The simplified guide to holding employees accountable in the workplace
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As a manager, if you want your team to be successful, you must ensure that they are aware of their duties and are performing them properly. However, many leaders struggle with accountability in the workplace; in fact, 25% of them report an absence of accountability as the largest obstacle in leading their team. The good news is, there are several ways to measure your team’s progress and make sure members are accomplishing their objectives.
In the following guide, we’re sharing 5 tips for creating a culture of accountability in the workplace.
1. Set clear expectations
Establishing clear expectations for your staff is essential since it can be difficult to hold people accountable if they are unaware of what is expected of them. Establishing clear expectations for your staff means being completely transparent about your goals, desired results, success metrics, and suggested methods for accomplishing them. These expectations should be communicated clearly to all team members and preferably documented in writing. This makes it simple for you to refer back to the conversation if an employee falls short of your expectations.
When there are clear guidelines for their roles, responsibilities, and expectations, employees grow a sense of accountability. Additionally, having clear expectations makes it easier for them to realize that failing to meet performance goals repeatedly without a good explanation is unacceptable and that poor performance has consequences.
2. Create a business playbook
A business playbook, also known as an operations playbook, corporate playbook, or company playbook, is a document that lists all of a company’s policies, standard operating procedures, and practices. A business playbook explains the fundamentals of your company to both current team members and prospective hires, including what it does, each person’s tasks and responsibilities to the business strategy, and what sets this organization apart from its rivals.
In addition to making sure your team stays aligned and helping you hold your people accountable, having a playbook for business comes with a number of other benefits for you and your employees. Some of the most important ones include centralizing company information, preventing confusion, maintaining consistency, saving time, etc.
3. Learn how to delegate
Delegating tasks is the best way to empower your employees, build trust, and foster growth. Of course, assigning duties to others can reduce your workload, but delegation accomplishes much more than that. One benefit is that those who work for you will be able to learn new skills and expand their knowledge, preparing them for future roles with greater responsibility.
Delegation can also be a strong indication that you have confidence in your employees’ abilities and judgment. When employees feel trusted and appreciated, they tend to be more committed to their work, their company, and their managers and as a result, they will be more accountable.
4. Give consistent feedback
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Open, honest, and consistent feedback is crucial for your team members to know where they stand. Having feedback sessions on a regular basis with your staff will make it much simpler to provide and receive negative feedback. It’s crucial to hold an employee accountable if they don’t meet the objectives established and can’t provide a strong argument for their lack of results. However, when offering feedback, make sure to be constructive.
Make it possible for employees to also provide feedback. Consider using employee engagement surveys to motivate your employees to provide feedback. These surveys are individualized and produce more insightful results, and they can help you figure out how your staff members feel about workplace accountability.
5. If there’s no improvement, let the employee go
Managers almost never want to fire an underperforming employee, but doing so does demonstrate that everyone will be held accountable for their work.
Although it may sound harsh, managers must take extreme action if, despite all efforts, an employee continues to fail to improve. It may be time for you to make the difficult decision of letting the employee go if you have tried every avenue to help them but they still don’t show accountability and progress. If you don’t do this, it can begin to negatively impact the entire team and its performance.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, a manager’s job is to oversee their team’s work while also bringing out the best in each team member. A manager in this position must be able to assign responsibilities effectively, inspire the team, and help them work toward their objectives.
Knowing the various management styles can help managers choose the one that will benefit them and their team members the most. Additionally, managers must empower their staff by utilizing two-way channels of communication like one-on-one meetings or feedback sessions.
