While responsibility and accountability go hand-in-hand, they are slightly different concepts. Jennifer Herrity, writing for Indeed, states that “being responsible indicates that an individual is part of the cause of an issue or accomplishment, while being accountable means to accept the consequences of that action.” Any job has responsibilities, but for employees to have accountability in the workplace, they must take credit or blame for both success and failure. Accountable employees own their actions (and inactions) and seek to rectify mistakes. They do not rely on external blame placement.
Accountability is essential for businesses to operate efficiently, and an advanced education can be crucial to developing a strong understanding of business processes and how to encourage accountability. The online Master of Business Administration (MBA) program from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) teaches students the foundational business knowledge needed to manage employees, understand everyone’s responsibilities, and foster accountability in the workplace.
What Employees Can Do to Develop Accountability
Accountability depends on an employee’s work ethic. Writing for Entrepreneur, Collin Williams discusses the personal and professional benefits of exercising accountability. Williams explains that personal accountability “requires you to look at yourself critically. It requires you to stare failures in the face and ask yourself how and why they happened. It requires you to improve.” Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, but accountable employees do not blame others. Instead, they recognize their fallibility and own those mistakes as part of their professional growth.
Further, accountability in the workplace demonstrates integrity to coworkers and superiors. Team members and managers know how hard it is to come forward and own your mistakes and other outcomes, and doing so establishes trust with other employees. In addition, accountability can make you more relatable to coworkers. Owning those mistakes demonstrates honesty and humility.
What Managers Can Do to Build Accountability in the Workplace
While personal accountability is an individual’s choice, managers can take steps to foster a culture of accountability in the workplace. Forbes writer Ute Franzen-Waschke contends that designing a workplace for accountability enhances the “ways of working” possible in the workplace. Central to this environment of personal accountability is a sense of ownership of projects and results. With ownership comes some degree of autonomy.
As Franzen-Waschke puts it, ownership “is especially important when unexpected difficulties surface, making it clear that the task can no longer be fulfilled on time, on spec or at the quality acceptable to deliver to the team. Ownership in action is being proactive.” Allowing employees to own the process of their projects means they take the initiative to correct mistakes when they arise.
In a workplace that fosters accountability, addressing mistakes is not about punishment. Employees who anticipate punishment are less likely to come forward when errors occur. Mistakes are normal, and they can be learning opportunities. Good managers are not punitive; instead, they encourage risk-taking and innovation. Stifling those avenues of creativity could lead to a stagnant team.
This is not to say that employees are given free rein. On the contrary, employees must expect evaluation. Jason Richmond summarizes it in a Forbes article, “As projects develop, it’s important to track progress so that you can course-correct as necessary during a time when it is easier to implement changes.”
These evaluations should not surprise employees, and having defined goals can ease the process. For example, Richmond explains the value of “specific short-term goals, as well as a specific ultimate goal … For instance, instead of simply telling someone they need to step up their number of customer service calls, tell them they need to interact with at least 200 people.” Keeping evaluation processes transparent shows respect for employees and allows them yet more accountability for their work.
Accountability in the workplace is a two-way street. For employees to own their work, they must feel safe making mistakes and taking risks. Honesty from every coworker is the aim, and managers can foster this environment through transparent evaluation processes and focusing on improvement.
Everyone makes mistakes occasionally. What matters is the response to those mistakes. Do you want to foster a culture of fear, or do you want a workplace where employees have agency and hold themselves and each other accountable for their work? Graduates of TAMU-CC’s online MBA program have the experience and insights to develop and manage productive businesses where employees understand the value of accountability and feel satisfied and supported in their roles.
Learn more about Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s online MBA program.
