It is important to remember that taking responsibility is not a negative thing. The misconception that accountability equates to negativity stems from a leadership tendency to delegate tasks from the top. So how does accountability become a beautiful culture in the organization?
1. CREATE RELIABLE ENVIRONMENT
Organizations need to balance internal and external motivations when promoting accountability among employees. Intrinsic motivation is generated from an employee’s desire to accomplish goals. However, extrinsic motivation tends to be based on the fear created by the manager, to motivate employees to work harder. This will quickly destroy trust. Employees who do not feel secure at work are less likely to take responsibility for their own mistakes out of fear.
By creating an environment based on trust, management opens up lines of communication so that employees can more openly admit mistakes and shortcomings. The key to accountability is not to punish employees every time they do something wrong, but to encourage them to take responsibility for their own work without the pressure of external punishment.
2. CLEARLY SET AND FOLLOW GOALS
Responsibility in the workplace can only form when employees understand what they are responsible for. They need to know clearly defined expectations, whether short-term or long-term.
For effective goal setting, managers should start by clearly communicating company goals, how their entire team will be held accountable. Once team members have a clear understanding of their responsibilities, managers should set measurable goals for team members. All employees will report monthly metrics to determine if they are delivering on their commitments.
At the same time, managers need to set up weekly meetings with the team to check on progress toward individual goals, making sure each individual goal aligns with the organization. As such, the team will have a better understanding of how they work together towards the company’s goals.
3. TEACH EMPLOYEES HOW TO GIVE A REAL Apologetic
Taking responsibility for your own actions in the workplace requires open and honest communication. If a team member regularly stops a project from moving forward, inconveniences other teams, or fails to achieve established goals, their behavior can create conflict between them and other team members. . To work around this, make sure your employees understand how to hold themselves accountable by offering a genuine and genuine apology. This will go far to promote accountability in the workplace.
Here are guidelines every employee should follow when apologizing to another team member:
Avoid making excuses
When opening an apology, start by avoiding excuses. Accountability means actually admitting mistakes, and making excuses – no matter how valuable they are – distracts from the most important part of the conversation: your apology.
Get wrong about yourself
A sincere apology should show admitting the mistake about yourself. For example, instead of saying, “I’m sorry, you must be very upset that I missed the deadline,” try reframing your language to focus on the action by saying, “I’m sorry that I missed the deadline.” miss this deadline”. This practice ensures that employees understand their role in the conflict and will take action in the future to avoid making a mistake again.
Source: GEM Global translated from Harvard Business Review