8 in 10 Struggle Holding People Accountable
82% say they have limited to no ability to hold others accountable for delivering on expectations. 91% say improving accountability practices is a top development need in their organization.*
10 principles for holding people accountable:
#1. Strong relationships.
Holding people accountable begins with relationship.
- Do people believe you’re in it for yourself or the greater good?
- Do people feel like you’re on their team?
- Are you rowing-with?
#2. Clear expectations.
Agree on goals, don’t simply impose them. Agree on urgency and priority. Is this a “must do” or is it a “good thing to do”?
Clarity challenges. Optional gets neglected.
#3. Confirmed skill.
It’s foolhardy to set high goals for incompetent people. What makes you believe they are capable?
#4. Motivation to succeed.
Do results matter?
You’re pushing a rope when people don’t care.
#5. Ownership.
Who owns the job?
#6. Agreed on deadlines.
Set reasonable deadlines for novices. “What needs to happen for you to reach this goal? Set reasonably challenging expectations for experts. “What does a challenging goal look like to you?”
#7. Scheduled check-ins and consistent feedback.
#8. Opportunities to learn and develop.
Focus on learning and growth. Don’t treat people like tools.
#9. Recognition for success.
#10. Meaningful consequences for failure.
Consequences are often the missing ingredient in holding people accountable.
- First failure. Your response to first failures depends on competency. Novices need more room to fail than experts. Review expectations. Should you adapt?
Provide feedback. Is training called for? Do they need a mentor or coach? Define what happens next. - Second failure. Work with novices. Bring consequences on experts.
- Third failure. When you tolerate failure, you promote mediocrity. People lose respect when you don’t stay true to your word.
Accountability frustrates leaders when they don’t bring consequences for failure.
What have you learned about holding people accountable?
What’s troubling about holding people accountable to you?
Still curious:
How to Hold People Accountable with Compassion
How to Hold People Accountable when You’d Rather Eat a Worm
*How to Actually Encourage Employee Accountability (hbr.org)
Hi Dan and all,
Thanks for this excellent topic and points. May I add, ensure the resources such as room/time to do the work for which they are being held accountable, and make sure that check-ins mentioned above take this into account? We may be unaware of what’s already on someone’s plate we are blithely loading. If we don’t pay attention to workload or timing at the beginning, we may disadvantage the outcome of a good performer by spreading them too thinly
Ah , yes! Thanks for adding provide resources. Great add, Cate.
Dan–you present many good points. Here are a few more ideas for consideration.
1. When establishing goals make sure the person fully understands what’s expected. What else do they have on their plate. Do they have the time available to do what’s needed and hit the deadline.
2. If they don’t produce the desired results, find out why. What happened? Some things may may happened that were outside their control.
3. Teach them to notify you as early as possible if they are going to miss the deadline. Other options to get the work done may be possible.
4. Consider the pattern. Is this the first time in two years the person missed a deadline?
5. Yes there need to consequences when people have a habit of missing deadlines. Many companies use some form of progressive discipline
Wonderful, Paul. My favorite is, notify early. The idea that you only tell the boss good new is nuts.
I just delivered a workup on this topic. A lot of people think it is being “mean” to hold someone accountable. The key point I shared was that not holding someone accountable is mean. I You are allowing them to do sub optimal work. If they continue to act that way there is a good chance they might lose their job. That is not very nice. And if you continue to let people do sub optimal work, you might lose your job. That is very not nice. Holding people accountable, as long as you give them all the training, resources, time, and support is critical to their success, your success, and the success of the organization.
Powerful point, John. If holding people accountable is mean, don’t do it. Frankly, if it helps us do our best then it’s a great thing. Wonderful contribution.
And further to that, as one of my executive mentors said to me, this is the employee’s opportunity to “account for” their work, and that of their team. This is critical to getting people the personal and departmental support they require from an organization. Without accounting for the work, you don’t get the budgets you need, you don’t get political support, you and your team don’t get noticed, you and your team don’t get promoted, etc.
We assume being held accountable is a bad thing. If it is, that’s because it’s being done badly. If it’s being done well (and it’s a two way street in that regard), it’s quite a marvellous thing.
Alf!! Thanks for stopping in. It’s great seeing you. I hope your new business venture is going well. Thanks for your insights.
If accountability is a bad thing you’re doing it badly. Booyah
Great post and agree with the points made. Where accountability becomes complicated is when personalities clash between employees and the supervisor has to do something about it. A lot of the points stated in you post do not come into play and the issue is somewhat subjective where the supervisor has to make the decision on accountability in the best interest of the organization. You will find people take sides in these type issues and accountability, in their mind, hasn’t been taken seriously. When you are dealing with a policy issue or work goals there is normally a path to follow for accountability. Great post.
Thanks for extending the dimension of this conversation. When expectations are unclear accountability feels confusing. (At least that’s the sense I took from your insight.)
Very insightful inspiring and useful. Thanks for sharing.🙏🙏🙏