In this month’s Business Bites, we look at the difference between employee accountability and responsibility…
The two terms have some similarities; however, a few distinct characteristics separate them in the workplace:
• Responsibility can be shared. Responsibility is task-oriented. Every person on a team may be responsible for a given single task that is required to complete a larger project. Responsible individuals complete the task.
• Accountability is what happens after a situation has occurred. It is how you respond and take ownership over the results. An accountable individual will be the person who reviews a task to deem it complete, or not. In the form of a RACI Matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed), only one person can be accountable for a task.
Why is accountability so feared?
Many people fear accountability in their organisations. Why? Because when consequences are imposed, they often feel shameful and harsh. Individuals may be more likely to hide mistakes or point fingers elsewhere.
To overcome this fear, managers and leaders can ensure that their employees feel their work is recognised and respected – and, at the same time, identify means of improvement without the individual feeling undermined or demeaned.
We learn from the Harvard Business Review article – ‘Three ways to compassionately hold your team accountable’ – that people perceive accountability in two different ways:
• Threatening: Punitive accountability, the kind most leaders typically think of and practise, involves reprimanding people for mistakes and failures, creating a culture of threat and blame. This situation results from an individual being held accountable.
• Worthy challenge: Accountability perceived as a worthy challenge views taking ownership of a task as an opportunity for growth, and sees missteps as chances to improve. In this instance, individuals take accountability as they see how the experience will help them to develop.
The type of accountability that leaders cultivate determines how teams perform.
When considered as shown above, it seems obvious that we should be aiming for the ‘worthy challenge’ version. This non-punitive accountability recognises that everyone makes mistakes, so everyone has a stake in fixing them — and then getting better next time. Leaders need to be focusing on the way forward by finding solutions and not on finding out whose fault it is.
Employee accountability
Accountability for employees means meeting deadlines, achieving targets, delivering on commitments, and taking ownerships for any errors or issues.
An essential first step in encouraging employee accountability is to lead by example. Your team will tend to follow your lead so make sure that you:
• Complete your tasks on time and don’t miss deadlines
• Support your team whenever it is required
• Be prepared and on time for all your meetings
To give your employees the best chance at success, always be clear when setting up and communicating expectations. A good tool to use at this stage to ensure clarity is the setting of SMART goals where SMART means:
• Specific. Will everyone be able to understand it? A vague objective often leads to poor results
• Measurable. Clear targets allow you to measure whether you are making the progress you expect or have anticipated
• Agreed, attainable and achievable. Objectives must be agreed so your employees can own them. They should be attainable and achievable by the person you have asked to meet the objective
• Realistic and resourced. Given your resources and the current climate, is your objective realistic? Do you have the resources (the time, money and tools) to make it happen?
• Time-bound. You must set a clear timeframe for objectives so the people working on the objective are clear when it has to be achieved
An objective will only be useful if it passes the SMART test. If it doesn’t pass, change it until it does.
It is vital that accountable employees realise that there are consequences for actions not being achieved and goals not being met.
Set your employees up for success by making sure they have the ‘tools to do the job’. This may be in the form of resources, knowledge, equipment and assistance they need to achieve their goals/objectives. If employees do not feel that they are set up for success, they are more likely to hide mistakes or point fingers elsewhere rather than holding themselves accountable. Don’t set individuals up for failure by skimping on the support and tools needed by them.
Encourage problem solving when an employee highlights a problem they are encountering and resist the urge to do it yourself. Ask them how they’re planning to handle the issue and provide the required information or resources to help get them there.
Provide regular and ongoing feedback to your employees so that they know how they are doing. This may be in the form of performance data that measures how well they are doing against a recognised benchmark. This transparency will help with the employee’s accountability.
It may be necessary to talk about mistakes during this feedback process, and this should be done as constructively as possible. When employees understand that mistakes can be treated as learning opportunities, they will be less likely to try to hide such mistakes from you and the rest of the team.
In her Forbes article – ‘How to enhance company culture using accountability’ – Melinda Fouts explains: “Accountability can be used to create a culture of growth and can be a method to help employees unlock their fullest potential. To bring about professional development, accountability becomes a long-term and ongoing conversation between management and the employee. The result is typically growth and an increase in performance. Changing the perception to this approach facilitates the employees holding themselves and others accountable. As a result, the entire company reaps the benefits where accountability becomes the status quo. In this approach, accountability increases with consistency—hence the long-term mindset.”
Further reading
Forbes: 18 tips for holding employees accountable while nurturing positive growth