What’s the right way to hold people accountable? There have been countless books written on this topic, and there are all kinds of philosophies and training classes on different techniques. What’s the best way to hold your employees accountable, and how can software help? 

What is Accountability? 

Accountability means that your employees at every level take responsibility for delivering on their commitments. This is important at every level of your organization, from the c-suite to the newest employee. We’ve all seen companies struggle with this. We’ve experienced managers who get angry at employees, which ultimately does nothing. Instead, accountability in an organization focuses on five key areas: 

  1. Setting clear expectations for every employee from the top down. This should include goal setting, or key performance indicators (KPIs) and how each person should work toward those goals. Ideally, these metrics are set with the employee, not for them, which will increase their buy-in and your chances of success. 
  2. Giving workers the resources they need to achieve their goals. This can create an environment in which the employee wants to succeed and will hold themselves accountable for their goals.  
  3. Establish clear ways to measure your progress. Ideally, your KPIs should measure short and long-term goals. The last thing you want is a surprise at the end of the project. You should review KPIs regularly and understand exactly when you’re on track or if something goes awry well before your goal is in sight. 
  4. Organizations should communicate clearly, with honest, ongoing feedback designed to help everyone achieve their goals. Managers should be trained in how to provide clear, constructive feedback to everyone around them. Fact-based, measurable objectives should align with fact-based feedback that is non-emotional and concise. But this feedback should allow a give and take between managers and employees; it should be a continuous loop of communication to benefit the organization. 
  5. Establish clear and obvious consequences for failing to achieve goals. Your goal, ultimately, should be to give every employee the chance to succeed. But you should also determine a course of action should goals not be met. If an employee fails to hit the numbers, should you repeat the effort, provide training, revise the goal, or potentially decide that the employee isn’t the right fit.  

Interestingly, there is software that can help companies create a culture of accountability. Exelare has a next-generation powerful applicant tracking system (ATS) that lets managers set up a dashboard of employee key performance indicators. This dashboard can provide everyone with an up-to-the-minute accounting of KPIs across individuals, teams, or divisions. Since it’s in the cloud, these metrics are real-time and can give you an up-to-the-minute accounting of what’s happening with your organization. The platform has 60+ user permissions out of the box so that these dashboards can be customized and shared with everyone across the organization. 

Work With a Partner You Can Trust

Creating a culture of accountability is hard. But if you have the right software, it can get a lot easier. Isn’t it time you talk with Exelare about how our tools can get and keep your teams on track? Call us.