Understanding Accountability
The word ‘accountability’ conjures up many words in the head: responsibility, answerability, and liability. It is why something is assigned to an employee; why someone depends on you in a corporate setting; why an employee accepts and executes and why when anything fails at work it is due to a lack of work accountability. In some ways, it is also the division of work so the use of accountability in this blog could be considered multi-layered and multi-purposed.
3 Traits of Accountability
To make sure if an individual of an organization has equal accountability or division of work, there are a few traits to look for in a person. The traits are:
- Dependable – whether or not the person can get the job done and done right and on time at that.
- Efficient – whether or not the person is fulfilling the tasks assigned to him/her.
- Active – whether or not the person participates and helps in the fulfillment of the organization’s goals.
Upon inspection, the answer will become very clear to you in regards to the person in question and also, in regards to your organization’s level of accountability at large. If it’s less in most of your employees then maybe it is time to change your leadership strategy. According to a study, 84% of employees say the way leaders behave is what influences the accountability in their organizations.
Generally speaking, as an employer, you will be able to notice how bitter and unhappy your employees are without accountability in your organization. This brings us to the next part of the blog: the importance of team culture in breeding accountability in the workplace.
Team Culture & Accountability
To inculcate a certain level of accountability, you need to build a team culture in the organization that sets the standards for future success. Start small but start spreading the information with them, for starters. In the sense, that while you’re assigning them something, tell them why the task is important to the company and in what context.
To take things up a notch, follow the list of suggestions stated below:
- Set SMART goals for each member of the team
- Evaluate your team member’s performance and progress regularly.
- Provide feedback and help them however you can to help them reach their goals.
- Provide opportunities for their skill development and general growth.
- Address accountability wins and fails.
- Look for any aspects that offer room for improvement in the accountability wins.
- Come up with a solution for the accountability fails.
- Practice what you preach and inspire your employees to be accountable.
- That’s it! You have mastered workplace accountability!
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