What kind of small mistakes would you let slide on a new workers first day?

I remember when I first started working with my neighbor as a teenager. We worked long hours for very little pay, but I took pride in learning the work and doing things the right way. One day, I made a mistake and left his STIHL backpack blower at a job site. When we went back, it was gone. He was understandably upset and raised his voice, but I stayed composed, owned the mistake, and didn’t make excuses.

That moment stuck with me. Instead of letting it discourage me, it pushed me to be more detail-oriented, accountable, and professional in everything I do. I learned early on that mistakes will happen, but how you respond is what defines you. Since then, I’ve made it a priority to double-check my work, respect other people’s property, and carry myself with professionalism no matter the situation.

That experience helped shape how I run my business today—with accountability, consistency, and a strong work ethic.

Our new technicians tend to be super nervous their first day- new job, new environment, new people (all women at that!)

We have had trainees use alkaline cleaners where they should've used acidic.. or changed the thermostat up in a client's home without permission.. or parked in a driveway without knowing we aren't allowed-- all of these are learning lessons.

We are very lenient related to these things, but when it comes to disrespect toward other team members or our clients, we have pulled after 1-2 days. 

Everyone makes mistakes, not just the new guys. It’s how those mistakes are handled that really matters. PricePremierFL said it the best. Excuses and blame shifting tell me that person is never going to learn from their mistakes. That is someone I don’t want representing me and my company. 

I agree to all of those replies. Sometimes good workers beat themselves up more than you would, especially if they care. You can train and train people but cant make them care! 

For me, it depends on the mistake and the attitude behind it. Leaving a ladder or a tool behind on day one isn’t ideal, but it’s also not the end of the world if the person owns it, fixes it, and shows they actually care. I’m big on accountability. If you can admit it, correct it, and not make it a pattern, we’re good.  

Red flags for me are excuses, blame-shifting, or acting like the mistake isn’t a big deal. I can teach skills all day, but I can’t teach work ethic or character. First-day nerves are normal, lack of responsibility isn’t.

Real red flags are usually personality traits: sloppy, disrespectful, slow to help, etc.

Everything is new to him today. You, the vehicle, the Client, the clothes (if he's in uniform). It makes sense he'd overlook something small like that - especially because he can't take one look at the back of your truck and say "Something's missing here".

If anything, his response to the ladder incident makes me think MORE of him, not less.

Bottom line: congrats on hiring your first employee! That's HUGE. Your entire "business owner immune system" is hyperactive right now 😄. It's trying to protect your business!

I tend to be fairly easygoing for the first few days. Its a highly stressful time for the new employee and they probably aren't thinking at their most efficient. After a few weeks, maybe a month I start to focus in a bit more and dial in on correcting mistakes. I think it would have to be a pretty significant mess up to fire a guy on day one. Only time I've seen it was when I was a foreman for a previous employer and a guy showed up drunk on day one, he wasn't allowed to come back, thats a red flag for sure!