Creating a culture of accountability

Accountability drives organisational behaviour. Without a culture of accountability where individuals take ownership, things will simply not get done and achieving the company’s strategic goals will be in jeopardy.

Accountability requires everyone to take responsibility for their actions and decisions, address issues, take the initiative and realise that just as much as they have the power to create problems, they also have the power to solve them.

Stop shifting the blame

When something goes pear-shaped, blaming is a natural reflex. “Whose fault, is it?” is often the very first thought – we believe that someone must be called out to find the solution.

However, this culture of blame is counterintuitive. Where there is blame, there is no learning, open-mindedness, problem-solving, or a desire to buy into the company’s overall strategic objectives.

Scapegoating and finger-pointing create fear, break trust and lower productivity, leaving in its wake several “victims” of naming and shaming, judgment, punishment, and self-righteousness. The fear of being called out would result in people covering up mistakes, not speaking up about concerns or taking calculated risks – all to the detriment of the company’s overall growth.

Blaming is superficial and simplistic and does not provide the answers to uncovering the main reason for the problem. A culture of accountability rather than blame recognises that everyone can make mistakes and is clear on expectations, standards, processes and roles with regular check-ins and the necessary support to reach the expected results.

Accountability allows us to recognise errors as opportunities to learn through positive constructive evaluation and conversations, seeking the root cause in the task or process rather than the person administrating the project. It instils collaboration amongst team members, empowers employees to take ownership of their actions and the consequences, whether positive or negative, and to take initiative.

?READ: Inviting creativity to work

Shift the mindset

Fitness expert Brett Hoebel has some sound advice on accountability: “If I could give one tip for people — it’s not an exercise or nutrition regimen. It’s to walk your talk and believe in yourself because, at the end of the day, the dumbbell and diet don’t get you in shape. It’s your accountability to your word.”?

So often we focus on people’s expertise and skill set when evaluating their role in realising the company’s objectives, instead of focusing on their ability to be accountable. ?Focus on how they approach their work – is it by taking responsibility for their actions, honouring their commitments, and clearly understanding what they are required to do, or is it a case of blaming others for poor work performance and disengaging when they are not directly responsible for the task?

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Here are some suggestions for moving towards a culture of accountability:

• Expectations: Ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them, their roles and responsibilities, as well as the desired outcomes. Use strategy software to keep everyone accountable.
• Communication: Allow employees to share feedback, voice concerns, challenge, offer alternative solutions and ask questions without fear.
• Be the example: Leaders should set the scene and take accountability for their own decisions. Owning your mistakes, taking responsibility, learning from them, and innovatively finding solutions, will encourage employees to follow suit.
• Support: Offer teams support in terms of training, regular think tanks, stress-test suggested directions before going into action, evaluate key milestones and host cross-departmental alignment sessions.
• Celebrate: Recognise success and reward displays of accountability.
• Solution-forward: Disengage from employees dwelling on the problem and rather encourage an acceptance of the mistake and moving towards creative problem-solving techniques and continuous learning.