Communication training in LucerneAfter a mistake: how can managers apologise with a meaningful commitment?
After a service failure or a broken promise, a manager may want to move on quickly by apologising. But what should that message contain to begin making amends rather than simply end the conversation?
1. What the literature establishes
Roy J. Lewicki, Beth Polin and Robert B. Lount Jr. (2016, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research) examined how different components of an apology influence its perceived effectiveness. In their experiments, acknowledging responsibility and offering repair were among the most important components. An apology therefore does more than express regret: it also indicates what the speaker accepts responsibility for and proposes to put right.
2. The mechanism: acknowledging a mistake does not always mean the same thing
Peter H. Kim, Donald L. Ferrin, Cecily D. Cooper and Kurt T. Dirks (2004, Journal of Applied Psychology) show that an apology's effect depends partly on whether the alleged failure concerns competence or integrity. In their experimental setting, apologies repaired trust more effectively than denial following a competence-related allegation, whereas denial had an advantage following an integrity-related allegation. Admitting fault can thus signal an ability to improve, but it can also reinforce doubts about honesty.
3. The hasty conclusion: choosing words that protect one's image
These findings do not justify denying an established failure to protect one's reputation. Rather, they show why a universal apology formula is insufficient: an execution error and a knowingly misleading promise raise different concerns. A manager's response must remain faithful to established facts and distinguish explanation, responsibility and repair. (our executive and employee training programmes)
4. The limits: a well-rated apology is not a repaired relationship
These studies rely on experimental situations and judgements that do not reproduce the full history of a working relationship. They do not establish that wording judged effective restores trust over time after repeated incidents. In practice, following up on an apology is therefore necessary, without equating a fulfilled commitment with restored trust.
5. A practical check in Lucerne
In Lucerne, tourism, hospitality, regional financial services and industrial SMEs provide settings where short lines of communication and the strong regional ties of many family-run businesses make commitments particularly visible. As hypothetical examples, a mishandled booking or a missed delivery deadline could be used in SHR's “Communication” programme to practise an apology that separates the acknowledged facts, accepted responsibility and a corrective action with a deadline. One exercise is to review service-related apology messages over a month, recording whether each promised action has an owner and a deadline. When deadlines arrive, counting completed actions among those due provides a check on whether commitments were honoured, without claiming that this alone measures restored trust. To go further: explore the Communication training in Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.
In pictures: Communication in Lucerne
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