Accountability & Its Importance in Creating a Positive Team Culture typography

by Louise Dunn

by Louise Dunn

How do you define “accountability?” Is it making a commitment to achieving results and following through? Is it about discipline and getting the job done? Or is it taking the blame when something goes wrong?

While the personal definitions of it vary, most people know accountability by the ripple effects they see. A lack of accountability appears as delays in team performance, missed deadlines, unfinished work at the end of a shift, lack of punctuality, frustration and disengagement with the team.1 The effects become compounded as disengagement leads to low trust and low morale—even resulting in the departure of great employees. Eventually, the lack of accountability affects the financial performance of the business.

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Spotlight on Accountability

Accountability cannot be delegated to specific team members, nor can it be forced on a person or team; they must take it upon themselves. Accountability often gets a bad rap—as if the mere mention conjures up anger between team members and negativity in the workplace. So, when you hear “accountability,” what is the feeling you experience in your gut? Do you feel motivated and engaged, or do you feel stressed and uncomfortable?

In addition, the term is often used as an excuse; “lack of accountability” is such an easy management group-speak phrase to cover any error, problem or failure to achieve a goal by the team. Before jumping to the conclusion that there is a lack of accountability on your team’s part, get them to agree on what accountability is and to understand that it is a positive word.

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Accountability must be about building solid working relationships and improving job performance. Understanding accountability in a more positive light means that team members can take ownership and work towards success.
Being held accountable or having a culture of accountability should not be about punishment or trying to catch someone doing wrong. Instead, it should be about each person holding themselves to a higher standard of job performance and welcoming feedback. Accountability must be about building solid working relationships and improving job performance. Understanding accountability in a more positive light means that team members can take ownership and work towards success.
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Spotlight on Accountability
To create an accountability culture, it is important to be clear. A business must achieve clarity in these five areas:2
  1. Clear expectations. State expectations and outcomes and discuss how to go about achieving those expectations. Do not simply say, “You need to do better talking to clients.” Detail what should be said and how to say it.
  2. Clear capabilities. Provide resources to develop the skills necessary to achieve what is expected of the person and task.
  3. Clear measurements. Discuss what success will look like, what numbers are expected to change and what milestones should be reached.
  4. Clear feedback. People on the team need to know where they stand. Ongoing, real-time feedback is necessary.
  5. Clear consequences. Being clear makes it much easier to know what the consequences will be, such as repeat training for performance improvement, rewarding a job well done or releasing the team member.
The first thing to put into practice—after acknowledging the importance of clarity—is communication in the form of regular conversations. This means not only communicating what is expected, but also communicating feedback (which many employees have negative feelings about). Regular, consistent communication solves many of the roadblocks to accountability.

The other thing to note is that not all feedback is bad. Reread about clear consequences; “rewarding a job well done.” Most managers dislike giving negative feedback, and if there was ever a formula for avoiding the unpleasant task, it is in being clear so that rewarding a job well done is more common than giving negative feedback. An accountability culture makes work more enjoyable for everyone.

A culture of accountability requires consistent action by the owners, leaders and managers to manage job performance. It does not mean strong-handed tactics, a “my way or the highway” mentality or micromanaging—these only serve to demoralize, demotivate and crush what little performance is given. So, if getting angry and “cracking the whip” to get everyone into “accountability shape” is not the correct answer, what is?

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Spotlight on Accountability

Research has shown that managers are weak at holding people accountable.1 This may be due to the Iceberg of Ignorance Theory.3 This theory states that only 4% of problems are known to top managers, 9% to middle managers, and 74% to supervisors. Therefore, a manager may be unable to hold anyone accountable if they are unaware of problem. Unfortunately, ignorance is not bliss when problems grow to the size of icebergs.

Next, consider the management team. It may be a team of one (such as the owner, manager or head groomer) or a team of two or more. Regardless of the number, they may not have been trained in being “clear” and may not have the authority to deal with particular problems. Accountability becomes even more challenging when the management team lacks a clear understanding of the company’s strategic plans and goals.

The first step in having a culture of accountability must begin with strengthening the management team by giving them the resources and skills to change the culture. The management team should not be on an accountability “gotcha” mission. If the management team is always angry with people when they fall short, it is unproductive and kills team motivation and performance.2

To avoid this, the management team must be trained how to:

  • Give clear communications (clear expectations).
  • Teach people via learning styles (clear capabilities).
  • Understand the strategic plans of the business (clear measurements).
  • Provide ongoing, real-time feedback (clear feedback).
  • Be consistent (clear consequences).

Accountability starts at the top. Ensure that the management team is not guilty of “deadly sins” against accountability, such as avoiding monitoring, not giving feeding, fostering the blame game, failing to recognize success or avoiding holding people accountable. In essence, accountability is a two-way street whereby management is counting on the team to do what they said they would do—and the team wants to know that they can count on management to do what they said. The management team must have the tools to set up a culture of accountability and examine their own words and actions.

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Set for Success

In a time when it is challenging to attract and retain great team members, it helps to promote a culture of accountability. When it is part of the culture, the team knows what it means, why it is essential, how it looks in daily operations, when there is a failure to achieve it and what to do when there is a failure. The gossiping and finger-pointing will be replaced with clear directions on holding everyone accountable.

So, take some time to step away from feel-good gimmicks that attempt to provide a quick fix to a poor workplace environment and instead put some effort into creating a culture of accountability.

References

  1. Lipman, Victor. (2016, March 24). The Best Managers Always Hold People Accountable. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2016/03/24/the-best-managers-always-hold-people-accountable/#1fdc5f9728c8
  2. Bregman, Peter. (2016, January 11). The Right Way to Hold People Accountable. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/01/the-right-way-to-hold-people-accountable
  3. The Iceberg of Ignorance. Values-Driven Culture. https://valuesdrivenculture.com/iceberg-of-ignorance/
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