Employee Accountability

I ran across a definition for accountability that I feel truly identifies its precise meaning; ". . . the responsibility of the employee to accomplish with integrity the defined and assigned tasks required by his/her job within a reasonable time in order to assist the organization to fulfill its goals." 

Is employee accountability important?  Yes!  Employee accountability is important to a business's success as a whole.  It is the cornerstone of business success.  A Gallup poll estimates that the lost productivity that stems from disengaged and unaccountable employees costs American businesses between $287 and $370 billion annually.  This is through customer loss due to poor service, high employee turnover and quality control issues, just to name a few impacted areas.

How can you engender a culture of accountability in your workplace?  Through the effective communication of goals, expectations, success and failures.   These are the fundamental tenants of accountability. 

Establish the beliefs and values required for accountability in your organization.  Behavior will follow belief.

• Communicate accountability
• Coach accountability
• Practice accountability