Recognizing the Need for More Accountability

If we really want to avoid the costs that pile up when no one is held accountable and capture the profitability that’s so often killed as a result, the first step is realizing there’s even a problem… Before you tune me out here, I’m not inviting you to an AA meeting! When there’s a leadership issue, it’s anything but anonymous. That said, recognizing the need for more accountability can be tough.

In an article from ParetoLabs called How to Identify a Lack of Accountability in Your Team (and What to Do), the author shares that “In a team that lacks accountability, work is subpar and often late. No one takes responsibility for their actions, leading to poor outcomes across the board.” and goes on to list these five areas that suffer from that lack of accountability:

• Low quality work
• Decreased productivity
• High turnover
• DIsengaged employees
• Low morale

That’s quite the list… In fact, it looks a lot like the profitability killers we’ve been working to address through this process!

Here’s where you’re likely thinking, “Wait a minute, Wes, I thought you said a lack of accountability can be tough to recognize? Any one of those things should jump right at a leader who’s paying even a little attention!”

If all of those things showed up the moment accountability started to drop, or any one of them made a significant impact right off the bat, it should most certainly grab the leader’s attention. The challenge is that each of these issues start off small but can compound quickly as they build upon one another. What begins as a minor issue, which could very well be due to legitimate reasons, snowballs. We let the issue slide that one time, but that level of performance now becomes the new standard; not necessarily on paper but definitely in the minds of everyone watching.

A while back in our Leading At The Next Level program, I shared a lesson called How Leaders Show Value by Being Responsive. In that lesson, I provided examples from two separate conversations I had on the same morning with top performers in their respective organizations who were extremely frustrated with the executives they reported. In both cases, an expectation for responsiveness - to both internal and external communication - was clearly defined and tied to each organization’s values. The rub both individuals had was that their immediate managers barely responded to them at all, and it certainly wasn’t within the time frame that had been defined as the company guideline…

Just like a lack of accountability, I highly doubt this kind of poor response happened overnight. However, the behavior became ingrained when there was no consequence - with the managers in question as well as throughout the teams reporting to them!

There have been so many times where I’ve been frustrated by something and Cindy has talked me down by emphasizing how someone does one thing is how they do everything; telling me that whoever got under my skin probably had no intention of putting me off, they likely do the same thing with everyone… And time has proven her right over and over and over again!

Whether it’s as simple as being slow to respond to an email or it’s in how we deliver on a big project, the contributing behavior will continue when there’s a lack of accountability - and the frequency will only increase. And sooner or later, it will show up in each of those five areas listed above - but not before some habits have formed… As this begins to become part of the culture, and kill even more profitability, there will be some very visible signs in how supervisors and managers interact with their teams - and how those teams respond - so we’ll pick up there next time!