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Accountability Safety HSE

Embracing Accountability

“First I believe that any organization runs best when all of its members embrace accountability.

Rex Tillerson

How does an organization transform itself into a place where each and every employee accepts personal accountability and also accepts the burden of holding subordinates accountable? For the past 40 plus years we have worked with hundreds of organizations all over the world and have found those organizations which fully embrace an adult version of accountability prosper, and those who don’t often fail.

There are many definitions for accountability but for the purpose of this presentation we will define accountability as:

“The acknowledgement and acceptance of one’s actions and of being answerable for the resulting consequences.”

I want all of you to think about times in the past when you’ve been given a task or a specific responsibility to fulfill or when you’ve given an assignment to an employee who works for you.  What you’ll find is there will always be a result, it may or may not be the result you intended but, there will always be a result. Will there always be accountability? Let’s look at what often happens when we fail to hold people accountable:

  • They believe you don’t care about them or the quality of their work.
  • They begin not to care about the quality of their work.
  • They fail to improve.
  • Others believe the weak employee is protected for some reason.
  • Others resent the extra burden they must carry.
  • A general apathy develops for adherence to requirements.

These are, of course, just a few things that can happen. I am sure you can come up with a similar list from your experience.

To ensure you don’t suffer any of these consequences let’s review some of the foundational elements of embracing accountability: clarity, integrity, measurement, and Performance Management. These are by no means all of the elements necessary to ensure a high accountability culture, but they are essential elements.

Essential Factors to Embrace Accountability