Imagine that you and I are at a networking event and someone in the group that we are talking to says, “My company is creating a culture of accountability.” It tends to bring up a negative connotation for people when they hear that phrase. Managers don’t want to be micro-managers and employees don’t want to be micro-managed. So why would you need to create a culture that focuses on accountability? It would be necessary if you have a culture that has become too lax with deadlines and processes.
I was consulting for a company a few years ago and the first thing I noticed was that deadlines didn’t seem to mean anything. They had due dates for projects, but they could miss their dates without any consequences. They also had weak processes that were not being managed properly either. It created chaos for the team to deal with every day. This was an example of a leader that didn’t hold people accountable. He had many other strengths, but this was not one of them. He was more worried about people liking him and it caused his team to lose respect and trust in him.
Leaders need to lead their teams and ensure that the work gets done. People want the structure of due dates and processes that are going to be upheld. It allows everyone to understand the ways of working and how things will get done. Setting the tone that these are the “rules” that people will follow helps everyone work within them. When these structures are in place, everyone will understand that they are accountable to deliver their work and it is expected.