Contract Work: When Blame Masks Systemic Failures

What would you do if two of your contractors failed to do perform a task that a third contractor figured out in five minutes?

Terminate their contracts? Retrain them? The answer is not as simple as you might think.

An Example of Contract Work

I recently bought a townhouse. As someone with a Type A Personality, I bought all the essentials on the same day: utilities, change-of-address request, and, most importantly, internet.

I got an competitive offer for fiber internet from a popular provider. I double checked their site to ensure my building complex was “internet-ready”, then bought a self-installation modem.

Once my modem arrived, I realized there was no coaxial outlet in my home. I even contacted my builder to confirm it wasn’t hidden somewhere, and he clarified the internet provider can install one for me.

I called to have a technician do so. The phone operator was insistent that I triple check my house for that outlet, but he eventually scheduled the appointment.

When that date came, the technician immediately asked, “So, where is your coaxial outlet?”

“I don’t have one. I thought you were going to install it.”

He looked surprised but said he could. He stepped outside to my utility box, looked around for about five minutes, then stepped back inside.

“Actually, I can’t. Your utility box has no outlets. I’ll put in a work order for this.”

He said someone should contact me in three days to discuss next steps. Four days later, I decided to call and check in.

After I explained to this phone operator that I, in fact, did not have a coaxial outlet, he realized that the work order failed to automatically schedule a follow-up appointment. He manually scheduled one and apologized for the inconvenience.

When that technician arrived, he asked an all-too-familiar question: “Where is your coaxial outlet?”

“I don’t have one. I thought you were here to install ports on my utility box.”

He looked at my utility box, walked around my building for about ten minutes, then stepped back inside.

“I can’t do this job. Your utility box isn’t hooked up. I’ll put in a work order for this.”

This time, I decided to call proactively to ensure I’m not waiting around for an appointment that doesn’t exist.

The phone operator was somewhat bemused I didn’t have a coaxial outlet, but after providing him with some context, he assured me that I’ll get an email within the next three days.

After another four days of waiting, I called back. This phone operator, who sounded suspiciously like a bot, struggled to grasp the concept of a home without a coaxial outlet already installed. Once I caught her up on the situation, she scheduled another appointment for me, assuring me this new technician will have all the information he needs to finally get me hooked up.

He showed up right on time, and you won’t believe what his first question was:

“Where is your coaxial outlet?”

“I don’t have one. I thought you were here to hook up my utility box.”

He stepped outside, looked at the utility box for about five minutes, then came back in.

“I can’t do this job. This building is not internet-ready because there’s no conduit; you’ll need your builder to install one.”

“Well, that’s a bummer.”

“It stinks for me, too. I’m just a contractor, so I don’t get paid for incomplete work.”

Huh. That explains a lot, actually.

The Rundown

When workers fail seemingly simple tasks, our first instinct is to blame their competency. It’s called Actor / Observer Bias. We’re quick to judge the internal characteristics of people who make mistakes, often overlooking the external circumstances at play.

This is especially problematic for contract work, where managers are heavily distanced from their subordinates. They get very little context going into an incident investigation, so their decision-making is fueled off nothing more than biases and preconceptions.

Retraining or terminating the first two technicians would not solve the issues plaguing this company. Based off my limited context, I could already tell you a few areas worth investigating:

• There is a serious communication issue at this company. Somehow, what needed to be performed was consistently lost between the phone operator and the technician.
• It seems like a critical automation system is not setting up appointments as intended. Their website also incorrectly stated my home as internet-ready.
• Not paying technicians for incomplete work is a recipe for disaster. Since these guys knew they weren’t getting paid, they has no reason to fully investigate the problem. 
• Phone operators and technicians were both underprepared to handle a situation where a coaxial outlet needed to be installed.

Contract Workers Deserve Better

If you’re dealing with contract workers, give them the benefit of the doubt. As you can see, seemingly simple blunders can actually be the result of fairly complex issues.

Some of our clients train their contract workers on TapRooT® RCA just so everyone is on the same page: incident investigations are not about blame, but problem-solving.

If you’re interested interested in providing TapRooT® Training to your workforce, you reach out on our contact page or email us directly at info@taproot.com.