Important Tips to Create a Culture of Accountability in the Workplace

Some managers let their employees avoid accountability just because they don’t like confrontation. But ignoring individual accountability is always bad.

It is bad for the employees who know they are not performing well. For example, a person in the sales department will probably see that he is the only one who did not meet his sales goals. Without a tinge of encouragement and a push to improve, he may feel discouraged, devalued and ignored, which may lead him to quit.

In fact, a lack of accountability redirects a negative message to the rest of your staff members that lower standards are OK. Your team may start to resent the low-performing employees and their managers because more work is assigned to other team members to make up for their teammates’ deficiencies.  If you do not address the problem employee, your team may take it as favoritism, which can create a demotivating work environment.

However, you can avoid this problem on your team by joining an accountability training program in Atlanta or adhering to the following steps to resolve the problem.

Have a healthy conversation!

Though holding an employee accountable may seem confrontational, it does not have to be.  Focus on the performance rather than the person. Believe that most people really want to do a good job and are not being difficult on purpose.


Here is an example: “Stuart, I noticed that X thing happened. What is your perspective on what went wrong there?”

Throughout the conversation, try to understand why certain tasks were performed or actions were taken.

Take notice of poor performance as soon as possible!

Deal with the employee one-on-one and as fast as possible. After all, nothing is going to be changed unless you confront the problem. Avoiding the issue will just cause frustration to build and the employee’s poor performance will become a bigger issue. You need to find out the ‘why’ behind the non-performance. In this case, you will need to make your leadership style match the situation. This may be difficult for some leaders- the best way to polish your leadership skills is to invest in some accountability training.

Take into account your employees’ feelings!

Assume that people sometimes do not understand the impact of their behavior. As a supervisor, it is your job to find out the root cause of the problem and establish a mutual way forward.

Set SMART goals!

When things are busy and complicated, it may seem like a burden to stop and write down goals, procedures, and policies. However, employees are required to know what is expected of them to perform well and stay motivated.

Whenever you come to know about a consistent lack of accountability, it is likely you need to compose some SMART goals: where S stands for Specific, M for Measurable, A for Attainable, R for Relevant, and T for Timely.

Since creating SMART goals is a whole topic in itself, there is much to more to learn than what is mentioned here. For more information on accountability training, SMART goals and leadership development, contact Performex at www.performex.com.