Creating a culture of accountability, like most human conundrums in leadership, often makes the most expert and senior leaders want to throw up their hands in frustration and give up. “Why don’t they just do what I told them to do?” “But it’s clearly written in their role description?” “Why am I asking this same question three months later?” And narrowing down a definition of accountability can be difficult, depending on who is part of the conversation. So, for this article, let’s define accountability as a shared understanding that people are responsible for executing their commitments.
Underneath the frustration, most leaders struggle to figure out what they can do differently. Other problem-solving scenarios afford logical flows and fit into spreadsheets, while human conundrums are like trying to find a pattern in ever-changing chaos.
Prioritize Accountability
While creating a culture of accountability is not clean or easy, there are fundamental actions that can guide a business in the right direction. First, accountability requires consistency. Training dogs and children is tiring because every parent knows that consistency is critical, yet that knowledge doesn’t help the tired and overwhelmed parent at the end of the day. The same problem occurs in work situations. Leaders usually contend with multiple business decisions, vendor concerns, or team dynamics. The fires to be extinguished and frustrations to be solved create huge energy drains that result in even the most consistent bosses saying, “I just can’t have that conversation today.” While putting off accountability conversations for a day may not create a problem, most are postponed for weeks, or even months, due to the speed of work and competing priorities. Hence, the only way to create a culture of accountability is to hold it as a top priority to ensure consistent feedback and follow-through.
Provide Feedback
Next, accountability and feedback often have negative connotations. Thus, leaders and cultures that value kindness may have difficulty integrating it with their desire to ensure that people feel valued and happy. Leaders can bridge this tension by working to provide positive and negative feedback and checking in on both projects that are going well and those that are problematic. When everyone in a business expects routine follow-up on initiatives, they automatically adjust their behavior. How many students would take accountability for doing homework if the homework was not graded and there were no tests? How many athletes would be excited about winning a game if no one noticed?
Create Clear Outcomes
In addition to verbal follow-up, clear outcomes can also incur accountability. When people know that if they do well, they receive praise, a bonus, or additional autonomy, they are more likely to commit to excellence. Conversely, they are usually more motivated to achieve if they know they will receive a reprimand, fewer resources, or a more limited scope of responsibility for under-achieving. Unfortunately, organizations that struggle with consistency often struggle with elucidating clear outcomes for actions. This combination is fatal to any accountability efforts because there is no simple and repeatable system of people knowing where they stand.
Increase Buy-In
One more complex but highly effective way of generating a culture of accountability in business is to increase buy-in during the decision-making process. Most people have an easier time adhering to decisions they have helped generate. There is added cognitive dissonance if they don’t execute their own ideas. Some leaders believe that buy-in means getting everyone to agree to a process before moving forward. This is not the case. Rather, leaders can say, “this is the problem we are trying to solve. What are your ideas?” Most people don’t need agreement; they need to feel that their voices are heard. The key to achieving buy-in is pulling people into the process early. If a leader says, “here is what we can do; what do you think,” they lower buy-in because the decision has already been made. They are getting feedback, but they are not creating ownership.
Accountability Starts at the Top
The hardest pill to swallow in creating a culture of accountability is that the foundation for creating responsibility starts at the top of an organization. Are the leaders true to their word, able to apologize for miss-steps, and able to correct mistakes? Leaders must understand they are part of the team, so if they cannot take responsibility for the task and human requirements of their role, others in the organization will see any talk of accountability as hypocritical. As a result, the conversation will never become part of the organization’s DNA. Conversely, if the leaders are working on their own integrity, the team sees this and will be more open to taking accountability themselves.
Know When to Let Someone Go
When problematic employees continue to blame others for their mistakes, they need to be fired. Those who consistently find excuses or underdeliver are unlikely to change. When leaders allow employees who are not able to take accountability to remain on teams with those employees who are deeply committed to excellence, they lower the morale of the team. In essence, the leaders are not taking accountability for ensuring the culture of accountability.
Creating a culture of accountability requires consistent communication and feedback on specific expectations. Second, it requires follow-up so that people learn they cannot fly under the radar. Third, it requires that people are valued enough by the organization’s leaders to proactively solicit their opinions at the onset of decision-making and then let them know what decisions were made and why. Finally, it requires praise. When people feel that others notice and appreciate their actions, they feel part of a team and united toward a purpose. At that point, they begin holding themselves accountable not to let down their team and, more importantly, themselves.