Accountability in the workplace begins with a culture of ownership.
At its core, accountability means that individuals take responsibility for their actions and decisions without needing external prompting. It involves voluntarily acknowledging one's role in various situations instead of shifting blame onto others.
Accountability in the workplace means that all employees are accountable for their acts, attitudes, performance, results, and decisions. An accountable workplace increases commitment to work and boosts employee morale, resulting in higher performance.
Workplace accountability enables high-performing teams to eliminate surprises, build trust, and cultivate strong working relationships. Ultimately, accountability is about taking full responsibility for oneself.
To support this, tools like workforce management software can be invaluable for HR professionals. These tools help create workforce efficiency reports and provide deeper insights into people issues, further promoting a culture of accountability within the organization.
A workplace without accountability suffers from an accountability gap – a situation where people don’t do what they should be doing. As a result, you see unmet expectations, bad behavior, and broken commitments.
Employee accountability refers to several different characteristics.
In reality, accountability at work is all of the above, which runs like a machine. However, if the employees do not have accountability mechanisms in place, things quickly fall apart. To avoid this, every employee should be accountable for their own actions at work. It builds confidence within teams and organizations because people know they can depend on one another.
Accountable leaders are more likely to be trusted and respected since people know they keep their promises. Personal accountability can also save both time and money. People with accountability take a stand when there is a problem and search for solutions. It keeps the problem from worsening, but it also avoids extra costs and delays. On the contrary, unaccountable employees don't contribute to team success and can provide an inaccurate image of the organization.
A lack of accountability at work results in missed deadlines, unfinished work, and intra-team disengagement. When no one takes responsibility to make decisions and get things done, you’re likely to see:
Lack of accountability comes at a high cost. Before you think about embedding accountability in the workplace, let’s see how you can demonstrate accountability.
High-performing teams create a culture of accountability by communicating openly, sharing progress reports, being proactive, and showing commitment to work. They conduct weekly meetings to learn what team members are working on, see if they need something from the team, and ask if the team needs anything from them.
Check out these examples to learn what workplace accountability looks like:
Forcing accountability in the workplace isn’t a good idea. That’s why you should focus on making accountability a part of your culture. Want to know how to do it right? Keep reading.
You can’t expect your employees to be accountable without giving them guidelines on approaching situations in which accountability is needed. Here are 12 easy ways to help your employees (and yourself) become more accountable for your actions at work.
Most managers have to deal with poor employee performance at some point. Discussing poor or failing performance can be confrontational, but it has to be dealt with as quickly as possible. If you don't, it will result in significant issues. You need to understand the root cause before you can repair bad results. You must understand whether it is because of a lack of ability or low motivation.
Incorrect diagnosis of performance issues can potentially lead to several problems. If you think an employee doesn't make enough effort, you'll probably place added pressure on them to succeed. However, if the actual problem is capability, then heightened stress will only make this situation worse. This is where your leadership qualities will matter.
One thing that should be highly considered here is written communication. It will help employees know what is expected and make them feel more accountable for their roles. As such, they won’t be able to make excuses for not knowing or understanding anything.
Goal-setting is the most important factor for fostering an environment that encourages accountability. You probably need to redefine your goals if you encounter a persistent lack of accountability at work.
Developing SMART goals can help to aim for realistic goals tied to specific business metrics that set a clear line for success. It allows people to understand their areas of responsibility and the work they need to contribute to the company-wide objectives. While setting goals, it’s also important to understand what is not a priority. Too many tasks will reduce productivity and accountability. Thus, make sure the expectations you set are achievable.
Accountability needs a structure for all open-ended tasks; otherwise, there will be no accountability for deadlines that don't exist. So, be clear when a job or deliverable is due, and set up notifications to remind team members when deadlines are coming.
Before you set these alerts, be sure to discuss them with the team and get their feedback about this system. Answer all of their questions to help them understand the process. This will help you avoid the impression that you're always looking over their shoulders.
Employees who receive the necessary training and learning breaks are more able to carry out their duties. Organizations need to provide employees with opportunities to strengthen, grow, and change through interactions between managers and workers or as part of an ongoing growth course.
Millennial employees highly consider the ability to learn and develop in their job above all other criteria. It helps them overcome the hurdles that hinder their ability, improve their understanding of their duties, and create trust. Besides, learning makes employees competent enough to adapt to changing industry standards, helping them hold a leading position in the industry.
So many managers prefer it but don't do it. You should immediately put a follow-up on your calendar after you have completed a meeting with your team and ask them to do the same. If you don't check it up, it gives out the wrong message and seems like it doesn't matter what they're working on.
While reaching out, make sure that you contact the right person in the first place, that is, someone who has decision-making control for your team. Also, your follow-ups should maintain regular consistency for maximum results.
To improve employee accountability, you, as a manager, must improve your 360-degree feedback skills. It is one of the most efficient ways to foster a culture of accountability – or, if the damage has already been done, address a lack of accountability. Of course, it's not easy to give challenging feedback, but you have to get better at it.
When you give feedback regularly, it is much easier to give and receive harsh feedback. It also reduces the likelihood of your direct report being surprised by the feedback they're receiving (which often leads to disengagement).
Your feedback should be clear, direct, and unambiguous. To make accountability a habit, here are a few questions that you can put forward to your direct reports:
Because merely giving feedback to employees isn't enough. Maintaining open and flexible employee relations will make them feel comfortable talking about your performance candidly with you.
As such, you will be able to understand the employee behaviors, spot negative habits, anticipate problems within the team, and know what they expect from you as their leader. Not being immune to criticism makes this a one-sided situation and discourages the employees from taking feedback seriously. Thus, it can be said that accountable leaders should seek feedback from the employees because feedback creates responsible people.
Employees are expected to behave accordingly in a given role or work environment. However, many times, they fail to understand the impact of their behavior on their team. As a manager, you should be kind enough to find out the root cause of their problem and understand what motivates them. It will help mitigate issues long before they arise.
Suppose one of your employee’s children is sick, so the employee requests a more flexible work schedule. You should be able to find a solution based on the employee’s status and your business’ policies.
You could offer them a work-from-home opportunity to supplement their situation. This kind of consideration can immediately improve employee morale and keep them more dedicated to their work and company.
Leaders hesitate to engage in challenging conversations as they are unsure how to approach their employees. Sometimes, they are worried the talk won't go well, and the workers get upset. The concern is reasonable.
Some employees don't like being told they make bad decisions or underperform. They don't want to realize how their behavior affects their co-workers. But if you're going to make your employees feel accountable for their performances and committed to achieving their objectives, you have to break the silence.
Make your conversation an open dialog to support your case with proven facts and data. But to make it sound more logical, take a moment and listen to their side of the story.
The discussion should always end on a positive note. It will help them to feel that they can do better. You should review the situation once it has begun to resolve or improve. However, such conversations should always be kept confidential between you and that particular employee.
Developing a situation of fear will give you success in the short term, but it will not establish long-term accountability. If employees are afraid of their managers' criticism, they will hardly look out for any support when needed.
As a result, they will tend to quit your team. Be sure to recognize the good things that your employees do. Continuous criticism can make them feel exhausted and frustrated. Nothing can get better if you can lead them by your examples. Learn to admit your own mistakes and, in doing so, explain what you have learned to your team for future reference.
Management should provide the resources necessary for employees to carry out their tasks. Employees may complain about a lack of work arrangements when asked to fulfill their duties and meet goals without getting the proper resources.
According to Peter Bregman, it is essential to ask:
"What skills and resources does the person need to meet the expectations? If they don't have it, can they acquire what's missing? If so, what's the plan? If not, you'll need to delegate to someone else. Else, you're setting them up for failure."
Without adequate resources, your employees are more likely to blame the organization rather than keep themselves accountable.
Regardless of your company's size, technology has both tangible and intangible benefits that will help you stand out in the market, earn profit, and deliver customer-oriented results. Technological advancement affects a company's culture, performance, and relationships. It also helps protect sensitive information and boosts communication with stakeholders.
Technological disruptions have primarily affected the way businesses are operated today. Every sector of the economy has seen technology take over traditional business processes. Staying updated about state-of-the-art technologies trending in the sector can boost the accountability of employees and the organization in general.
An organization that can search for new opportunities will remain a step ahead of its competition. So, it is of utmost importance for every employee to keep themselves abreast of the latest trends in the market and adopt and innovate new technologies to outgrow their competitors strategically.
People should do what they say they will do to keep themselves accountable. This makes it more straightforward, but it also tends to make people want to go the additional mile because they can see their success without merely being forced to do the job.
Leaders can't impose a real sense of responsibility on people. However, they can create conditions that support personal engagement by creating a strong company culture of accountability.
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