Have you heard this story before? John, a small business owner, is heading into a team meeting. The team is getting ready to email an advertisement to John’s prospective and current clients. The ad looks great. It is his answer to bringing in new business. The dollar signs are running through his mind. As the meeting begins, John quickly discovers that the wonderful process for gathering prospective and current client information has not been getting done. The database is not ready and will not be ready for a couple weeks. The excuses start to fly. John’s dream of getting this ad out quickly fades.
By implementing accountability factors for each position, businesses can ensure their structure is functioning efficiently and appropriately. These factors identify the key functions of the job and outline how they relate to the future success of the organization. They should be tied to an employee’s performance evaluation and salary increase. Use the following steps to design your accountability factors:
1. Identify the factors that are key to your business’ success
2. Review the job description for each employee in your organization
3. Identify 5-10 factors that are vital to an employee’s success in that position and how those factors relate to the business’ success
4. Identify a way to measure those 5-10 factors on a weekly or monthly basis.
5. Assign an Accountability Manager to review, monitor, and communicate with the employee. The manager’s focus should be on how the employee has performed based on the 5-10 factors being measured. This constant communication and reporting structure will ensure the factors that are vital to the organization’s success are getting done and done well.
6. Implement those measurements into the performance and salary review process
7. Establish a training program to educate your employees on the importance of their role, what the accountability factors are for the role, and how they relate to the success of the employee and the organization.
Employees must be held accountable so organizations can achieve success and increase productivity one employee at a time.