Every business that is successful, from a large industry to a small family owned company, needs to have a culture of accountability. It its most basic sense this is a commitment to the workplace, by every employee, to do what is expected of them without the need for constant supervision.
It may be easier to think of it in a scenario. If your business has a culture of accountability employees get to work on time because they understand that being at work and ready to do their job benefits the entire company. On the other hand, when there is a lack of accountability, employees come in late, try to sneak by the managers, and make excuses for their behavior. In other words they don’t feel personally accountable to the company to do what they are supposed to do.
While this is a very minor issue, the act of making it a habit to come in late, this can become the norm throughout a company or organization. Often the culture of accountability is seen in senior managers, which then trickles down to all other staff.
Make Accountability a Priority at All Levels
A good way to start to build a culture of accountability is to focus in on person commitment to the job at every level in the organization. This is best done by having a set of metrics or measurements that are based on performance standards for everyone based on their job.
This doesn’t have to be a top down exercise. Management and staff can work together to develop these metrics, providing employees with a better understanding of why specific performance indicators and standards are in place.
Provide Education about the Business
When employees, especially lower level managers and staff, don’t understand how their contributions to the business fit into the big picture of the business success it is much more difficult to develop a culture of accountability.
By holding workshops and trainings that focus in on your business and how everyone plays a role is its success you can build that culture of accountability. Each employee will understand how he or she is helping the business, and understand that their success means company growth and prosperity, which in turn provides them with benefits.
Our business games are designed to assist in providing the opportunity to talk about a culture of accountability in your business.
