Every company, team, or even machine has one thing in common when it comes to success: Accountability. You wouldn’t want a toaster that you couldn’t rely on to heat your bagel and you don’t want coworkers you can’t rely on to do what they say. Accountability, by definition, is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.
So what’s the impact of accountability, and why is it so important for your business? Accountability is a principle value that essentially makes or breaks the longevity of a company’s success. Aside from the consequences of possibly losing money and resources, having employees who aren’t accountable can be damaging to the rest of the workplace and overall culture of the company.
If you can create a culture of accountability, you will see less wasted time and poor quality work as well as less workplace conflicts and distrust among co-workers. In order to build a reliable, responsible, and trusted company culture– you must start from the heart of the business.
1. Incorporating Accountability
Instill the importance of being accountable throughout the company. Start with higher ranks (the tippy-top) of the company and, in turn, set the shift in culture to the employees down the chain. Managers set the tone for how the rest of the company flows, and having them realize the need of trust and responsibility will create a contagion effect throughout the rest of the office.
2. Measuring Accountability
Measuring accountability within a workforce can seem impossible, but setting up small, trackable goals for yourself is a good start. Try not to set goals too much for others, but rather set an example and encourage others to use their own knowledge and experience to target skills they need to improve on and set their own goals.
Set deadlines and have a clear “start to finish” process for your work.
3. Maintaining Accountability
Have Meetings. Weekly meetings. This is where the deadlines come in. Have a chance to meet once a week with the company/department/team where employees can share their progress out load, holding themselves accountable to the team. This is the time to show completed goals and give praise where it’s needed. Having a meeting displaying and celebrating company accountability will create a positive cycle where employees not only feel accountable and accomplished, but help inspire others to do the same.
Do you have a culture of accountability? Let us know!
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Justin Zuniga is CareerPlug’s sales and marketing intern.
