The Upside of a Comprehensive Crucial Accountability Program

A good performance is intrinsically linked to accountability. Sadly, a lot of organisations face the downside of it for the lack of onus or responsibility on the part of the employees. Who is to be blamed? This is a complicated question and cannot be answered in absolutes. It needs introspection on a case to case basis. Most importantly, failures like these need a proper accountability training program to manage the employees better and yield better results. Any good accountability training program suggests methods and processes to improve accountability and sees it to its execution. In a way it is a crucial step in strengthening exploited and tarnishing professional relationships and improving the individual and collective effectiveness.

What are accountability issues?

• Not meeting a specific deadline and not feeling responsible for the repercussion simply because of lack of authority or involvement of too many layers.
• Not acting a certain way with the clients – When it comes to clients, nothing short of perfectionism would do! There is no secret to client retention barring consistency and high quality. Hence, this particular accountability problem occupies paramount importance.
• Time commitment problems – The argument ‘Time is money’ takes literal shape here.

There could be more than one form and manifestation of the above listed issues which intervene with the smooth functioning of organisations in more than one way in turn disrupting work space harmony. This calls for strong and pro-active actions.

Who are the most immediate benefactors of the crucial accountability training program? This is a program that should be made compulsory for levels of employees right from the ones that occupy leadership positions to the ones that are at the lowest rung of the ladder. In addition, there should be a proper distribution of power at each stage. This decentralises power and make people feel valued and important in their specific roles, this is not only a huge impetus to work and improve efficiency but also makes for a good professional satisfaction at the workplace. This improves the stakes of the company in terms of good reputation and employee satisfaction.

Crucial accountability training program targets at skill development in such a manner that it puts an end to the blame game politics at workplaces. This is rather important. Getting defensive in case you have committed a mistake and shirking off the blame by holding someone else responsible is not only mean but also highly unethical and unprofessional. Such an equation between employees leads to bad vibes and bad environment in the organisation. The accountability training program demarcates employees within strict boundaries and designates responsibilities equally among people. This reduces friction tremendously and at the same time fosters healthy interaction and cooperation among people who look out for mutual benefit by active collaboration on a wide range of issues.

Commitment is a very crucial aspect of success at any business. Any good and holistic accountability training program would aim at instilling this virtue in the organisation. The aim is to make people realise it is their job that is intricately connected to their ability and efficiency rather than an aristocratic order that is being imposed on them from some at a higher position of responsibility. This responsibility that links individual performance to company’s success does the trick.

VitalSmarts India created Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability, Change Anything and the Influencer Training programs.