Hi Zoe

If you haven't been shouted at, disciplined or dismissed then no one noticed your mistakes.

As someone with 12 years years service in the Royal Navy and wearing 3 Good Conduct stripes said to me once, "Those 3 stripes represent 12 years of undetected misconduct or mistakes".

David

HI Zoe
Have you reached out to your local CIPD Branch? I would suggest that as a starting point to grow your "HR Circle"
Also when i was stand alone I would have contacted people on LinkedIn in the same industry as me and have built up a good social network over the years through that. And of course you have the Community here to bounce things off.

Hi Zoe, are you in the HR Ninjas facebook group? Loads of great posts and discussions on there and there are local meet ups too!

In reply to Eva:

I have never heard of them. I will go and look for them.

Two weeks into a new job, I mis-drafted a settlement agreement and cost my employer £25k.

Not my finest hour.

In reply to Robey:

But you are guaranteed at least one Christmas card for life ;)

Reading Robey's mistake just reminded me of similiar error I made.

I worked in an American Bank as a telex operator, sending messages between traders/brokers and the main bank in the USA. One of the directors was Italian. The bank dealt mostly in stocks and shares for rather rich people here and there.

Myself and the other telex operator were given messages giving to sell or buy certain shares. Unlike the military where messages were always written out on form which minimised mistakes, important items were spelt out too. But at this bank, we got instructions to sell on the back of old envelopes, bits of torn paper or simply a bit of writing circled on someone's notes they'd been discussing with a customer over the phone and covered in crossings out and deletions. It didn't help that some of their writing was amongst the worst I'd seen. Nothing was ever checked.

One day the Italian banker dropped in a note to buy 7000 shares for himself in an American based company. So I deciphered the scribble, typed it up, and sent it to the USA.

The next morning the Italian came in and pointed out that I'd made a mistake and in that I'd accidentally added/typed an extra nought to the amount.

I didn't get sacked for that.

And they still handed us scruffy illegible scraps and scribbles.

In reply to David Perry:

Similar to Robey, in my first job working for an Employers Association, I miscalculated and then put the decimal point in the wrong place so our National Agreement on Lodging Allowance nearly ended up as £1.50 per hour instead of 15p. That was a lot of money in the 80s! Luckily my boss spotted it before the Photocopy Room (yes, I am going back a bit!) photocopied and posted the allowances to all our members!

In reply to Zoe:

So glad to hear Eva mention HR Ninjas, such a great group for people working solo and there are others too. The CIPD is a great option, they often have independent groups. I run my own community and like to recommend communities to others as a source of learning. I'd also recommend building out what some on social media grandly call a PLN - personal learning network. Those are connections you feel able to trust, share, work out loud with and reach out to when you want a second opinion or as a sounding board. Personally, I find reframing mistakes as learning opportunities helpful as a solo person. I am also open about making errors - I correct them quickly so they are not really too critical. If we learn from them, it's what matters. We all have our career howlers. We are human after all.

Being a people pleaser, I once made a basic mistake during a disciplinary process which ended in a dismissal (with notice) of a fixed term employee. The matter was dealt with on appeal (upholding the decision to dismiss with notice, the mistake had no bearing on the outcome) and got no further, but true to form for that employer, no one told me about what mistake I had made/provided any feedback although it must have been totally obvious to the HR person advising on the appeal... Years later I realised my mistake and cringed. I found that place poisonous and the lack of feedback incredibly hard to deal with.
Moral of the story: don't stay in bad jobs - get out while you can!

In reply to Robey:

I'm experiencing some mistakes of my own, may I ask how you've overcome it?

Hello, I completely understand how you feel. It's natural to feel anxious when transitioning to a new job, especially in the field of human resources where every decision and mistake may seem significant. I believe that all of us make mistakes at the beginning of our careers, and these mistakes are part of the learning process. The important thing is to learn from them and gather the lessons that help us improve our performance. When you don't have someone you trust to share your mistakes and experiences with, things can feel overwhelming in your mind. But remember that even small mistakes can be opportunities for growth. Reading about others' stories and experiences can help reduce this sense of isolation. You can also set aside some time to evaluate the mistakes that occur—ask yourself: "What have I learned from this situation?" and "How can I handle it differently in the future?" This approach will help you build self-confidence and ensure that you are on the path to improvement. Finally, try to find someone experienced in your field who can serve as a mentor or trusted colleague. Having someone you can share your challenges with will help alleviate any pressure or anxiety you may be feeling.

In reply to Hanna:

Mistakes happen. Forgive yourself and forgive others.

Easy to say, harder to do. But I have found that getting into the habit of forgiving others for their mistakes makes it easier to forgive yourself. If you are struggling with this, you may want to talk to a therapist.