In the third installment of this series, we’re going to focus on handling lack of accountability and what it takes to get everyone on board and accountable for their actions.

How do you handle a lack of accountability effectively?

The leaders of the organization have worked diligently to change the corporate culture and build one where people accept responsibility and are accountable for their actions. You’ve crafted your message about what accountability means and the role it has in your company now. 

Leaders are now communicating more effectively. 

When conversations occur, goals or outcomes are clearly defined, time is spent ensuring the other person(s) is clear about the request and even commits to doing what is asked. Hooray!

Except not everyone is actually following through with their commitments. Or you get something slightly different than what you expected. Maybe they don’t communicate with you that they are going to miss a deadline until it’s passed and you have to ask. Now, what do you do? Where do you go from here?

Ask questions, don’t make assumptions

It’s easy to point fingers at them and accuse. A better path to handle lack of accountability is to ask questions.

What got in the way of them completing on time or as requested? I’m not suggesting you accept excuses, but perhaps there was a snag that interfered. It’s an opportunity for you to educate about the importance of communication…letting you know when there is a snag or when there is going to be a delay. 

Also, you’ll find that when you ask ‘what got in the way’ they will share information that can also be a teaching moment. For example, if they say ‘there were other priorities that came up it’s an opportunity to discuss prioritization, delegation, or even communication skills development.

Discuss it as the problem occurs

Stick with the facts; not your emotions. Ask them, “didn’t we have an agreement in which you would do X by Y, etc? Did this occur?”

What most of us do is yell, blame, send nasty emails, ask someone else to handle it, or simply ignore the problem. The easiest path doesn’t hold people accountable. And it will not prevent the problem from reoccurring. Also if you don’t address it when it occurs, don’t assume next time the results will be different. 

Remember in part two of this series we talked about different results that require different actions.

Assess the situation

As a leader, you have to let them know the problems that were caused by not following through with their commitment.

“Sally, because we didn’t have the information from the vendor during training we provided some incorrect information. Not only do we now have to retrain, costing us time, but I am also worried that mistakes will occur as people use the incorrect information.” It’s important for people to understand the impact of not following through with their commitments.

 Perhaps they don’t understand the magnitude or see any consequences to their actions or lack of accountability. This is the time to educate.

Make additional requests

This could be setting a new time frame, getting a new commitment, or negotiating part of the specific tasks.

You must indicate a need for change by asking, “How can we keep this from happening again?” They have to be part of the solution for making it different next time, and if you get their ideas they are more likely to buy in and follow through.

Attach consequences

It’s important that strong consequences are attached to a lack of accountability issues. There are a couple of truths you need to accept. First that most people will shy away from pain rather than run towards something pleasurable. Children often listen to their parents when something is taken away, the car, phone, or they are grounded.

Secondly, without accountability, it’s difficult to hold people accountable if they don’t want to be. This doesn’t mean every missed commitment is punishable by termination, but it does mean that simply slapping wrists or yelling will not change what people do. Perhaps it will affect their bonus, promotions, salary increases, or your willingness to make exceptions for them later. They need to understand this.

Handling the lack of accountability does not mean relinquishing accountability on management’s part.

This is a partnership. While leaders may carry the largest share of the accountability burden, as the company’s accountability culture is being developed, the goal is for individuals to be held more and more accountable for their own results. 

By position, management has responsibility and accountability, and creating an organization where people accept responsibility for their actions, commit, follow through and admit mistakes isn’t easy.

Leaders have to create a corporate culture that isn’t about blame but about solutions.

Have the right conversations right away when a lack of accountability shows up. Show respect for others. First, be accountable yourself; admit your own mistakes out loud, follow through on the commitments you make to others, and model the behavior you want from others. 

These changes need to be in place for the long haul. Consistency in how you show up, how you interact with people, and how you handle others’ lack of accountability is critical. Yes, it takes hard work and effort but knows that it becomes less work over time as people step up to the place and you can see your organization’s culture-shifting. 

Take the time to create this culture of accountability now and you prevent hundreds of problems in the future.

Did you miss the earlier articles in this series? You can read Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.