Nobody likes a finger being pointed at them and being blamed for something. However, individuals typically tend to blame other people within the place of work and more so, when confronted with a troublesome state of affairs (like recessionary pressures or the fear of getting fired from one’s job). Such conditions launch a person’s defensive mechanisms and frequently the easiest way out is to blame someone else.

Blaming other individuals at the workplace, especially in public, can have more harmful results than you expect. It isn’t something which individuals don’t take note of and react to. Based on a recent study (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Stanford University and USC Marshall), blaming other people in public dramatically raises the probability that the practice will turn out to be viral and spread throughout the office. This due to the fact that after we see others defending their egos, we get defensive too and we then attempt to shield our personal self-image by blaming others for our mistakes, which may feel good in the moment. Nonetheless, in the long term, such behaviour could harm one’s image and be destructive to an company as a whole. When public blaming becomes frequent practice – especially by senior people – its impact on a corporation might be insidious and withering: People who are afraid of being blamed for something turn out to be less willing to take risks, are less innovative or creative and are much less prone to learn from their mistakes. That is clearly not something you want in your company, especially when it can be avoided without that a lot of hassle.

Here are just a few options for handling the blame-game better:

- Assign blame when necessary however do so privately

- Offer reward publically to create a constructive attitude within the office

- Lead by example – as a supervisor make it a point to publically acknowledge your mistakes and present the way you learned from them

Amit Puri has more than 10 years of career advisory & management expertise. He heads Sandbox Advisors a career, job search, recruitment & HR consulting firm in Singapore.Visit their (Career & Job Search Insights) for news &advice on resume examples, job interview answers, job openings, career change & more.