How to Build a Culture of Accountability! - September 2007

A recent report released by the Government Accountability Office announced that NASA lost $94 million dollars worth of office equipment due to theft in the workplace, over the past decade.  Computers, specifically laptops, were the most common stolen piece of equipment with employees actually filing reports that they had given computers to a spouse or friend, or that the equipment had been lost in space.  It is easy to focus on the $94 million dollars lost, but what is even more disturbing is the culture of negligence, with no emphasis on accountability, that would allow for this travesty to occur.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration actually noted a problem with theft five years ago, but instead of tackling the issue, they ignored it.  According to the Bloomberg News, NASA only investigated a quarter of the 1,136 loss reports submitted last year and disciplined only two employees.  Most Small to Medium-Sized (SMB) owners do not deal with losses to this extreme, but a culture absent of accountability is not limited to NASA.

Accountability is not a science, but a process.  Keep in mind the following as you build a culture of accountability!

Accountability Starts With You
Remember the Golden Rule ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’?  Before you can expect honesty and accountability from your team, you must demonstrate that you not only appreciate, but actively practice, accountability yourself.  Before you can emanate accountability, you must understand it. Webster’s Dictionary defines accountability as “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s action.”  As an SMB owner, responsibility falls on your shoulders.  You are responsible not only for your own actions, but the actions of those you work with.  If your employees witness you passing blame onto others, they will do the same.  If employees notice you cutting corners, they will imitate you.  Do keep in mind, and maybe this was partially to blame in NASA’s case, that even if you hold yourself accountable, there will be employees from time to time that push the envelope and need to be reprimanded.  Failure to have a behavioral modification plan sends the message that though you consider it important for yourself to be accountable, it is OK for your employees to not be.

Hire for Accountability
NASA could have responded to the 1,136 loss reports by thoroughly investigating each.  Or, and as a SMB owner you will appreciate, that NASA could have been proactive from the point of hire.  It is much easier to build and maintain a culture of accountability if you start with yourself and add each new team member with an eye on accountability.  Personality tests are no longer legal as a means of interviewing, but SMB owners can create an interview /on-boarding process that gets to the heart of an applicant’s values.  One obvious option is to check with an applicant’s previous employers to learn more about that applicant’s behavior and sense of responsibility.  For more information on Hiring Your Next or First Employee, please see our May 2007 newsletter found at http://www.azvsi.com by clicking on the ‘News and Information’ link.

Make the Transition to a Culture of Accountability
Accountability can not be created by following a simple ten-step process, but is something that must start from within the organization.  You have to decide, and then commit, to building a culture of accountability.  Accountability starts with you and must be demanded from everyone.

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Small business tip of the month -
An article recently ran in the Wall Street Journal concerning a common trend among business owners.  The article discussed the failure of business owners to take a break while on vacation and let their staff handle the office.  As an SMB owner, it can be difficult to leave the office, whether physically or mentally, but it is important for the confidence of your staff that when you depart on vacation, you actually leave issues in their hands.  If you are not comfortable with the decision makers left at the office while you’re on a short vacation, you may need to reconsider the employees you’ve chosen.