Accountability for Results Management - Exciting New Frontiers

In days long gone by, feudal serfs and foot soldiers just did what they were told, while their lords and masters might face the executioner’s axe for failure. This same lack of individual accountability for results strangely still pervades many businesses across the western world, despite the obvious shortcomings of this approach. Weaknesses include following instructions regardless of the sense they make, and not understanding how an individual contribution adds to the collective success. Watch any bunch of de-motivated labourers digging up a city street in the middle of the afternoon rush hour and you’ll understand exactly what I mean.

The generally recognised way forward is to allocate more responsibility at the level of trusted lieutenants, and to share the firm’s successes with them by implementing accountability for results recognition systems too. The challenge facing all of us today of course, is to drill down deeper into the organisation.

Driving Individuality Accountability for Results Further Down

The extent to which it is possible to drill down to the lower levels depends largely on the world-view of the individuals concerned. Managers who do not recognise the potential to inspire their people are as likely to fail in the beginning as are their cynically disenchanted employees. This is where Business Coaches can come in – they are trained to take a neutral stance and to distance themselves from office politics and company tradition.

The potential benefits of implementing accountability for results management across a firm or indeed an entire nation are almost unimaginable. I believe that the only thing preventing it is the breadth of our imagination as managers. In a sense it is our duty to enrich our people’s lives – implementing accountability for results is something that should be high up on every business owner’s strategic agenda.

Implementing Accountability for Results in a Small to Medium Firm

I do not recommend making more than ripples by reallocating duties in terms of the objectives matrixes that some multinational consultancies camp out on.

This is because our employees generally have more ownership over what they do than we often credit. All that is really necessary is to turn inputs into output statements, set challenging but achievable targets, and reward when these are met. As the simplest of all examples, challenge the labourers digging up the street to complete a batch before the afternoon rush hour, and make the site safe too. How is that for accountability?