I believe that “accountability” has been given a bad rap over the years. We associate the word, “Accountability” with something that’s bad – hearing the phrase, “I’m going to hold you accountable” with a finger pointed at us.
However, what accountability really means is that our performance will be “noticed” by our manager. A manager who pays attention and tells employees, “I’ve noticed,” is a manager who understands that with accountability, employees are motivated to perform.
Good performers actually WANT accountability – they WANT their performance to be noticed. It’s very un-motivating to work extremely hard on something, only to have no one ever pay attention or notice. I noticed a sign at a dentist office said, “If you ignore your teeth, they’ll go away.” The same is true for ignoring a good performer – If you ignore a good performer, they will go away and work for someone who will give them accountability (“I’ve noticed”) for their good performance.
Bad performers prefer that their bad performance be overlooked and not noticed – but they truly need accountability to keep their feet to the fire. Accountability does a beautiful job of naturally weeding out people who don’t want to work, and reward those who do.
Need help establishing a process for accountability?
