Accountability is one of the biggest challenges facing organisations today, whether that be in policies, procedures or philosophies. In many cases, businesses establish rules and standards yet these are often ignored or broken. Business owners or executives need to ensure that the policies and procedures that have been put into place, are upheld, even though this can be a difficult task.

To spot if your business is experiencing a lack of accountability, here are some signs that may mean your accountability is not where it needs to be:

  • Employees being favoured over others
  • Management seems ego-centred
  • Inconsistent discipline and out of control arrogance.

Conducting an accountability audit

Sadly, it’s almost impossible to manage a business solely behind a desk. You must be visible around your business and understand what people in your company are doing daily. This may seem like a lot of time and commitment but it will pay off in the long run. You will also often find that employees see their perceptions of the workplace as their reality. Regardless of whether their perception of your business is true or not, this is their truth.

To discover what your employees truly sense about your business, it may be wise to conduct an employee perception and attitude audit. To be fully impartial, you should retain an outside coach or advisor to conduct the survey for this type of audit. The audit should be strictly confidential and employees must feel comfortable to share their realities without any fear of punishment if their feedback isn’t positive.

Take account 

Expecting different results from repeated behaviour is almost impossible in business. Equally, you will always get the behaviour you reward, so if you’re looking to change the behaviour, you will need to change your reward system too. Finally, keep in mind that culture flows top-down, you will not be able to change an organisation from the bottom-up, so adapt your policies and procedures accordingly.

If you need help finding accountability in your business, contact ACTIONCoach today!