How Do You Encourage Workplace Accountability? Get These Basics Right.

Establishing accountability in a team is a significant challenge for many leaders. Yet, lack of accountability can have serious consequences, such as failure to achieve the team’s goals.

Implicit assumptions often shape expectations and communication, for example the belief that a directive from a supervisor should be sufficient to establish accountability. The misuse of the terms “responsibility” and “accountability” further complicates matters. Despite their similarities, these are distinct concepts, and while you can delegate responsibility for completion of a task, you cannot delegate accountability for its outcome if that’s part of your job role.

So, what can leaders do to address the accountability challenge? For starters, they should ask themselves whether the fundamental conditions are in place to cultivate and sustain a culture of accountability.

Leaders should consider these seven questions:

1. Are You A Positive Role Model?

Accountability in the workplace starts with the leader. This is a seemingly simple principle that many leaders seem to “know.” The challenge is putting it into practice.

Setting an example of the right behaviours is the first step to building accountability in the team. Observing these behaviours in daily interactions and routines will inspire employees to emulate them. You can lead by example in the following ways:

• Hold yourself accountable for your goals, and make sure to see them through;
• Accept responsibility for your actions, even when things do not go as planned;
• Embrace open conversations about mistakes and what you learnt along the way.

Once you have evaluated yourself honestly as a role model, talk to the change agents in your organisation, those individuals who can make a difference, and empower them to inspire others with the same attitude.

2. Have You Built A Shared Purpose?

Purpose isn’t what we do. It’s why we do what we do.

It is essential for a team to have a shared purpose. It can serve as a catalyst to motivate and engage people. A purpose that is authentically communicated, centered and reinforced will inspire teams to succeed.

Connecting to a purpose that people can relate to will help to build a sense of ownership and accountability in the workplace.

3. Do Your Team Members Really Understand What’s Expected Of Them?

In It’s the Manager, Gallup reports that “only about 50% of all workers, and fewer managers, even know what’s expected of them“. This is surprising given the abundance of advice on setting expectations and achieving business goals.

Clear job descriptions are important, but they serve little purpose in establishing accountability unless they are discussed by managers and their direct reports and regularly reviewed so as to address assumptions and prevent misunderstandings. 

It is important that you provide the resources that people need to be successful in their roles and engage in honest conversations about what is under their control versus what isn’t. If you hold a team member accountable for something outside their control, you are putting yourself and them at risk of failure.

Performance management tools that promote realistic evaluations will further support you in instilling a culture of accountability.

4. How Do You Support Psychological Safety?

Accountability and psychological safety go hand in hand at work. Simply put, accountability requires a culture that is not afraid of mistakes. This is not about ignoring mistakes but rather about acknowledging them as part of the learning process in achieving the goal.

Psychological safety requires a trusting environment. Trust isn’t just some abstract idea that exists in a vacuum. Trust is formed by practices and behaviours on the ground, by what we see and experience in our interactions with others in the workplace. These practices and behaviours will either foster or erode psychological safety, and consequently facilitate or hinder accountability.

5. Do You Use A Transparent System For Feedback And Accountability?

As we discussed earlier, it’s important to clarify roles and responsibilities so that people understand what is expected of them. However, a job description alone is not enough to establish accountability. A framework or system of ongoing feedback is necessary.

A defined framework like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) provides more than just a means to achieve business goals. It encourages leaders and their teams to be transparent as they clarify roles and responsibilities, create goals, and communicate. Furthermore, the OKR framework recognises the importance of employee engagement by offering numerous opportunities for quality coaching conversations over time.

There are many other tools to encourage accountability or address an accountability problem. Ultimately, leaders should select the tool that is right for them and their teams, and whatever choice they make, they need to be sure that team members use it consistently.

6. Are You Coaching Along The Way?

Accountability can be cultivated through coaching. Engaging in active listening, being curious, asking open-ended questions, and providing objective, non-judgmental feedback strengthen interpersonal relationships and promote an environment of psychological safety, a prerequisite for accountability.

Timing and frequency are crucial components of effective coaching. Gallup reports that “47% of workers received feedback from their manager “a few times or less” in the past year, and only 26% of employees strongly agree that the feedback they received helped them do their work better.”  Coaching works best when it is done in the moment, with regular nudges between conversations to ensure people follow through on their commitments.

A coaching approach that encourages employees to take initiative also promotes accountability. In Spotify’s case study, we see how fostering initiatives leads to greater responsibility and how companies can balance autonomy and accountability.

7. Are You Rewarding People For Effort And Growth?

Meeting business goals and objectives is crucial. Yet outcome alone shouldn’t be the only thing that matters and gets measured. Growth, effort and learning are equally important. Ultimately, these things are what will get you where you want to be.  And there’s evidence that supports the idea that they positively impact employee commitment.

Continuous improvement and success occur when you experiment, ask for feedback, and learn from mistakes. As Carol Dweck notes, “Outcome — the bottom line — follows from deeply engaging in these processes.”  A growth mindset encourages you to focus on the journey without losing sight of the destination.

These building blocks will help you honestly evaluate your progress in building an accountable culture within your team and identify any gaps. Why not challenge yourself to put these questions to work? What is one area of improvement that you could focus on right now? You might be surprised at what emerges.

About the author

Olga Valadon is the Founder and Director of Change Aligned, which is a team of strategy consultants in London. She is a strategist, leadership mentor and corporate empathy expert with three decades of experience in global corporates. Her company specialises in culture design and leadership development. Olga is on the board of the University of Cambridge Primary school, advisor to Equal Employer®, and associate management lecturer at BPP University.