Every organization has to have some structure of accountability in place to succeed, but this can be one of the most challenging processes to implement. Too many people associate accountability with shame, judgment, or consequences and will hide their mistakes instead of admit and corr ect them. Even more damaging for a company is when an organization’s leadership is not accountable to their staff. What is accountability, and what can you do to improve it within your business? 

What Is Accountability? 

The term accountable originates from the Latin computare, meaning “to count.”  It refers to the ability to account for the resources that one is responsible for. When you are accountable for something, it means you take responsibility for and ownership of what happens to it. If you fail in your responsibilities, you take the blame for your actions and make amends. 

In a business context, this means that if a leader is accountable for a project, its success or failure depends directly on him. Ultimately, it’s that person’s job to make sure that the project succeeds, regardless of how many other people are involved. If a team member did not do her job, the team leader is still responsible because he didn’t select another person or make sure that team member had everything she needed to get the job done. 

When company leadership fails to hold themselves accountable, this has a negative effect on the whole organization that only compounds over time. Why? For three main reasons: 

It sets a terrible example – Leadership is in place to lead. If they fail to do their jobs and they won’t even acknowledge their failures, this gives workers the exact opposite example of how to proceed with their own tasks. If the boss rolls in late to work regularly, staff will soon begin to ask themselves why they should bother being on time since it’s obviously not a real company priority.

It creates resentment and disrespect – No one wants to work for someone who holds them to a higher standard than they hold themselves. It feels unfair, and that is because it is unfair. If the boss who can’t show up on time complains about worker tardiness, it will only be seen as hypocrisy, and scorn will follow. 

It undermines trust – The difference between a team member and a team leader failing to be accountable is that the other team members cannot easily address the problem when it’s the leader who is shrugging off responsibility, nor can they replace the team leader. Staff loses trust in both the team leader and the system itself. They may ask themselves if nothing can be done about a situation, why even try? This creates a cascade of disincentives for workers and absolutely destroys productivity over time. 

Leaders Must Hold Themselves Accountable

If they want the respect and buy-in from their workers, owners and managers have to be harder on themselves and their performance than they are on their staff. In one study 72% of respondents said that leadership accountability is a critical issue in their organizations. This is not a good sign. 

How can leaders better hold themselves accountable? First, they can be honest with themselves about the ways in which they have fallen short of company expectations. Recognition is the first step to recovery, so if accountability is a problem in your organization, do some soul searching first. 

Second, leaders must be honest about their failures with their employees. This might be a serious failure, or it might just mean saying, “I don’t know” when asked a question. It’s okay to make mistakes. Everyone does. But leaders have to own them and fix them. 

Once they’ve acknowledged their failures, good leaders work to fix them. They do that work themselves; they don’t make others mop up a mess for them. And they ask for help if they need it. Being honest and asking for assistance can go a long way towards repairing broken trust. 

When leaders create accountability processes that workers view as fair, workers become much more likely to be honest about their own failures, improve their own communication, work harder, and serve the company’s mission and goals instead of just their own interests. 

If your company is struggling with accountability on any level, Prometis Partners can work with you to examine your organization and help you pinpoint weaknesses that can be addressed. Schedule a meeting with Vincent Mastrovito today to discuss any challenges in your business that you would like to improve.