How To Build A Culture Of Accountability In the Workplace?

The Accountability Guy®

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Accountability means taking ownership of results irrespective of whether you’ll receive rewards or consequences. Creating a culture of accountability at the workplace ensures that every employee takes ownership of the organisational outcomes. It instils the motivation to perform their best.

Furthermore, this means that there’s no blame game or pointing of fingers. There is only analysing mistakes and solving problems. In a workplace that fosters accountability, the scope for learning is tremendous. This may sound too good to be true, but it is possible.

Read through this blog to learn how to easily create a culture of accountability at your workplace.

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Tips for building accountability in the workplace

Did you know that accountability can boost productivity in the workplace tremendously? That’s why fostering this idea is important. Below are several tips for building an accountability culture:

1. Set strong goals

One of the foremost steps for building an accountability culture is to set robust goals. This implies that your workplace needs to set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals (SMART). Not only should they be specific, but you should be able to measure their progress. Lastly, all goals must be relevant to the organisation’s work and reasonable deadlines.

For instance, if you are in sales and marketing, your goal could be converting ten customers within two months and increasing sales by 5%. It is specific, measurable, realistic, relevant, and timely.

2. Communicate expectations clearly

In an organisation, it is necessary to communicate expectations. The goals should be crystal clear to the employees. Additionally, the behaviour expected, job profile, and company objectives should also be shared. You cannot expect your employees to know what they should do without communicating expectations. When they don’t know what is expected, chaos will ensue.

Here are some things that you must convey:

The values, vision, and mission of your organisation
The standards of behaviour, results and effort expected
Importance of each expectation

3. Hire the right people

When you hire new employees, ensure you hire the right people. They should understand the concept of accountability and adhere to it. You need to find people who willingly admit to their mistakes and solve problems. Check if the employee has the necessary skills to achieve organisational goals and make plans to train them or communicate the reason for not hiring them.

If a candidate does not meet your organisation’s requirements, convey the reason for not hiring them.

While hiring employees, you must ask hard-hitting questions that will help you identify whether they are accountable or not.

4. Encourage people to be committed

Encourage commitment to establish accountability in the organisation. Only when employees are committed to their work will their productivity increase. You need to set rewards and benefits to ensure that an employee’s dedication to their work increases daily.

When employees are committed to the work, they are more likely to be accountable as they will take ownership of their actions.

5. Lead by example

Another critical aspect of fostering accountability is that you need to lead by example. This means you should hold yourself accountable first to ensure employees emulate your positive behaviour. Additionally, you should take the following steps as the leader of your organisation:

Communicate effectively and frequently
Motivate your employees
Continue learning and growing as a leader
Be a role model

6. Admit mistakes

To create an accountability culture, you must ensure you and your employees admit their mistakes properly. This means apologising for the mistakes made and taking responsibility despite whatever consequence may befall you. You must also be able to think of solutions to solve the errors and develop preventative measures to avoid repeating the mistakes.

7. Welcome and give feedback

Feedback is critical for establishing an accountability culture. Not only should you provide feedback to your employees, but you should be willing to receive the same. Having weekly, monthly, and annual feedback sessions in the organisation will create an environment of openness and provide scope for growth and improvement.

Endnotes

Without accountability, the workplace could crumble and lead to a decrease in productivity. To prevent this, leaders need to foster an environment of accountability, and this can only be done by leading by example. Set goals, plan your actions, be open to feedback, encourage commitment, admit mistakes, and hire the right people.

Moreover, you can also take the aid of accountability coaches from trustworthy sites like TickThoseBoxes. These accountability coaches can provide business advice and mentor you to build an accountability culture. They can also help your set your goals and plans to ensure when it comes to making changes at your workplace. Most of all, they will hold you accountable and ensure you successfully achieve your goals, promises, and obligations.

So, get in touch with accountability coaches and build a culture of accountability in your workplace to reap its benefits.

About The Author

Darren Finkelstein, The Accountability Guy®, is the founder of TICK THOSE BOXES, a specialised accountability coaching practice. Darren is a formidable international accountability coach, business advisor, mentor, and author/speaker, fostering development and measurable results in entrepreneurship, leadership, and accountability. Darren’s tale is one of perseverance, self-reinvention, and resilience.

With compelling execution, Darren has empowered high-achieving individuals and teams from Australia and New Zealand to Latin America, Europe, Asia, the UK, and the US to embrace accountability; after all, it is your superpower.

Darren’s one-on-one and group coaching programs are based on his bestselling business book, “The Accountability Advantage – Play your best game” and the latest, release “NO’ – Building a life of choice without obligation”.

Darren has an impressive background in business, having held the role of “Manager of Commercial Markets” at Apple Australia during the Steve Jobs revolution.

He enthusiastically “walks the talk,” having also successfully sold and exited his lifestyle businesses, which served as the impetus for establishing his coaching and mentoring business.

Join Darren on this transformative quest to accomplish the remarkable.

Read Darren’s full bio here:
https://tickthoseboxes.com.au/about/