Developing a culture of accountability involves accepting personal liability for our own decisions and behaviours and holding others accountable for theirs, in a culture of openness and psychological safety.
Imagine (if you can) a UK organisation where, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff held an office Christmas party which contravened lockdown restrictions – and the law. Senior leaders didn’t put on the event (which was masterminded lower down the pecking order), but were aware it was happening and did nothing to forbid or query it.
So, who is responsible for this prohibited gathering – and who is accountable? The answer is that responsibility for delivering the party lay with its organisers – in that they tasked themselves with carrying out the planning and arrangements, bringing the event into being. Each organiser ought also to take personal accountability for doing so – and every employee who participated should accept individual accountability for their decision to attend.
Meanwhile, public accountability for the rule break ultimately sits with the CEO. As the leader and face of the organisation – guiding its culture – he or she is the person who has a duty to report on (or give account of) the unfortunate events.
This (entirely fictional) example shines a light on the blurred lines between ‘responsibility’ and ‘accountability’ – which are not interchangeable terms. While responsibility is task-orientated and behavioural, referring to someone’s duty to carry out a task to completion, accountability is the state of being liable for what happens.
Understanding the distinction is central to effective teamwork, delegation and relationships at work. However, accountability cannot be mandated but relies on the willingness of the individual to own and account for their own actions. This is why we need to develop a culture of accountability in our own organisations.
The reason for encouraging accountability (at an individual, team and organisational level) is that it is integral to high performance and employee wellbeing. Where organisations lack accountability, there tends to be low trust and psychological safety, poor morale, and high staff turnover. Problems get swept under the carpet rather than being addressed in a timely manner. A lack of accountability is therefore a problem of culture and leadership.
“Accountability encompasses how people make commitments to one another, what they make commitments about, how they measure and report progress, and how much ownership they take to get things done,” explains Roger Connors, CEO of Partners In Leadership, who conducted the landmark Workplace Accountable Study. His research found “a crisis of accountability” in organisations, and confusion around what it entails.
In essence, personal accountability is all about ownership and clarity – understanding what is expected of us, taking responsibility for achieving it, and holding ourselves to account for the results of our actions and decisions along the way. This means defining our goals and objectives, reviewing our performance (regularly and honestly), and owning up to our mistakes so that we can learn from them.
As leaders, we may, of course, be accountable both for clear deliverables (such as winning a new client or meeting a deadline) and less tangible outcomes – for example, ‘team morale’ and ‘upholding the company’s reputation’. The latter may be harder to measure, but requesting honest feedback provides insights, while encouraging openness.
To develop a culture of accountability, (true) leaders at all levels of the business demonstrate accountable behaviour, role-modelling an ‘ownership mentality’ that others can emulate. While it’s a good idea to ‘hire for accountability’ (looking for a track record of acknowledging and learning from mistakes), some employees may come from backgrounds that have not taught them this behaviour and will need to learn it like any other skill.
We can aid them by establishing a safe space in which people can embrace the praise that comes with positive performance – and own their part in the negative outcomes. No one is inclined to accept accountability (or take the initiative) in an environment of finger-pointing toxicity – which is why so many politicians declare that “mistakes were made” rather than actively admitting their personal culpability. Blame cultures only make people more defensive.
Instead, we should create conditions in which people are able to make their best contributions, presenting (reasonable) fallibility as a natural part of innovation and encouraging colleagues to acknowledge and learn from things that go wrong rather than engaging in creative cover ups. This encourages a growth mindset – which is what all organisations need to succeed.
Accepting our own accountability helps others to acknowledge theirs – but leaders also play a core part in supporting team members to do so by ensuring they know what is expected of them and how success will be measured. “A startling absence of clearly defined objectives” was reported by the Workplace Accountable Study.
Support therefore involves communicating clear goals and standards from the outset, setting boundaries and providing ongoing constructive feedback – without resorting to the micromanagement that undermines autonomy and reduces accountability.
Holding others to account can be difficult, especially when we’re a leader who likes to be liked. In fact, data suggests that almost a fifth of leaders see this as their biggest weakness.
However, when things do go wrong, focusing on ‘restoration’ rather than blame can get the best out of a bad situation. This is about encouraging people to try to fix their mistakes and ‘do better next time’ rather than leaving them feeling crushed and dispirited or pushing them to act in an evasive manner. While there should be consequences for consistently poor performance, to reinforce accountability, we must try to look at employees’ performance in the round and to view them as individuals.
“To treat mistakes restoratively, leaders need humility, grace and patience,” advises change management expert Ron Carucci in an article for Harvard Business Review. “They must see any person’s arc of professional success as more than the sum total of any single assignment. Leaders also need to have the humility to acknowledge their contribution to people’s failures. Did the person have the resources, skills, team support, and realistic timelines to be successful?”
Examining our own role in successes and failures emphasises the fact that workplace accountability is a two-way street. Leaders don’t just hold employees accountable for results – we all hold each other accountable, celebrating the good, and accepting and learning from the bad and the ugly.
This helps to create an environment of integrity, transparency and collaboration, enhancing performance and boosting wellbeing. While accountability tends to have negative connotations, conjuring up images of failure and falls from grace, as an ingrained behaviour it is empowering for staff, encouraging autonomy and engagement. It’s the secret to success for many creative and profitable organisations.