A valuable trait for both professionals and professional organization is accountability. This trait has been known to impact a professional’s stay in any industry, in addition to the success of the businesses they work for. Possessing and developing this sense of accountability allows for employees to consistently grow professionally. Businesses that hire accountable employees will see increased productivity, which often contributes to improvements to the bottom line of the organization. Throughout this post, accountability and how it impacts both employees and businesses will be broken down in detail.
Let’s begin with the role that managers play in level of accountability in their employees. As recent research points out, it has been a struggle for many managers. Nearly four in five individuals within the manager position feel as though they have little to no effectiveness when trying to hold their staff accountable within the workplace. This sets a terrible example for employees beneath their managers within the professional hierarchy, so much so that nearly nine in every ten employees believe their organizations need to better prioritize strategies to hold them accountable.
This wouldn’t be such an issue if organizational-wide cultures weren’t a top to bottom practice. Leaders of an organization have a much greater impact in regards to accountability than they may think. Leaders must be the leading force in regards to accountability for their employees. Meaning open communication between executives, managers and employees regarding mistakes and what was learned while solving them allows for an organization to learn and avoid these mistakes in the future.
Once executives have developed a level of excellence related to accountability, its their responsibility to hire employees that match the criteria. There’s no reason a company should look to hire potential employees that display no signs of accountability. Organization must prioritize applicants who are capable of admitting their mistakes and working towards solving any issues that arise as a result of them. These are the types of people that can strengthen the internal processes of any organization.
Before any of this can be achieved, its the responsibility of any company to set forth the standards in which they exist upon. Meaning the employees must be informed of their role and contributions to any team the moment they’re hired. Setting these expectations allows employees a more realized outlook on how their position contributes to the goals and mission of their organization. This is only made possible through communication policies that prioritize openness with every level of an organization. An open-door type policy with employees makes having the conversations necessary to creating the best work environment that much more common.
A workplace culture founded on accountability is a challenge many businesses will fail. With enough effort though, organizations as a whole can be positively impacted by the methods to bring about this accountability. The employees of these organizations will also experience increased job satisfaction as a result of this accountability. For additional information on how to bring about this culture in your business, be sure to take a moment to review the infographic accompanying this post. Courtesy of Minute7.