All the employees working with an organization will sooner or later arrive at an intersection, where they will choose to take one of the routes. They will either buy into the vision of the organization and its leadership, which means they are committing their future to it and are ready to invest time and work harder to help it achieve its short-term and long-term goals. Or they will take the easy way out and choose not to contribute wholeheartedly to the success of the organization without actually leaving. They will just do enough to avoid coming in the line of fire. These two instances showcase the two extremes that employee accountability or lack of it can mean for organizations.
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What does employee accountability actually stand for?
Accountability at work can be divided into two types. First, the accountability for daily work and second is the accountability for communication and disagreement. Employee accountability in daily work relates to taking responsibility for your part in a project, communicating requirements and deliverables, discussing failures and successes, and finding out ways to get better in the future.
Employees who find no problem in holding themselves accountable for the work assigned to them on a daily basis by their managers make sure that they keep everyone involved well informed about the status of their respective tasks and share their plan of action of how they are going to get things done without dishonoring with the deadlines.
These employees communicate proactively, which ensures that there is enough time left to get things right in case something has gone wrong from their end. Accountability for daily work also relates to taking full responsibility for failures as well as successes. These employees don’t shift the blame on others or make excuses if they aren’t able to achieve their goals. Accountability in case of disagreement or conflict is a little complicated. Employees that hold themselves responsible for their failures may have to learn to give a genuine and sincere apology for their inability to reach the pre-defined targets. This could be a challenge for several employees, a challenge that will have to learn to overcome sooner rather than later.
Why is workplace accountability important?
Workplace accountability is important because it keeps employees on their toes when it comes to the quality of work they deliver on a daily basis. They can’t produce sub-par work and not be held accountable for it. It also helps in nurturing a strong and lasting relationship between employees and leaders as well as employees and the organization in an entirety.
Not holding employees accountable for their work would make them complacent and they will stop putting in the required efforts to deliver quality work on a regular basis. It will also result in important information not surfacing and reaching the leadership, for them to take appropriate action. By not holding employees accountable for average work, delayed work, work hours discrepancies, incomplete projects, organizations and their leaders show that they aren’t really concerned. This behavior is detrimental to the growth of an organization.
Ways to encourage employee accountability
The first thing to encourage employees to be more accountable is to set goals for them. It is the responsibility of the manager or the leader under which a team is working to define goals for each member of the team. Every team member shouldn’t have any doubts about what is expected out of them.
Managers should show their teams a clear path to success. Clarity of what they are supposed to do will make employees more responsible towards their work. And knowing that they are making a contribution for the greater good of the entire organization will fill them with the enthusiasm and excitement of being a part of something big. Many experts feel that this is one of the best ways to encourage workplace accountability in employees.
Managers need to identify their own mistakes and not shy away from discussing those with their teams. Not every manager can do this but those who are wholeheartedly committed to the success of their organization won’t have any trouble in doing this if they also consider themselves a part of the team that is responsible for both successes and failures. This is how leaders can set an example for their team to follow.
And when leaders can’t abide to set standards themselves, they can’t expect their team to do so either. The easiest way to encourage employee accountability is for leaders to hold themselves accountable. If a manager’s decision leads to something unfavorable, they should not hesitate from discussing this miss with their team as well as what they will do in the future to make an improvement. This will also help leaders to build trust, increase transparency, and show team members how important it is to take responsibility for their actions.
Feedback is very important for promoting accountability within an organization. Some managers don’t want to get into an argument with team members who are not too good at taking feedback. This shouldn’t be the case. Managers have to share feedback no matter how hard it is. Constructive feedback has more advantages than many leaders can ever imagine. In addition to other advantages, constructive feedback can make employees more accountable for their work. For holding themselves accountable, employees need to know how they are performing.
It is the responsibility of the manager to make sure that they maintain transparency when sharing feedback and that they share it more often so that employees can work on the areas where they are lagging behind. Feedback shouldn’t only include discussing areas that they need to work on but also that they excel in. This is great for motivating employees and making them more productive.
Employees that hold themselves accountable are often the most high-performing ones as well. Having said that, it is not easy for leaders to make employees accept responsibility for their work and actions. This is why it is important for leaders to continuously work towards making workplace accountability a part of their corporate culture.
References:
- How to Actually Encourage Employee Accountability | Ron Carucci | 23 November 2020
- 5 Ways to Promote Accountability” | Andrew Robertson and Nate Dvorak | 3 June 2019
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