How To Create A Workplace Culture Of Accountability
Accountability is a common concept, but what does it really mean in the context of your small business? Engagement, responsibility and ownership come to mind, but a workplace culture of accountability has a different feel. When you foster a culture of accountability, your staff works together to find solutions to problems. Your employees deliver results and hold each other responsible for their actions.
When something falls through the cracks, learning from a mistake is infinitely more valuable than blaming the culprit; accountable workplace cultures help foster growth and improvement. If you’ve struggled to create your own positive workplace culture, you can use this model to develop your enterprise’s own ethos.
Start from the top.
Before you can expect an augmented commitment from your existing staff, you should realize that accountability in any organization should start from the top. Leaders, managers, employees and business owners all work together within the same company, and no one group should operate by more or fewer standards. Apply the expectations to all levels in your organization, and make sure you lead by example. As a business owner, you’ll need to own up to your mistakes and take responsibility for your actions in order for your employees to follow in your footsteps.
Hire the right people.
Of course, this one is likely obvious to entrepreneurs who’ve been through scores of employees who just needed a paycheck. But what you’re looking for are people who truly have the desire to learn and grow. You need employees who are not only receptive to feedback, but those who actually commit to constant improvement. The top employees, the ones who care about submitting their best work, fulfilling responsibilities and supporting your business, will help you enforce this endeavor.
When hiring, make sure to look for cultural fits with focused queries that home in on the individual’s problem-solving abilities. Ask questions that get down to the core of whether the prospective employee has proven ability to overcome obstacles, learn and grow from an experience or even ask for help; watch out for patterns of failure-blaming or finger-pointing.
As all staff are affected if something doesn’t get completed, employees should feel comfortable holding each other accountable. When your staff is well acquainted with each other, you can expect more cross-collaboration between teams, levels and departments. To encourage a more familiar workplace, it may be helpful to hold recurring all-company outings, meetings or shadowing programs so everyone operates on a first-name basis.
Set clear goals.
The specifics will largely depend on the nature of your business, but the idea is you should empower your staff to make choices that will help your business reach and exceed those goals. When your employees truly own their roles and responsibilities, they can bring their personal expertise to the table and have the freedom to step out of the box to solve problems. Modern, nimble businesses don’t silo departments or reduce an employee’s role to rigidly defined responsibilities. Instead, they encourage their employees to collaborate and operate as owners. Of course, it’s important to reward your staff for their exceptional work and for reaching goals. If you have room in your budget or working capital, it may be even more motivating to establish rewards for reaching those objectives.
Establish benchmarks and measure progress.
Since constant improvement is one of the main goals in a culture of accountability, it’s imperative that you set clear, measurable and attainable objectives. SMART goals are quantifiable benchmarks designed to help you gauge progress and course-correct when necessary. Regularly scheduled check-ins with managers are extremely valuable for everyone from exemplary employees to very green staff.
If an employee fails to complete a goal, assignment or something else, they should feel comfortable owning up to their mistake. Since other parties are likely affected by the oversight or missed goal, it may be helpful for that employee to see how others had to adapt in that situation — they likely would not want to repeat this mistake again.
Overcommunicate when in doubt.
If you’re new to the idea of a culture of accountability, you won’t end up with a well-oiled machine overnight. Getting there will likely result in a learning curve, potential personnel changes or an adjusted workflow. Before you fully develop a system that works for your specific model, you should lean on overcommunication. If you wait until a performance review that’s days or weeks away to provide feedback to an employee, it’s likely too late for that person to adjust their actions for the issue at hand. When at all possible, provide feedback immediately, and not just for negative actions. Reward good behaviors as much as you provide negative feedback.
Jim Granat