Think of Holding People Accountable as Help

When you think of holding people accountable as help, not conflict, it opens up new avenues of leadership. No one has ever been helped by being allowed to fail. Good managers know this and understand accountability is a form of help. In a Harvard Business Review Report, 46 percent of managers were found to be terrible at holding staff accountable. The report, written by Darren Overfield of Kaplan Devries and Rob Kaiser president of Kaiser Leadership study, surveyed more than 5,000 executives and learned one out of every two executives is terrible at accountability.  This surprised me; I thought the number would be higher because I’ve seldom seen managers who are good at accountability, including me for most of my management career.

Think of Holding People Accountable as Help

I’ve observed managers primarily use one of two approaches to accountability. Neither is effective, yet they continue to use their chosen approach over and over again. What’s the adage about doing the same thing and expecting different results? So, does either of the management styles below describe you?

1. The passionate, angry manager: Getting mad at employees and using fear as a motivator doesn’t work for long. Lashing out when the results don’t meet expectations isolates the staff from the manager. Passive aggressive behavior, open frustration, and firing people in a fit of rage aren’t the answer. If anger and fear are your primary methods for holding employees accountable, ask yourself this: How’s it working so far?

2. The too nice manager: A manager who hides from holding teammates accountable isn’t being nice. A caring manager would help the team rather than bury their head in the sand, hoping the challenge will go away. Things will not get better on their own. Ignoring, excusing, and being controlled by conflict avoidance are not management strategies for success. If that’s your plan, when’s the last time it worked? Has it ever worked?

If you understand that anger and avoidance aren’t good plans for holding your team accountable, the next step is learning what does work. Here are a few steps to holding your team accountable:

Set Expectations

To hold someone accountable, they must first understand the expectations. Clear-cut plans of action as well as the expected results must be defined and communicated, and not only in one 10-minute talk. Expectations should be in writing. They should be realistic and achievable, and consequences should be attached.

Deliver the tools

Before setting expectations (or holding someone accountable for poor results), you must be certain they have the tools to achieve the intended outcome. Do they have the personnel, equipment, and training to succeed? Were there consequences outside of their control that adversely affected the results?

Use objective criteria

Base accountability on objective criteria such a numbers and facts. For example, if you sell, then your objective criteria could be 300 widgets sold in 30 days. Don’t base accountability on subjective criteria, like saying your team needs a better attitude. If that’s the case, use observable behavior, not blanket statements about their attitude. What is it that they do that shows a poor attitude? Do they openly complain about work, customers, and co-workers? Are they producing an inferior product because they don’t follow procedure? Watch it and name it.

Give feedback

Honest feedback isn’t confrontational, or shouldn’t be, because it should come from a mindset of helping. And feedback shouldn’t wait until the end of a project but should be followed up throughout. Never get emotional; deliver feedback calmly and honestly. Don’t sugar-coat it and be sure to recognize positive activities to reinforce the behavior.

Hold to the consequences

Whether it was a positive consequence (such as a bonus) or negative (a demotion or termination), not holding to consequences sends the wrong signal to the entire sales staff. If consequences aren’t held to, how serious will expectations be taken?

Remember, before you can hold your direct reports accountable, they must know what’s expected of them. If they don’t know what’s expected, how can they be held accountable?

How Can I Help You? 

I like to help people and organizations, but I have three criteria I consider before taking an assignment – I believe in what the organization stands for, I know I can help, and it looks like fun. If you have any questions, Contact Me. 

So, does your business have a management training plan? Because if not, many organizations, large and small, use my book, The New Manager’s Workbook a crash course in effective management, as the basis for their leadership development program. Check it out. It might help you stop putting off what you want to do.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy Leaders vs Commanders: Which Approach Drives Success?

Photo by Urban Gyllström on Unsplash