seek-app.com
