How do I handle this work issue?

Question

In a nutshell, I blew it, big time. I was completely wrong and I am completely embarassed to say the least. Thank God for anonymity on this site so I can get some advice. I am a supervisor and I told them to leave work early on Friday to spend time with their families. I did not get prior approval from my supervisor to do this and she is upset. I basically shut down my department and gave them additional paid time off for about 2 hours without executive approval. Dumbie, I know. But, it truly never ocurred to me to even think it would be a problem. The department was so slow, and nothing was going on, so I just thought it'd be nice to let them go home early. She, my supervisor, is very upset with me. She said we'd "deal with it after Christmas." I don't blame her for being upset. I've worried all weekend. Do I take it, apologize and hope things are forgotten about later? Or would it be in my best interest to go ahead and start looking for employment elsewhere?Embarassed!

Answer 1

You acted spontaneously and you had the best interest of the people you supervise in mind. This action will likely be of benefit to your company because the employees under you will have more loyalty and feel more valuable to the company.
Many businesses that used to give Christmas bonuses do not do that anymore. Think of that 2 hours you gave them as a Christmas bonus! Now, as to handling YOUR supervisor, here is a dialogue that might help. Don't spoil your Christmas over this. It will all come out OK in the end. Here is a suggestion of what you might say:
--------------, I know I made a mistake when I let my employees leave early last Friday, I guess the Christmas Spirit got the best of me. I apologize for not asking you if it would be permissible to send them home early. I definitely have learned a lesson, believe me, I have kicked myself for it. If you want, I will work one of my days off to make up for the paid time off the employees received.. I sincerely apologize."

Actually, I was just thinking - maybe it would be better if you wrote or printed out something along those lines and gave it to her to read. It would probably be easier on you. Whatever you feel she would be most likely to take in the right spirit.

Also, perhaps the Christmas spirit will be with her next week and she will just say "not to worry, I know you meant well."

Answer 2

She will tell you what you can do to fix this. Since you took it on yourself to give them paid time off it cost the company money. Explain things were slow so it wasn't as bad as if things were swamped. Explain you miss understood where your discression
ended and it won't happen again. If you can offer to get your people to work harder the next couple of weeks do it. Explain to your people you are behind because of the holidays so you need them to bust their tails for the next couple of weeks.
She may not be angry after Christmas so an apology that is believable may be all that is needed. Make sure you don't exceed your authority again when unsure ask.

Answer 3

I suggest that you don't make any excuses when you meet with your boss. You are correct when you admitted above that you were wrong and you blew it. Admit it to your boss, accept responsibility, and assure her that you will not do it again. Accept any disciplinary action gracefully. I respect people who take responsibility for mistakes and your boss may too.

Yes, it's possible that you could be fired, but there's a good chance that you'll get a warning instead if you otherwise have a good track record. I made a very dumb mistake early in my career and expected to be fired for it. I took full responsibility. They told me not to let it happen again and kept me on. I stayed for 13 more years and had several promotions.

Don't send out the resumes just yet. There's a reasonable chance that you won't need them. Good luck!

Answer 4

While you did do something nice for your employees, you did operate outside of company policy and protocal and obviously outside of the scope of your level of responsibility...you need to pretty much take it, apologize and make sure that you set the expectation for your supervisor that it won't happen again. You have to understand that your supervisor will need to explain why you closed down your deparment to his/her supervisor.

Answer 5

Apologize and ask her ..do I need to go job hunting??? She may laugh and say no.....but explain to her why you did it why you thought it was okay.....and that you have learned a lesson, it will not happen again!