The Accountability Guy®
Lack of accountability at work may be fatal for businesses, especially those who are experiencing rapid expansion and are focusing on retaining and engaging their workforce.
Being able to trust your staff to do their best work is a solid definition of an ownership culture or culture of accountability. In this case, encouraging accountability and ownership in the workplace is crucial and ingrained in day-to-day work life. There are various strategies to promote accountability at work, beginning with the onboarding of new employees.
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It’s crucial to be very specific about what you expect from your staff and why before communicating your expectations for accountability, responsibility, and ownership to them.
Giving workplace ownership examples that serve as a sort of FAQ for your existing accountability standards and eventual objectives is also beneficial.
You should involve many stakeholders in the process of improving and formalizing your efforts because these accountability expectations are (or will become) standards.
Employees experience less stress when they are aware of the goals of the firm and the standards to which they are held accountable.
Setting a goal to be accountable, such as “raise sales from previous year,” could be too broad an ownership competency example when giving context to taking personal accountability at work and clear examples.
To continue fostering an accountability-oriented workplace culture, be sure to demonstrate leadership. Setting a good example for your team members can encourage them to adopt constructive conduct. Gaining leadership experience, reading leadership-related publications, and attending leadership classes are all ways to build your leadership skills. Leadership consists of:
While it’s important to concentrate on making your current team more accountable, we shouldn’t overlook the significance of choosing accountable employees. As we previously said, accountability spreads, thus adding more accountable colleagues will also benefit current ones.
Ask the candidate throughout the interview how much responsibility they accept for past errors. Inquire about a project that failed in your previous employer’s presence. as well as “What have you learned from your biggest workplace error?” If the candidate tries to gloss over their response, blame someone else for their mistake, or arrogantly dodges the subject, press the issue further. Accountable individuals provide open answers to these queries.
You can also inquire about this while interviewing for leadership positions: “Have you ever accepted responsibility for someone else’s error at work?” Owning their team’s errors is a trait of responsible leaders.
Leaders in an accountable culture don’t merely hold workers responsible for their performance. Everyone is responsible for everyone else! Each employee is accountable for the overall success of the company, not simply for their own individual accomplishments. Once more, leaders can serve as role models, provide knowledge, and support this ownership mentality.
We previously talked about building a safety net within your team to prevent employees from being punished for owning up to their errors. Some groups interpret this to suggest that people shouldn’t suffer the repercussions of their mistakes. That is untrue.
It’s inappropriate to penalise someone for acknowledging their errors. However, how they grow from them should be considered when evaluating them. Otherwise, building responsibility is a fruitless endeavor.
To determine your level of success, look back at how you handled the situation. Make sure you have the appropriate strategies in place if you want to succeed over the long run. It’s a terrific technique to hold you responsible as well.
Recognizing your mistakes is one approach to hold oneself accountable. You may inspire confidence in your leadership by outlining what went wrong and how you fixed it.
And finally, even though frequently holding people accountable entails holding them accountable, you shouldn’t burn them in the process.
The Covid-19 pandemic has put everyone through extreme strain and strain, but it has also frequently resulted in a workplace that is more caring and understanding. By discussing the difficulties of a project with them, assisting them in appreciating how they have evolved as a result, and underlining that you are always ready to assist them, you may sustain that environment.
Overall, encouraging an accountable culture within your team will not only increase productivity and employee morale, but it will also provide your team the autonomy and sense of responsibility they require to succeed. Changes need to be made if you believe your team lacks accountability.
Darren Finkelstein is The Accountability Guy®. This involves being an International Accountability Coach, Business Advisor, Mentor, Author, and Speaker.
Darren works with high-performing teams and individuals across Australia/NZ, UK, USA, Latin America, Europe and Asia to help get results, achieve their wildest dreams, and smash goals. He does this by leveraging over 30 years of experience working in the corporate world and small businesses.
A successful business owner himself, Darren won the Australian Entrepreneur of the Year award for Dent Global after building a wonderful lifestyle business, successfully sold and exited after 15 years.
Before this, Darren worked for over 10 years at Apple Inc. as ‘Manager of Commercial Markets’ during the inspirational Steve Jobs era. While there, he was awarded the prestigious Golden Apple Award.
Darren’s lessons in accountability can help individuals and teams at all levels of a business or organisation across the globe, and are based on actions and results:
Know what to do first
know what to do next
know what to do more of
1. Take the Accountability Scorecard
How accountable are you? Discover your accountability score and increase the probability of smashing your goals and Getting Sh!t Done. Take the quiz
2. Read my book "The Accountability Advantage - Play Your Best Game"
Eliminate procrastination and overwhelm and start playing your best game.
Buy a copy
3. Book a complimentary Accountability Assessment
Invest 15 minutes now and avoid months or years of struggle. If you genuinely need help becoming more accountable, it can’t hurt to find out. Book here.
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