It’s no fun following up with others to make sure they are being accountable and doing what they agreed to. The thing is, it is near impossible to force someone to consistently produce top quality results. If their commitment level is average, people will usually do their J.O.B. and not much more. But what if your team members chose to be accountable? I believe two things that make this possible:

We all want to be respected, proud of our work and know our contribution is making a difference.
Most leaders want to be great leaders but have never learned how, and worse they may have unintentionally learned poor leadership skills.

In this article I share opportunities leaders can use to help team members be accountable, feel respected, proud and so much more.

Accountability Overview

One of the most successful ways to help team members be accountable starts with creating a corporate culture people want to belong to. Over the years I have coached many leaders and written extensively on leadership and the value of intrinsic motivators. I’ve seen first-hand that even if your corporate culture is less than ideal, every leader can still create a high-functioning micro-culture of proud employees.

If you’ve followed my writing over the years you know I write extensively on leadership and intrinsic motivators. In studies I’ve ran as well as research by other professionals, the following three intrinsic motivators are at the top of the list and all encourage accountability:

Experiencing pride in our work and sense of accomplishment: Generates feelings of Achievement
Being noticed for our competence, creativity and / or for learning a valuable skill: Generates feelings of Recognition
Having impact and being relevant: Generates feelings of Responsibility / Making a Difference

So, how can we use these three motivators to inspire others and help them be accountable?

The following are six ways to help team members be accountable. As you read through the list consider that as a leader your work is less about being a ‘boss’ and far more about being a ‘coach’. As you move forward, imagine how you can have coaching conversations instead of performance review conversations, even though the topic or subject matter stays the same. Imagine how you can help each person on your team to be the best employee while they also achieve their personal and career goals?

Note: The following six opportunities I'm sharing are very real and very inexpensive motivators that help build a very loyal and very accountable team.

#1. Align people’s passion with their work

This means hire the right people for the right work. Far too often we hire or promote people who are the right people on paper but not the right people for the work. For example, if you are hiring someone for a customer service position, be sure they naturally demonstrate empathy as they communicate.

Use a standardized interview assessment process like a BEI (Behavioral Event Interview), to hire people who mesh well with your corporate culture and values and will also naturally feel a sense of pride and achievement from the work they will be doing.

#2. Know what motivates and inspires each employee

We are all unique and want different things. Some young employees may want relevant experiences and training while others may be starting a family and want job security and workplace flexibility. Some more senior employees may want more strategic responsibility while others may aspire to take on a mentoring role. The simple fact is that if we want to have great impact we shouldn’t treat or reward everyone the same way.

Of all the employees I’ve met, there is one common denominator; they want to work for an employer and a leader who respects them and who helps them be proud of what they accomplish.

#3. Be clear with expectations

Give employees a chance to discuss, influence and set their goals. By sharing what you expect and making them part of the discussion you are allowing them to take responsibility and accountability for their work. For example, perhaps they need additional training, or your support to get access to specific company resources; this allows the company to support them as much as they will support the company.

Be clear that when they want to talk through a problem with you that they should also bring a solution to discuss, and this should happen as soon as possible. When employees clearly know what the expectations, timelines and measurements of success are, surprises can be eliminated, their accountability can increase, and overall frustration can decrease.

After you have set expectations, continue to spend time with them at regular intervals to make sure you are both on the same page (see #5).

#4. Help employees understand the question ‘Why’?

When people know why their work is important, they are likely to be more accountable for getting it done on time and as expected. And, at a team level they will be more inclined to hold each other accountable.

For example, when someone knows the recommendations you asked for are going into the proposal for the CEO and that is why you need it on Monday, 99.9% of employees are going to be proud of who will be reading their work and will want to make sure you get it on time and with the detail you discussed.

This helps engage intrinsic goals like having influence and making a difference.

#5. Stay in touch

You may have information that will help them course correct toward their goals. At the same time they need to know you are there to provide guidance and to trust you will help them with (not blame them for), any challenges they may be having.

I used to have a boss that would keep information to himself. This made it impossible for the team to support the strategy which made our work less effective, created more waste and of course we were all very frustrated. Note: He also had a high employee turnover rate… and you can imagine why.

Often, knowing you are counting on them and you are there to support them will often help your team meet and even exceed your expectations.

#6. Recognize and celebrate their creativity and success

When your team deliver high quality work take a moment and recognize it - praise them immediately. During your check-ins make sure you are praising them for their good work. Recognition is one of the most important promoters of accountability for not only the project they are working on but their overall outlook such as being motivated to help their coworkers and add value in meetings which will even feed into their next project.

You can never be too busy to make sure people feel proud just like you can never be too busy to hold people accountable. When you see behaviour that is (or is not) in-line with expectations you have to respond immediately. Any delay diminishes the reward or adds to the damage being done… and damage to everyone’s motivation who is watching.

Conclusion:

Leaders have to look at accountability, motivation and reward in a different way than business traditionally has. And while change may be difficult at first, the beauty is that being able to help team members be accountable is like rolling a snowball down a hill. As trust and understanding build momentum quickly takes over and accountability has greater impact. As time goes by, employees also begin to hold themselves (and each other) accountable.

Note: Firing someone is not what I mean as holding people accountable; rather, helping Richard correct before the situation gets so bad you have to fire him is. As a leader you have to be ready, willing and able to quickly have respectful but difficult conversations. One example I have used in other articles is that if you ever find yourself or other people on your team say things like.

BONUS I: Why employees don't take responsibility / accountability:

I asked my friends and professional network why they thought employees don’t take responsibility / accountability. Here is the list we came up with. A big thanks to all of them… we are all better when we work together.

They don't know it's their responsibility.
They haven’t been held accountable in the past.
Transparency is low so they have a poor understanding of organizational goals and priorities.
They don't know 'Why?' a specific piece of work is important.
They don’t feel included or empowered to contribute their expertise.
They don’t feel part of the team… or important.
It isn't their job. They don’t see how the work relates to them.
If they are being asked to assist others they are never thanked… or given assistance when they need it.
They are unsure of expectations – unsure of what their boss wants.
They don't know how – they’ve not been trained (and perhaps not empowered).
They are treated differently (poorly) than their peers.
Their leader always reworks their work.
Their leader takes the all the glory and credit, but blames you and the team for mistakes or errors.
Their work is often ignored by their boss.
Their leader doesn't try to fix uncomfortable situations like when other employees consistently do not ‘pull their weight’
They never hear "you did well" or “thank you” or “great idea”.
They are frequently asked to work extra hours for their boss and/or company but made to feel guilty when they need time off.
They have far too much work for anyone to expect to handle… and more work unceremoniously added on.
Everything is treated like a crisis.
They are disheartened – they’ve been let down / unsupported by their boss and/or the company in the past.
Their leader is paralyzed with fear of making a decision or of looking like they are not ‘all knowing’ so make no decisions and don’t ask their team for their expertise or experience.

BONUS II: Hypothetical at-home example that accountability can’t be forced… especially accountability connected to quality:

Assume you are a parent of a teenager… or remember back to when you were one.

To earn their allowance one of your teenagers has agreed to fill and empty the dishwasher. Even though they also have a need for dishes (they do eat), they feel no pride in the job. They don’t like cooking, they don’t like mess and touching the wet, dirty, greasy dishes makes them want to immediately shower afterward. The result is they almost always have to be reminded and emptying the dishwasher often gets done last minute and increases everyone’s frustration.

You know that reminding them “It’s your job” followed by the silent intention of [and you get paid to do it] doesn’t make things better and is easily interpreted as a lightly veiled threat. And because their frustration is growing, when they do empty the dishwasher they don’t check to see if the dishes are clean (because cleaning the dishes isn’t their J.O.B.) which means from time to time you find knives with peanut butter residue and other dirty dishes.

The result is things just keep going from bad to worse. In the end they are going to quit, or you are going to take over – ultimately firing them. No matter how you look at this nothing good is coming from treating this task as a job and trying to force accountability. As I shared in #1 above, it seems you hired the wrong person for this task… and they will never feel this work is making an important difference.

Thank you for reading. I will enjoy hearing your comments, feedback and even examples about how you can help team members be accountable.

Bruce

About Bruce and Bruce Mayhew Consulting.

Bruce is Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting specializes in customized Email Etiquette Training, Leadership & New Leadership Development, Generational Differences, Time Management Training and other soft skills training solutions in Toronto and across Canada. Bruce is also an Executive Coach to a few select clients.

Bruce is an experienced motivational speaker in Toronto and has inspired audiences across Canada and within the USA and the UK. Bruce works hard to always make sure your training event, conference, retreat, or annual general meeting is a success.

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