CRITICAL THINKING SERIES NO. 29 – “RESPONSIBILITY” AND “ACCOUNTABILITY” ARE NOT THE SAME! –

Do you know the difference between RESPONSIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY? There terms are often used interchangeably. When you look in the dictionary, the following are the definitions you find.

-????? Responsibility: Something that is your job or duty to deal with.

-????? Accountability: An obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions

Erika Migliaccio (of Upstream HR Strategies ) shared a recent post on LinkedIn where she discussed how “Responsibility and Accountability are NOT the same.” As Erika states, it’s easy to assign someone a responsibility, or task. And they might complete the task. But do they actually do it well? On time? Or do they complete the minimum so they can check the box, “Done”? Critical Thinking is a key component to help one get past biases and assumptions to clearly understand the difference between RESPONSIBILTY (assigned to you), and ACCOUNTABILITY (embraced by you). How to drive from a culture of RESPONSIBILITY to one of ACCOUNTABILITY in order to achieve happier employees, better quality, and more satisfied customers.

RESPONSIBILITY is generally (at work) something assigned to you, either directly or indirectly. It’s an action done TO you.

ACCOUNTABILITY is something you agree to undertake. It’s an action done BY you.

-????? RESPONSIBILITY is assigned.

-????? ACCOUNTABILITY is accepted.

-????? RESPONSIBILITY is acquired.

-????? ACCOUNTABILITY is inspired.

-????? RESPONSIBILITY is dictated.

-????? ACCOUNTABILITY is embraced.

-????? RESPONSIBILITY comes from outside.

-????? ACCOUNTABILITY comes from within.

-????? RESPONSIBILITY is a one-way communication direction

-????? ACCOUNTABILITY is a two-way mutual discussion

Employees who feel ACCOUNTABLE are much more likely to perform better than those who just feel RESPONSIBLE. So how does one promote ACCOUNTABILITY over RESPONSIBILITY in an organization?

RESPONSIBILTY is simple and standard. The manager assigns the task to the employee. All employees, regardless of role or rank, have assigned responsibilities and tasks. A common assumption is that employees will perform all tasks satisfactorily. Is this a valid assumption? How is success measured?

Will the employee meet the bare minimum of success? Or go above and beyond for great quality and customer satisfaction? The level of success depends on how ACCOUNTABLE the employee feels.

ACCOUNTABILITY starts with how an employee feels with respect to the organization. Are they respected? Empowered? Able to speak openly and challenge the status quo without fear of blowback or criticism? Are their and other voices respected and heard? Are all in the workforce treated fairly?

As Jack Welch stated in his video, “The role of a leader”, one of the roles of the CEO is “CMO – Chief Meaning Officer”. To let all employees know: 1) What is the goal; 2) How do we get there; and 3) What’s in it for me? (Too often leadership is neglectful of #3). Once leadership has established those three points, in an environment with Respect For People, then employees will be more willing to demonstrate ACCOUNTABILITY.

What are the Four C’s of Accountability?

COMMITMENT – I want to do it. The employee understands the benefit of accepting and completing the task.

CLARITY – I know exactly what I need to do. I know how success is defined and I’m empowered to use whatever means to achieve the goal.

CAPABILITY – I have the skills and tools to do it. I have the training, coaching, and managerial support to complete the task.

CAPACILITY – I have the time to do it. My manager and I agree where this task is on my priority list and I’ve been allocated the time to do so.

How to apply Critical Thinking to RESPONSIBILITY vs. ACCOUNTABILITY?

BIAS ANALYSIS:

-????? Confirmation Bias – Does leadership believe assigning a task (RESPONSIBILTY) is sufficient to get employees to perform to the level needed?

-????? Curse of Knowledge – Does leadership believe they know better how to motivate employees, as they’re more knowledge about employee motivation methods than the employees themselves?

-????? Illusion of Control – Does management have an overestimated ability to drive employee execution simply because they’re in charge?

-????? Optimism Bias – Does management believe employees will perform well just by being assigned tasks because that’s what management wants to believe?

ASSUMPTIONS:

-????? Does management assume all employees will deliver outstanding results 100% of the time?

-????? Is standard compensation sufficient to encourage the employees to accept ACCOUNTABILITY for their results?

-????? Are reward and recognition programs needed (or in place)? If in place, are they being used effectively to get the desired results?

-????? Has anyone in leadership asked the employees how they feel about ACCOUNTABILITY?

-????? Does senior management hold themselves to the same level of ACCOUNTABILITY they expect from employees?

In order for an organization or business to be successful, all employees must practice ACCOUNTABILITY (personal buy-in) to their assigned tasks, as well as helping the company achieve business goals. The more employees practice ACCOUNTABILITY, the greater the success. Management which only practices RESPONSIBILITY is bound for mediocrity. Employees may complete their tasks, but not at the levels needed to positively differentiate the business from competitors.

Apply Critical Thinking skills to examine the inside workings of your business to find opportunities to encourage employees to move from RESPONSIBLE to ACCOUNTABLE.