Let’s face it, we are all “diverse” in one way or another.
It is our differences that can make our workplaces more interesting, fun, and
rewarding. Leaders must understand how our individual differences can be
harnessed through mutual respect, trust, and patience. People are not machines.
If leaders want employees to be more effective and productive, they must find
ways to actively lead each employee through thoughtful engagement, striving for
equity, and effective two-way communication. We each bring our own history,
unique insights and experiences into our workplaces, but we may not have all
the same experiences and skills for every job, task, or expectation. So,
leaders must make allowances for gaps of skills and experiences related to
workplace expectations. They must also learn to understand how to keep
employees motivated and meeting the expectations of the organization’s goals. Leaders
have the biggest influence on employee job satisfaction. Satisfied employees
are generally more productive than ones who are not feeling it.
Personal responsibility and having a sense of ownership in
on organization are the roots of accountability. Leaders and employees are of
equal standing in this case, despite the differences in scope of duties. Regardless
of position and titles in the organization, all must be held accountable for
their decisions and actions with regard to their roles and responsibilities. No
organization cannot function efficiently and effectively as possible without
accountability. Being accountable is one thing; making it a part of
organizational culture is another. The short answer is that accountability
starts at the top and then it is the leader’s job to be the most influential proponent
of the idea. Leader can do this by committing to roles and responsibilities,
building good lines of communications, and fostering mutual collaborations
among employees.
1.
Be
committed to your roles
The best way to ask employees to perform their duties well
is to be a role model of that. You can only expect others to do what they are
assigned to do if you practice the same principle. Consistency lays the path to
accountability; employees will expect you to keep promises and deliver exactly
as planned.
Leaders, just like employees, are held accountable for every
decision they make. Discrepancy between what’s said and done leaves the door
open for distrust to enter. Trust is always being tested. Trust is the glue of
all relationships. So, leaders must never fail employees on giving trust or violating
expectations. Employees also turn to
leaders for guidance because they see someone of authority as the most reliable
person to provide suggestions. Consistency and reliability are the personal
traits that put you in a position to lead others. So commit to your role as a
leader by nurturing and influencing employees to develop the same traits. If
all employees are committed to their roles and responsibilities, accountability
is easy to come by.
2.
Build
comprehensive lines of communication
By definition, the term “comprehensive” means including all
aspects or elements of something. Having a comprehensive line of communication
helps you monitor performance and results across all work areas. A leader alone
can hardly cope with all the departments and on-going projects, but an
always-open channel of communication ensures good flows of information as
everything happens. To some extent, you can almost call it a practice of
“constant observation” of performance. Effective coaching to help employees be
successful can only happen if there is clear understanding of where the may be
knowledge or skill gaps. You must be able to correctly diagnose the problem,
before you can give the correct remedy.
In an ideal world, employees should always perform well
whether or not they are under supervision. However, good flows of factual
information to the leader is a preventive measure to minimize the possibility
of not being disciplined. That way nobody can escape from responsibilities of
work, hence being accountable. On the more positive side, good flows of
information also allows for quicker delivery of suggestions and feedback. Great leaders must understand what is going on
and remove obstacles, give proper support, and resource. Set each employee up
for success by understanding them, their needs, and challenges.
3.
Foster
collaboration
When people talk about accountability, most of the time it
carries a negative connotation that a person is to blame because of a
wrongdoing. In a larger organizational context, however, accountability refers to
doing the job well in accordance to the instructions and expectations. All
employees can be accountable if there is mutual collaboration or good
interpersonal relationships among them in which everyone is friendly,
supportive, and helpful as far as their professional capacity allows. While
employees do not answer to their own peers, the sense of belonging to the same
group empowers them to hold each other accountable and get the job done for the
benefit of organization in general.
The leader is responsible to help employees improve performance
and guide them to success. Accountability is among many different personal
characteristics to develop. One thing to remember is that the leader cannot
simply demand accountability and make it happen. There is a learning process
which may unfortunately involve employees making mistakes. Remember that a workplace
is a learning environment where ideas and achievements as well as failures and
disappointments are all natural aspects. The best kind of accountability is one
that grows from constant learning process rather than a trait forced upon those
unwilling to learn.
A leaders’ attitude and approach to taking action can lower
or increase levels of trust. Employees must feel adequately supported and their
diversity and authentic-self must be respected too. Leaders have the biggest influence over an
employee’s success and job satisfaction. It is important to remember that when
leaders fail to support an employee properly with the right kind of care, communication,
and respect, they may lose motivation, and start looking for work in a
workplace that is more fulfilling—potentially making your competition stronger
with the training you provided the unsatisfied employee. It is usually more
cost-effective to take time to listen to employees, provide clear expectations
of accountability, then coach employees to success while giving the proper
support and resources to become experts in what you need them to do.
Make good choices and have a great day! Only you get
to choose how you feel about it!
Thanks so much for reading! Please share this with someone
you care about.
Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a skilled leadership and
diversity trainer who builds customized workshops online or at your workplace.
He is a tenured professor of management. He is a diversity and leadership
well-respected and trusted trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns
on their training investment.
Dr. Gerhardt is
the author of several publications available on Amazon.com, including Diversity
at Work, The Diversity King; Leadership Lucy and the Leadership Handbook.
Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized leadership or diversity
training at your organization. Most organizations find that diversity and leadership
training by the right trainer yields a significant instant return on
investment. You can get your FREE COPY of the Leadership Handbook by clicking
this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook
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