Tweet

Put Accountability To Work In Your Organization

Written by: Debora McLaughlin

Article Overview: Accountability begins with engagement: a heightened emotional connection to your company that influences your employees to exert greater effort.

Put Accountability To Work In Your Organization

Is accountability elusive in your organization? If you're like most leaders, you regularly deal with work force issues that get in the way of your organization's success. Here you have all this talent at your fingertips, yet goals are not being met and your business isn't nearly as successful as you know it could be. It's frustrating!

Accountability begins with engagement: a heightened emotional connection to your company that influences your employees to exert greater effort.

According to a recent Gallup study, only 29 percent of employees are engaged in their jobs. Others are currently looking for work, willing to switch jobs if the opportunity presents itself or are feeling depressed or overwhelmed and, as a result, are underperforming.

Disengagement costs between 243 to 270 billion dollars a year from low productivity. Can anyone afford this right now?

So what is the upside? Engaged employees perform up to 28 percent better and are 87 percent less likely to leave the organization. Eighty-four percent believe they can positively impact the organization's quality and 72 percent want to optimize service delivery.

One study by Serota Consulting showed that share prices of organizations with engaged employees raised an average of 16 percent. The industry average is a mere 6 percent!

With obligations to the success of your organization, your shareholders and your customers, in today's economy, it's in your best interest to improve engagement and with it accountability.

The old management-centered, top-down approach breeds lack of accountability and creativity, creates resentment and offers poor results. Don't make the same mistake your competition will: trying to make improvements by putting the spotlight on poor performance.

Instead, put the spotlight on success.

Inoculate your organization

Be a different type of leader. Accountability doesn't have to be a heavy load, like pushing a rock uphill. With the right ingredients, you can create an organizational culture that breeds responsibility, ownership and accountability.

The key to your leadership success lies in creating a "learning" environment, a new kind of business architecture in which employees can learn, solve problems, challenge one another's perspectives and go beyond their present knowledge, skills and attitudes.

A learning environment promotes honesty, direct communication, safety to speak one's opinion without negative consequences and the ability to recreate ideas and solutions in one's own context.

The environment emboldens employees to play with new skills and test new attitudes in a "safe" setting with colleagues.

Using a proven performance coaching framework, you, too, can lead and motivate individuals and teams to work together to the highest levels of performance.

• Performance. Define "what 'good' looks like." Instead of focusing on what's lacking in performance, set the bar for success. Gather you team together and collectively identify what "good" looks like in any area that is lacking in accountability.

• Efficacy. Find out what's getting in the way of achieving the level of performance you want. What resources are needed: time, energy, money, training, skill, motivation? Develop a plan to fill those gaps. Develop SMART goals: strategic, measurable, actionable, result oriented and timely.

• Ownership. Talk about ownership, what it means and how to measure success. Encourage self-evaluation and team evaluation.

• Possibilities. Create a vision together. What could happen if "what 'good' looks like" were implemented? What would be the impact on each employee, the team, the organization, your customers, your market share and your shareholders?

• Linkage. Discuss how each individual's work is linked to the result you're trying to create. Expand each employee's vision.

• Evidence. Effective leaders measure peak performance from their team members. What scorecard will you use? Plan with the team how to handle lack of accountability and how to motivate each other. How will you celebrate when goals are met?

The first letters of each step spells P.E.O.P.L.E. You don't have to achieve great results by yourself. What you achieve together can be greater than what you might have imagined and all of you will have fun in the process.

Develop engaged individuals

How do you inspire individuals to become engaged employees? First, get to know your team members. Studies show that the most engaged employees have a good relationship with their manager.

Then, open the doors to team and organizational communication. Many organizations have no trouble communicating with employees from the top down, but struggle to develop an atmosphere in which communication can occur from the bottom up.

Build trust. As a leader you build trust by offering a consistent and positive pattern of behavior, including a willingness to listen and share information, trust others, promote honest communication, show fair behavior and fulfill promises. As you build your own credibility, you build trust in your team and your organization.

It's also important to offer career advancement opportunities and to give employees the tools they need to succeed. Use DISc or Myers-Briggs to learn more about each other. A CPI 260 might show new leaders how they would be perceived by their team and what strengths to leverage. A TKI conflict resolution assessment might help staff members improve communication.

You need to keep your staff informed and provide feedback. Employees should understand how their duties and responsibilities affect the organization's bottom line, and should be made to feel a part of the organization's success.

Gain healthy results

There's clear and mounting evidence that high levels of employee engagement correlate to individual, group and corporate performance in areas such as retention, turnover, productivity, customer service and loyalty (Conference Board Study of Employee Engagement).

Employees who are involved and passionate about the organization and their jobs pass their passion and loyalty on to fellow employees, customers and shareholders. To that end, creating a culture that fosters employee engagement not only has an impact on your company, but also has a profound and lasting impact on the world around it.

Related Articles
  Accountability Partnerships Series Conclusion
  WHERE IS THE YOU (“U”) IN ACCOUNTABILITY IN TODAY’S WORLD?
  Values
  A culture of accountability is the key to business and organisational success
  Leadership Tips to Create Greater Accountability in Your Organization

Article Tags: accountability, employee engagement, leadership



Related Forum Posts
Young Entrepreneur Organization - All You Need To Know - The Young Entrepreneur Organization (YEO) is a global community of entrepreneurs. This non-profit organization aims to make its members successful in their business through networking and training programs. This article tells you all you need to know about the Young Entrepreneur Organization, and the opportunities it makes available to young entrepreneurs from across the world. Young Entrepreneur Organization: Facts. 1) The Young Entrepreneur Organization has 5,000 members in 35 countries across the world. 2) The organization was founded in 1987. Since then, it has helped many aspiring entrepreneurs with training facilities and getting in touch with the right people. 3) The average age of the members of Young Entrepreneur Organization is 34 years. 4) In order to be eligible for the membership of Young Entrepreneur Organization, you need to be under the age of 40; and be the founder or partner in a business that has annual sales of more than $1 million. World Entrepreneurs Organization: A part of the Young Entrepreneur Organization, the World Entrepreneur Organization and takes the message of Young Entrepreneur Organization to many additional places around the world. This organization is especially active in the area of education and training for entrepreneurs. Young Entrepreneur Organization: Objectives. 1) To foster entrepreneurship. 2) To support Young Entrepreneur Organization members by providing them the chance to network and grow. 3) To provide resources to its members so that they can benefit the economy through innovative business ideas. 4) According to Young Entrepreneur Organization, you get to share your story with those who have had similar experiences, and thus gain insight into the best principles of entrepreneurship. Young Entrepreneur Organization: Facilities. At the Young Entrepreneur Organization, you get to meet and share views with like-minded people and fellow entrepreneurs. In order to facilitate a free exchange of ideas and growth for its member, the Young Entrepreneur Organization provides the following facilities to members. 1) Forum: Join the forum of the Young Entrepreneur Organization and start networking with entrepreneurs from across the world. Each forum group has 12 members who come together regularly to share their experiences and discuss issues related to entrepreneurship. 2) Mentor: In conjunction with the World Presidents’ Organization, the Young Entrepreneur Organization guides and counsels young entrepreneurs through a mentor program by the best business leaders. 3) Social Innovation: The Social Innovators Program involves Young Entrepreneur Organization member who wish to do something for about social issues. It helps members become socially aware citizens and gives them the opportunity to do something for their community. 4) Marketplace: The marketplace allows members to post business offers and receive replies from other members. These are just some of the facilities you will get if you become part of the Young Entrepreneur Organization. Others, like meeting prospective clients through trade shows, and special tools to network and meet with the right people are also part of the YEO facilities.
Protect yourself from Hackers - I received this from a newsletter from FXpro that I subscribed to. Please read and apply In the 21st Century internet is widely used for everyday job. Despite the "ease" and free time offered from internet use, one should be aware of the dangers and be prepared to avoid and safeguard him/herself from any attacks his/her computer may accept or even from the "unwanted" e-mails received. Golden Rules of Protection When using the internet make sure you have an antivirus program installed in order to avoid intrusions in your Computer, If you are using wireless internet connection make sure you have your connection locked, Do not save any official documents on your Computer, such as Copy of Passport, ID, Bank account numbers, copy of cards in case your Computer is hacked or even stolen, Keep all access codes/passwords in a safe place, Do not share an e-mail address with any person, Do not reveal any access codes, passwords to any person, If you are using a public Computer, ie in an internet cafe, make sure you log out any internet sites you have visited before leaving and deleting the cookies in order to minimize the risk of someone following your tracks, Regularly change your passwords on your e-mail accounts, or any other account that requires passwords, Be careful of e-mails received. Always check the e-mail address and in case you believe that this does not come from a person, Company, Organization you might be dealing with always send an e-mail to an e-mail address stated on the person's business card, Company's, Organization website requesting them to confirm that the e-mail address on the e-mail received belongs to them, before you reveal any information, Always have in mind that an established Company/Organization never uses an e-mail address such as g-mail, yahoo, hotmail etc thus always be careful when you are receiving such e-mails, even if it appears to be from a Company/Organization you are dealing with, Always remember that a Company or Organization will never require you to send them your login/password/access codes, When using a website that requires an access code, do not allow the browser to remember your passwords
Coming up with a business name - I've always been curious about how people select their business names and would love to hear how you came up with yours. When I first started my company I was selecting between Evan Carmichael & Associates or the Carmichael Organization. The reason was I had read two books by Anthony Robbins and Donald Trump and learned about how they came up with their companies names to make them look bigger than they were when they were first getting started. Robbins chose Anthony Robbins & Associates while Trump chose the Trump Organization. I settled on Evan Carmichael & Associates and later changed it to Evan Carmichael Communications Group when I incorporated on the advice of my lawyer. I agree that it is not the most innovative name out there but my business is about building a brand. I would love to hear how you came up with your company name!
Marketing and PR ideas related to a Credit Organization - Hello Everybody! I would be very grateful if you suggested some PR and Marketing ideas for a Credit Organization which target market is poor public who live in village and haven't any access to the internet. Thanx in advance
Re: Five Personality Traits of Successful Business Owners - 1. Focus 2. Ability to Adapt 3. Hard Work 4. Good planning 5. People Skills


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How to Sell to the Price Driven Customer

How do you keep it together on a daily basis?

SEO Gurus, Software and Ebooks

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.