I discovered a MAJOR mistake at work, and am not sure how to proceed?

Question

I can't give every detail, but I discovered a HUGE mistake, which took a massive, mostly physical, effort to fix, and it was fixed, but I have told nobody in my "chain of command." There are a number of people who are aware and involved in the mistake (I was not involved except in the discovery) and one person who heads a department who "outranks" me who is aware. I'm in an ethical dilemma because I don't know if I should tell people within my own department above me, causing a lot of grief for a lot of people, or just leave it alone since this one person as department head knows. But people from different departments would be involved. He has direct access to the Director and Asst. Director (not that I don't but I don't just walk in and start talking usually). I have no idea what he plans to do. Any ideas?

My job is not at stake at all.

Answer 1

You really didn't give enough detail to determine if there is even an ethical dilemma.

In a normal course of business, a lot of things are done. While many things are done without problems, some end in a state that is less than perfect. It is only natural that mistake is committed every now and then. Then there is a check-and-balance in place to find these mistakes and correct it, then the business will go on.

Unless there was a concerted effort to hide the mistake, this is usually not considered as an ethical issue. Rather, it is considered a routine and an event to learn from, for the next time.

If the department head knows about this, it could be that he has made a decision that he will take the responsibility for the mistake from his own cost center.

Remember, in a large corporation, chain of command has authority at every level, and unless the issue is significant or exceeds the authority at the level, not everything is relayed to the top. That's why managers have authorities.

Consider this before you assume you have an ethical ground to go above someone's head.

Plus, what you see as a major mistake may not be as bad when looked at from larger prospective. After all, you did say, you were able to fix the issue with (lots of) labor. It was a fixable mistake.

Answer 2

I would follow the 'chain of command'...or the 'process' that is in place. IF this were a regular thing, I would say for sure, go over the dept head...but if it's a one time thing, let the dept head deal with it. You could actually be doing more harm than good by going around him. Perhaps the people above your dept head already know and are taking care of it. There are just other variables that you are likely not aware of. You don't know what the dept head will do, but that's okay. You might never know, and that is also okay. Again, if a regular occurrence, go above him/her...if a one time problem, let it go.

Answer 3

If I were you, I would go to my direct supervisor and tell him or her just what I know. It's likely that your supervisor knows already, but also, maybe your supervisor doesn't know. But once you tell your boss (and document what you tell that person in writing) then it's time to shut up about it. You've done what you can.
And if the effort really was that massive, then I'm sure everyone already knows what happened.
But whatever you do, don't go beyond your chain of command...when you go over the chain of command, you only will get yourself in trouble.

Answer 4

My mom had this same dilemma except she found out about it after it was too late. The people eventually got busted and they were fired. However they tried to blame other co-workers and they didn't get their year end bonus. Look out for yourself, obviously they are! If you can be anonymous try that - maybe type a letter to the head of the company.

Answer 5

Being a woman, I saw this many times and I would say that I would look for another job first to protect myself and after I got one that I was comfortable with. I would tell others but your job should not be on the line for the mistakes of others.

Answer 6

if you owned the company and someone knew that a mistake like the that occurred was made, would you not want to know who done it...the person who outranks you know who has made the mistake and has not informed others...talk to him and see what he is going to do...will this mistake get others fired or just severely reprimanded? because i personally would not want to be responsible for get many people fired unless that the threatened lots of people...

Answer 7

Ignore it