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I believe using an accountability model is about leadership and organizational development. l also go one step further and say that the successful implementation of an accountability model will also positively impact culture, innovation and engagement. Accountability is not a silver bullet but it is very close and I will tell you why.

I have put accountability processes in place for small and medium size companies for the past 12 years. I have had some wonderful, thought-provoking and head scratching experiences with the various groups that I work with.  I think it is very important to share with you a couple of my key beliefs that drive my interest in working in accountability processes.

1.  I believe that the largest majority of people really want to do a good job.

2.  I believe we  do a better job when we understand the context and outcomes required of our work.

3.  I believe that innovation comes from a culture where questions can be asked and everyone isn’t expected to think the same way.

4.  Employee engagement is the culmination of the above points.

Now that I have some fundamentals out of the way I will tell you  a story about how accountability have helped one of my clients. You may find your own story in this blog and if you do I hope you find some of the thoughts helpful.

Scenario One

A small business growing quickly. Everyone is seemingly going on full steam but yet they are not able to keep up with the customer demands,  The owner of the company does not know if she should hire more people as the financials don’t really support it and she is not sure what department could use the staff if she did hire.  The owner is feeling really frustrated as she can’t get a handle on where things are at from an operations point of view. She has asked her staff to record what they do everyday, but they have not been very good at it as they claim they are too busy to add more to it. Secretly she thinks they are afraid to show what they do in the event she may add more work. She called TEVO Consulting to discuss what her next steps should be.

Firstly, we had senior stakeholders in a meeting for a 1/2 day to talk about the existing processes from end to end.  Once these were identified in larger chunks, we started fleshing out the subprocesses for one area, which was sales. We spent the full two hours detailing the full operational process until everyone was in full agreement.  Once we had agreement we then moved the  discussion  to who was accountable (the buck stops here) and who is responsibility (the work is handed down but not the accountability) Once we had identified the current state we looked forward to settle on a future state. Where  did they want to go in the future  so we could asses the gap to build our plan.

Outcomes of this small segment were very surprising for the CEO and the sales manager, They had not clearly understand the amount of steps that were required for a seamless transition to the workroom and how lack of clarity and incomplete paperwork slowed production down significantly. It was also clear that significant tasks were falling to one person with the other team member with a much smaller work load.   We finished off with a discussion of the employee skill sets and what would be necessary for a succession planning point of view. Who could take on more strategic tasks and who needed what specific training to get on track with responsibilities or accountability they would be given.

The reaction to this accountability planning for the staff was initially scepticism but quickly followed by interest.. It was clear to the staff that planning had occurred with the specific staff members in mind. In fact they were much more interested in talking about what would be required to add accountability to their profile and seeing the clarity of the process. They also were able to move some tasks from their accountability that didn’t make sense for them to own.With the outcome of the some rework, reduction of overlap of work and clarity of process, the CEO found the work was being done much faster, more accurate as well as the identification of higher capacity for the existing staff as their duties were linked and supported.

There are some  other major benefits to going through this process.

a)  When we finish the CEO has a clear idea of all the processes in the company that make them successful. They can check these with key stakeholders to make sure they stay relevant or when new machinery or products are introduced  as there is an existing state clearly defined.

b)  We put all the accountability and responsibilities into job descriptions with behavioural indicators to make sure clarity for new staff or when existing staff were transitioning into new roles.

c)  We used this same language for the performance management system which really gave managers the ability to coach and manage performance in an objective manner.

d)  At the completion of the process the processes were put into a binder which became the operational manual for the company, with an online version for all employees to access.

So there you go. By understanding and identifying accountability and responsibilities , employees as well as managers can relate to the daily, weekly and monthly tasks of each other. Did I mention that we started this process at the top and cascaded it down to the front line level. That is another day’s blog.

Read more about Planning or Systems.

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About Judy: Judy Mackenzie, MBA, CHRP, CEC PCC, owns and operates TEVO Consulting Inc. (www.tevosmallbiz.com), providing services and guidance to small and medium businesses. TEVO’s mission is to assist companies in reaching their strategic goals by developing leadership and people management systems that allow employees to be at their best. Judy believes engaged employees are fundamental to business success, and she designs support and management systems to help people and companies achieve their full potential.