Can Accountability Be Positive?

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Whenever you think of accountability, the image of a person with authority flashes before your eyes. However, there’s more to it than meets the usual discourse.

Accountability is the ability of an individual to go beyond their circumstances and take ownership of achieving results. It is a decision to accept responsibility for the tasks at hand and execute them at an expected rate. This makes the attribute of accountability positive and beneficial!

For a leader, the quality of accountability ensures that they take responsibility for a plan execution for the entire team. Additionally, it focuses on building a nurturing environment by taking into account both the positive and negative outcomes.

At the same time, the feature of accountability in a teammate pushes the individual to adapt their behavior. It enables the person to take into account what works for the well-being of everyone and mold their attitude accordingly.

Keep reading to learn about the role of accountability in bringing a significant difference to your organization.

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Accountability ensures room for failure

Great risks make room for greater feats!

The more the risk, the more likely you will succeed in a particular effort. Accountability ensures that no failure goes unnoticed or without gaining lessons. So, if you have a brilliant idea that puts achievement at the mercy of chance, failure is as much a possibility as success is.

However, when you take the onus of causing the failure, you take responsibility for its occurrence. On top of this, you’re also enabling a culture that allows your employees to take the plunge in need.

Accountability helps you set SMART goals

Goal making and goal fulfillment are complementary to success. With that being said, it’s vital that you involve everyone in its execution and while framing them.

Doing so depicts the company’s members’ willingness to factor in their opinion. Additionally, it makes them equal shareholders of each set of responsibilities. This is how you curate small activities using the SMART methodology to introduce significant changes.

Accountability strengthens your team

When you allow a teammate to take responsibility for their actions, you’re giving them a free hand to maneuver the effort the way they deem fit. That’s to say; it shows your support and trust in their capacities to manage their tasks without your intervention.

Doing this enables your teammates to recognize their strengths and weaknesses while building a unified front. It saves your time from micromanagement and provides strength to your team.

Accountability makes your employees more proactive

Creating a company culture driven by answerability and transparency involves significant efforts. It requires your employees to take responsibility and demand infusion in your company’s values. However, when accountability merges with the members’ values with the organization’s objective, gaining the desired results will be organic.

Essentially, accountability portrays the reliability of a company on its employees, which rewards the organization in the form of proactive efforts and successful outcomes.

Accountability promotes employees’ happiness

Taking the initiative and employee happiness is strongly co-related. Basically, the more your team members feel in control of their actions, the more satisfied they will be.

Essentially, when a team takes ownership of the most impactful endeavors, it boosts their morale to drive the performance better. Moreover, the inclination of an organization to involve its members in significant decision-making depicts their recognition of its crucial individuals.

Accountability reduces the cost of staff turnover

As an organization, it’s a hassle to onboard employees every few months and train them all over again. You might wonder, “How can I retain my top employees better?” The answer is straightforward – By giving them roles and responsibilities and enabling them to execute them in the manner they want.

Even with the menial tasks, you can show your team members the importance of taking ownership by rewarding them with appreciation. Moreover, you can even level their goals with the company’s objectives to keep their motivations high and perform even better.

Precisely, the more important roles you’ll be able to give to your employees, the higher their job satisfaction will be. It will convert into better overall performance and lower staff turnover.

Endnotes

With such a negative outlook towards accountability, you might be in a dilemma about its inclusion in your company culture too. But unlike the popular trope, accountability is not only positive but also organization friendly.

Besides, it helps your members find their much-deserved appreciation within the company and enables higher job satisfaction.

With such repositioning of trust from the leader, the members receive a boost in the morale, which converts into better performance. On top of this, if you’re able to inculcate accountability as an essential part of your company culture, nothing can stop your organization’s success.