Building a Culture of Accountability: An HR Professional's Perspective

After hearing some of my business colleagues complain about the increase in employees’ absence during one of our local festivals “Spice Mas.”  I was moved to share a little about accountability. It has been on my mind for months. Please ensure to read to the end and feel free to share how your organization has addressed this problem in the past.

Every employer should work towards building a culture of accountability at work. A culture of accountability can be described as the cornerstone of high performing organisations with healthy public images. It fosters security, trust, loyalty, and employee engagement.

The following strategies for cultivating a culture of accountability are provided for your benefit.

1. Invite your employees to share what they see as accountability, the standards that should be followed to establish and maintain accountability, and the consequences of not following these standards. Following employees’ input, management should then develop an accountability framework or a policy to provide a structured approach to accountability. This policy would define accountability and establish the behaviour standards required and the consequences for non-compliance with the Policy. It does not need to be an extensive policy of many pages, be sure to focus on substance; what is ultimately important.

   
   

2. Every development initiative should begin with a leader, someone who is willing to influence the change(s) they wish to see. It is therefore critical for CEOs and Managers, as well as Supervisors, to LEAD BY EXAMPLE. You would need examples of behaviours within the organisation that demonstrates what the Policy upholds. Your Accountability Policy must first be introduced to your top people. They must get it first. Failure to ensure compliance at the top level is your guarantee for poor adherence by all other employees.

   
   

3. You can further support your Policy by including “Accountability” as one of your written Core Values. This way it is highlighted as one of the values you wish to be known by. It is important therefore to cultivate an acceptable measure of accountability internally before you can promote it externally to a significant extent. By identifying “accountability” as one of your core values, you are committing, among many witnesses, to promoting your organisation as one that is reliable and can be trusted.

   
   

4. Follow through with the Consequences (discipline & corrective actions). One of the easiest ways to strip respect from your policies is by not following through with the consequences stated therein. Whatever you say you would do, should be done. The failure of Managers to discipline employees is a failure to lead effectively and an indication to employees that you are not serious. We often forget that when we fail to hold employees responsible for inappropriate conduct or lack of adherence to policy, we are contributing to the breaking down of structure, trust, and the working environment overall. On the other hand, when we hold employees accountable, no matter who they are, it sends a powerful message through-out the workplace and acts as a catalyst for increasing adherence, encouraging staff development, and lifting the morale of employees.

   
   

5. Publicly praise and recognise employees for continuous efforts made to be accountable and to influence other employees to do the same. By doing this you are reminding all employees of the behaviours that are acceptable and should be emulated. It communicates that these behaviours can bring value to employees and the organisation.

   
   

6. Build or adjust your Performance Management System (PMS) to allow you to assess behavioural performances including accountability. Establish clear and measurable performance indicators supported by examples. Your PMS is expected to be used as a tool to facilitate and encourage employee growth, guiding them towards achieving their fullest potential within the organisation. The PMS would allow you to describe or explain the varied levels of accountability, showing what it looks like to perform below satisfactory levels, satisfactorily, or beyond satisfactory levels.

   Here are some examples:

   Satisfactory levels of Accountability may be described as – The employee is reliable and can be depended upon to do the right thing 100% of the time. Exceeding Satisfactory levels of accountability may look like – the employee actively encourages other employees to be accountable and reports noncompliance of employees. Unacceptable levels of accountability may look like – the employee has had at least one occasion where they did not carry out their responsibilities in a timely manner or failed to accept accountability for inappropriate behaviours or poor-quality service to a colleague or customer.

   
   

7. When hiring new employees be sure to investigate their philosophy on accountability and their performance in this area at previous job engagements.

In my home country, Grenada, employers are complaining about the poor attendance of employees during festive seasons and celebrations, like “Spice Mas (Carnival).” Employees who are not on any type of approved employment leave, would suddenly call in sick during this period causing unwanted interruptions to daily operations at work and adversely affecting the quality of service provided to customers.

If you are an employer and you have encountered significant challenges with absenteeism during peak holiday months like August and December, you may want to seriously assess your organisation against the strategies presented above and first seek to apply them to your working environment before throwing your hands up in the air. Remember, you are already empowered to establish what is acceptable behaviour and the consequences for non-adherence.

Additionally, the following should be addressed:

1. Ensure you employees are valued and treated fairly. Many times, unhappy employees are the ones easily tempted to call in sick when they are not.

2. Rotate vacation to avoid the same employees being on vacation during the same period every year.

3. Establish consequences for proven false claims of sickness or injury.

4. Engage the Ministry of Labour for clarity where you are uncertain about the actions that can be legally taken to correct this problem.

5. Continuously inspire your employees to develop healthy work ethics and morals.

6. Finally, establish your expectations regarding absenteeism, at recruitment.