“Accountability breeds response-ability.”-Stephen Covey
Employees want to be held accountable!
We should meet with our key employees or managers at least once a month for a one-to-one, good-old-fashioned accountability session. Remind them of our expectations. Help them to grow and improve. Again, when we create clarity of expectations and standards, there is less confusion and more effective delegation and accountability.
As a reminder, we should be very careful about letting our employees become our social friends. We need to remain objective to make decisions in the best interest of the company. Trying to please or be liked by everyone is a sure bet for disaster.
Give people the responsibility, freedom, resources, and support required to get important things done.
Let them know they will be held accountable for certain results. Continually remind them of our expectations. Monitor their progress and intervene only when necessary. Give them feedback. Praise an employee’s progress on goals in public and criticize their poor performance in private. However, in public, we can feel free to express our disappointment and frustration to our entire team. Just save the harsh criticism for an individual for behind closed doors. Praise in public; criticize in private.
Here are some basic ground rules for effective accountability:
- Never let committees, groups or multiple persons be accountable for making things happen.
- Make sure one person/one champion is responsible and accountable for each key assignment.
- Establish goals and clarify due dates for results.
- Conduct regularly scheduled follow-up meetings to gauge progress on goals and hold people accountable.
- If they consistently fail to get important things done, give them different jobs or replace them with new people.
Do not allow poor implementation to infect your business. We have only two choices; we can establish a culture that tolerates excuses or one that insists on strong performance. Do we want more excuses or execution of goals? For improved results, we must start leading and holding our people accountable.
People want to be held accountable and challenged.
They also want constant feedback on their performance. They want to learn and to grow. They even desire a healthy environment of discipline. This helps them develop and reach their potential. Accountability is beneficial feedback that shows we care. Make certain our employees feel appreciated and important – they crave it!
Keep reminding yourself and your management team that the greatest assets of your business are your people!
Roberta says
A perfect reply! Thanks for taking the treolbu.