If you want to run a highly effective business, you must have high expectations, coupled with strong accountability. Low accountability leads to mistrust, low morale, low engagement and ultimately to low productivity and results.
The benefits of holding people accountable in your organization go far beyond simply meeting targets. Establishing a strong system of positive accountability improves your team’s culture, satisfaction, and overall performance—ultimately, it makes your organization a far better place to call home.
By creating a culture of positive, high-level expectations and accountability on your team, you create an expectation that all individuals, no matter their place in the hierarchy, will be called to account for their performance and behaviors. They can also expect to receive regular feedback and recognition. It’s always important to focus on much more positive feedback along with correction and redirection when needed.
Accountability done right, doesn’t create a culture of fear—in fact, it is a lack of accountability that tends to bring on more dysfunction and negative results within your organization. A low accountability organization promotes the silence, fear, blame, collusion, resistance, and deflection of responsibility’ culture. Ultimately this environment undermines the well-being and performance of your team and your company. Alternatively, a high-accountability culture has clear objectives, expectations, and mechanisms through which people will be held to the organization’s standards. There is a sense of order and excitement for hitting targets that people can enjoy working towards.
In a high-accountability culture, individuals and teams are focused because they have clearly established goals and benchmarks by which their progress towards these goals will be assessed.
Striving for excellence becomes a core value and a cultural norm when individuals and teams are aware of their accountability to each other, their leaders, and to their clients. There is a strong sense of ownership of one’s work and trust within teams which, when lacking, results in poor performance. An accountability culture also establishes clear goals which provide focus and streamlines processes for better products and services. A high functioning and high morale team gets results. Through processes of evaluation and feedback, accountability leads to better performance and outputs, promotes innovation, and improves judgement and decision making.
How is accountability working in your company?
Improving accountability offers significant benefits for all teams. Ask yourself some questions to consider how you are doing at creating this kind of workplace and what steps you could take to improve:
- Is the norm in your culture to blame, hide mistakes, and ignore problems?
- Does each member of your team have a clear understanding of the goals, values, strategy and vision of the organization and team? Do they understand how these relate to their specific role and responsibilities?
- Are there established times for regular evaluation, feedback, and recognition of peoples achievements?
- Do you provide rewards and opportunities for advancement when people do perform above expectations within your organization?
Always remember “People Deserve to Be Led Well”
Greg Gelineau, CLTC
Executive Vice President
