Workers’ Biggest Workplace Fear: Making a Job-Related Mistake

The most common fear expressed by employees in an Accountemps survey was making a mistake in the workplace, reported by 28 percent of respondents. When answering the question, “Which one of the following is your greatest workplace fear?” the survey revealed the following breakdown:

• Errors on the job – 28 percent

• Dealing with difficult customers or clients – 18 percent

• Conflicts with a manager – 15 percent

• Speaking in front of a group – 13 percent

• Conflicts with coworkers – 13 percent

• No fear – 3 percent

• Other – 7 percent

• Don’t know/no answer – 4 percent

“Mistakes will happen from time to time, and a healthy concern for avoiding them improves job performance — as long as that concern doesn’t undermine one’s confidence,” said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps. “Fear of failure holds many people back in their careers, but without smart risks new ideas would never take shape.”

Accountemps offered the following advice for workers in addressing their workplace fears:

• Prioritize responsibilities and delegate

• Keep manager aware of concerns and work to develop a strategy for overcoming them

• Ask a mentor for advice and seek feedback from colleagues and supervisors

• Thank those who help you in any way

• Volunteer to help coworkers when they are overburdened and praise their efforts when they do good work.