Accountability in the workplace is a basic tenet of a successful business culture. It is interesting how many businesses find themselves in a malaise when it comes to practicing the philosophy, however. For businesses to remain competitive and deliver quality, not only does the company have to be responsive to the market and accountable to shareholders, but employees must be passionate and accountable for the product they deliver.
I am a firm believer in accountability and it is not meant to introduce a “gotcha” culture. By holding your team to standards of excellence and setting expectations, your team will be rewarded and feel empowered to grow the business. When companies create mission statements that claim their employees are their greatest asset, it is not just an empty slogan. Employees that feel valued and part of a team deliver results, work efficiently and are passionate about what they do. As management, it is your responsibility to reward and encourage that passion by focusing on the employees that deliver a superior work product.
On the other hand, management must introduce progressive discipline to weed out employees that do not meet expectations. This is why progressive discipline is an employee benefit. Without holding low performers accountable, a company de-motivates high performers. If a company rewards high performers and takes action against those that do not deliver, the high performers see management as removing obstacles to everyone’s success.
How do you create a culture of accountability? Here are a few tips:
- When assigning projects, assign responsible parties and delivery dates. Then, follow up. If a date is missed without a true and factual reason then disciplinary action is needed. Show the team that when you own a task, you also own the responsibility for completing the task.
- Eliminate the blame game.
- Counsel passive aggressive employees.
- Reward high performers publicly with praise and promotion.
- Lead by example. If management makes a promise, deliver.
- Transparency. Stop gossip and speculation about projects and initiatives by holding open forums with staff.
- Empower staff to make decisions, don’t micro-manage good people.
- Show the results. Share your successes as a company with everyone from management to front line employees.
- Celebrate your mistakes. Don’t hide or try to cover up missteps. Bring them out in the open and discuss them and use them as a “case study” on how you can improve next time.
Employees want to feel a sense of pride in their work and a sense of pride about where they work. Accountability provides a sense of ownership in the workplace and owners want to see a company succeed.
