“Accountability” seems to be near the top of all major buzzword lists right now. But how do entrepreneurs establish meaningful accountability in their organizations?
Webster’s gives us a simple definition of accountable: “obliged to account for one’s acts; responsible.” If we’re being honest, many people — inside of business and out — don’t go much further than that. Yet in the volatile, high-stakes world of entrepreneurship, comprehensive accountability is imperative.
This begins with acknowledging that accountability is absolutely a two-way street.
“Accountability is often looked at as just employee performance and holding people to a standard of outputs and behaviors,” observed Jennifer Jeansonne, owner of JAJ Consults, a small business recruiting firm. “But when looking at it from an entrepreneurial lens, it also means that the company/employer/supervisor provides what the employee or team needs to be successful — resources, support, coaching, training feedback. You can’t ‘hold someone accountable’ for performance without appropriate structures and support in place.”
Not only is the business leader responsible for setting employees up for success, s/he must also model accountability. All standards, measures, requirements and so forth established for staff must be at least met and ideally exceeded by the person in charge. Further, leaders must be open about when things are not going well, including acknowledging their own mistakes.
A specific starting point for bringing productive accountability into any enterprise is complete clarity in terms of roles, expectations, outputs and outcomes. People who know exactly what their job is tend to understand and perform their jobs better. Performance measures should be just that: measurable, as well as realistic, appropriate to the position and the skill set of the person holding it, and focused on both immediate and long-term successes.
Ideally, staff members will have some input in setting their roles and performance measures, which helps develop another key aspect of achieving accountability: a strong sense of employee ownership.
“Encourage employees to think like owners by giving them decision-making authority within their domains,” encouraged Kevin Wilkins, CEO and founder of trepwise, a strategy consulting firm. “When people have real ownership over outcomes, they naturally become more accountable for results.”
While lines of authority must of course remain clear, engaging staff members in planning and strategy sessions, setting goals and performance outcomes, while encouraging innovation and even offering profit-sharing and/or the opportunity to invest in the company, all help build that sense of ownership. Empowered, invested employees are almost universally productive employees.
These approaches also build a stronger sense of team among staff members, which in turn creates mutual accountability. Wilkins suggested creating “Peer Accountability Systems, team structures where members are accountable to each other, not just to leadership. This might include cross-functional project teams, buddy systems for goal achievement, or peer review processes.”
One caveat here is to avoid setting up a “tattletale” environment. While employees should feel empowered to report inappropriate behaviors or actions in the workplace, no one works well if they are constantly looking over their shoulders.
Accountability should also be incentivized. Employees and teams that meet or exceed their goals should be rewarded. Financial rewards are always welcome, but especially for early-stage entrepreneurs still pinching every penny, many other options exist, including a little extra time off or an affordable team outing.
Ultimately, accountability is a relationship. Like every other human relationship, it is based on communication and trust. Communication means true, honest dialogue, centered around constructive, thoughtful feedback and real listening. This in turn builds trust, along with keeping one’s commitments and being genuinely clear and transparent.
“In an entrepreneurial organization, you are building something together,” Jeansonne noted. “Your employees can be one of your biggest assets if you invest in them appropriately.”
Productive accountability, flowing in both directions, is a vital aspect of investing in your staff — and having them invest in your business and you.
Keith Twitchell spent 16 years running his own business before serving as president of the Committee for a Better New Orleans from 2004 through 2020. He has observed, supported and participated in entrepreneurial ventures at the street, neighborhood, nonprofit, micro- and macro-business levels.
