Enhancing Culture and Employee Engagement Through Personal Accountability

Creating an exceptional work culture and increasing employee engagement continue to rank at the top of every business and HR leader’s workplace goals. Both of these topics have received increasing attention over the past few years. I want to challenge these leaders to consider personal accountability and its relationship to and impact on culture and engagement. When leaders foster an environment of personal accountability, culture and engagement naturally improve.

What is Accountability?

Sometimes the terms accountability and responsibility are used interchangeably; in fact, however, they are quite different things in the workplace. Responsibility is stepping up to take ownership of an activity. An employee who completes all assigned tasks for their position is taking responsibility for their job. Accountability, on the other hand, is stepping up to take ownership of results. The accountable employee will do what it takes to get the job done with the best results possible.

An employee who clearly understands his or her goals and does what it takes to get the desired outcome displays accountability. Don’t confuse this with the employee who is seemingly always in the office. It is possible for an employee who has no personal accountability to work many hours just because he or she is inefficient. Likewise, it doesn’t mean an employee who leaves right at the end of a shift to accommodate childcare or family life isn’t personally accountable. That employee may be working extra hours in the evening or on the weekends. Perhaps the employee has managed to accomplish desired results within his or her work hours. It’s less about the time spent on the task or project and all about the results the employee generates. The employee will do whatever it takes to ensure the completion of every one of his or her responsibilities.

Employees with personal accountability understand they are working with others toward a common goal for the organization.

Accountable employees not only are completing the responsibilities, but they also are completing them to a specific level of satisfaction. They are not just checking items off a to-do list. Determine that level of satisfaction in advance and ensure it is clearly understood. Every employee needs to know the expectations of their manager, the organization, and, most importantly, the patients or clients. Then, everything they do should meet these expectations, even if that means it takes them more time to do something.

Finally, employees with personal accountability understand they are working with others toward a common goal for the organization. They know the mission, vision, and current initiatives of the organization and how their role contributes to them. If employees do not understand the organization’s mission, vision, and values, then they are working blind and have no sense of direction. Ensuring that employees not only have a clear direction but also buy into the goals of the organization brings a sense of belonging and purpose to everyone. It also helps employees identify whom to partner with to achieve these goals.

Why Should Leaders Strive to Increase Personal Accountability at Work?

Yes, better work culture and increased employee satisfaction will come from an organization filled with accountable employees—but how and why?

More Trust With Reliability

When you work with people who do what they say they are going to do, you know you can rely on and trust them. When there is trust in the workplace, it eliminates the stress of the unknown. “Will they do what they said they were going to do?” or “Can I count on them?” goes away. Instead, employees will focus on their own roles and responsibilities. Suddenly, there is no need to micromanage projects.

Increased Skills and Confidence

Because accountable employees consider the best way to get the job done, they are challenged to think creatively to improve processes and efficiencies. The use of critical thinking skills enhances the employee’s skill set and confidence as they witness the impact they have on the organization.

Sense of Purpose

Everyone wants to know their work is important and makes a difference to the organization. The accountable work environment is sure to demonstrate each role’s impact on the organization. Employees will work together and share accountability to contribute to the organization reaching its goals. It becomes a cycle of success for individuals and the organization.

How Can Leaders Foster an Environment of Personal Accountability?

Leaders must be transparent about their expectations for personal accountability and ensure that every employee understands what that means and how that looks. Encourage employees to “see it, own it, solve it, and do it.” The following sections offer some tips and ways to get started.

Acknowledge how you affect the culture.

Stop and take an inventory of your own actions and consider how they are affecting the organization’s culture. Ask your employees for and be open to feedback, both positive and constructive. Really listen! Leaders must model how to give and get good feedback. Regularly requesting feedback and accepting it with gratitude is critical to developing personal accountability. Feedback truly is a gift. Once you receive it, acknowledge how you’ve contributed to any problems. This arms you with the power to overcome any challenges. Giving and receiving feedback does not come naturally to most people, especially new managers. By having your direct reports practice giving you feedback, you are not only learning from their input, but you are helping them develop their skills.

Define how each role affects your organization.

Many jobs require some degree of menial, repetitive work, but the key to not succumbing to the monotony of these tasks is to understand the bigger picture. If employees truly understand how their role, in conjunction with other positions, brings the mission of the company to life, they’ll be much more inclined to give 100% to their jobs (even when they’re not particularly passionate about the task at hand). When leaders give their employees purpose, higher engagement and satisfaction follow naturally.

One way to accomplish this is to clearly define the organization’s initiatives and form goals for each role that contribute to those initiatives or the mission of the business. Continually reviewing the employee’s progress toward these goals brings the focus back to the aspects of their role that contribute to the bigger picture.

Hire accountable people.

When hiring new employees, ensure they possess personal accountability or the potential for it. Past behavior is always the best predictor of future behavior, so ask plenty of questions that draw out past situations. Consider ways the candidate can show their accountability, including their ability to keep promises, consider consequences, take responsibility for mistakes, and make amends for mistakes.

Some questions you might consider asking during the interview process include the following:

• Describe a situation in which you took responsibility for a mistake you made. What were the consequences of doing so?

• Have you ever taken responsibility for a mistake that a member of your team made?

• Tell me about a time when you failed. How did you handle it?

• Tell me about a time when you chose to honor a commitment or do the right thing even though this action caused you personal hardship or wasn’t the easiest way.

Provide mentors.

Although a formal mentorship program is a great perk, there are several informal ways you can foster mentor relationships in the workplace. Ask employees who have been there longer to coach new hires. This is an excellent way for new hires to gain insight and understanding into the inner workings of your organization. It also allows for the new employees to ask questions about processes and suggest other efficiencies not previously considered. In addition to training for new job tasks, you can ask the mentors to share the history of the organization, current initiatives, and how their role contributes to those initiatives.

Consider partnering older employees with younger ones or employees with more industry background with those newer to the field. New employees are not the only ones who benefit from a mentor relationship.

Get managers in the mindset to help.

Help your managers change their thinking from holding others accountable to nurturing an environment where people are taking greater accountability. This helps foster a culture where employees proactively self-select the appropriate actions needed to get the desired results. This mindset has to trickle down from the top.

Encourage positive thinking.

Help employees seek joy in challenging circumstances instead of always looking at the negative. Start by modeling it yourself. When individuals complain about current conditions, help them look at the situation differently. Ask them questions to draw out anything that is going well so they can begin to see it’s not all negative. Positive thinking doesn’t come naturally to many people, so practice is essential.

Stop the blame game.

We all know people who like to play the blame game—or at least feed into it. Blame kills accountability. Your employees should feel empowered to make mistakes and not be afraid to learn from them. Getting blamed doesn’t help anyone. Instead of blaming, managers, leaders, and colleagues should discuss ways to improve processes or projects and allow others to contribute for added buy-in.

Allow creative thinking.

Leaders must allow employees to think creatively to come up with their own solutions rather than solve problems for them. This may seem easy, but it can take time if it isn’t a natural part of your leadership style. Learn to ask open-ended questions to prompt problem-solving. Ultimately, you’re coaching the individual to create their solutions or devise options to drive personal and team accountability. And, when employees are providing their own answers, they see the value they bring to the organization and engage in responsibilities with more vigor and energy.

Delegate authority.

Once employees begin to demonstrate accountability, give those employees some power to make some decisions. For example, when you assign a project with specific expected results, allow the employees to choose the team, vendor, or tools they will use and work with to get the work done. Give them the ownership they need to get those results.

Bottom line: When you foster an environment where employees are encouraged and expected to focus on personal accountability, you are growing a team of engaged contributors. You’ll begin to see a group of more efficient, creative, and independent employees striving to do their best to contribute to the mission, vision, and initiatives of your organization. Culture will naturally improve as trust and camaraderie develop. Lead the way to an enhanced culture and increased engagement through personal accountability!