Accountability is a prominent element of a flourishing business culture. The general meaning of accountability is to hold oneself or to be held responsible for completing a task(s). It's considered a form of trustworthiness. This trait is such a powerful aspect of any organization because it empowers people to take initiative and contribute work in a dependable fashion. More specifically, it ensures that protocols are executed in a timely and orderly manner - but its meaning is not easily and cohesively interpreted among different people. Let's look deeper into this situation!

Accountability has different meanings to different people.

How Does This Translate Into Business Culture?

As a CEO, it is your job to strive for the highest level of accountability among your entire team. This starts from the very beginning of the hiring process. The goal is to assign job positions to candidates who are truly prepared to execute creative solutions on behalf of your company. Assigning jobs to applicants is a broad form of accountability, but it can be identified narrowly.

For example, when trying to generate leads online, you would likely form a team of SEO management experts for content curation and promotion. You may further assign a team member as Director of SEO Management. You are essentially giving the director the responsibility of overseeing SEO operations. In addition, this director would assign different roles and tasks among the experts to optimize productivity.

How Can Accountability Be Misconstrued at Work?

It's relatively easy for accountability to be misconstrued in the workplace. This comes down to the numerous perspectives needing to be balanced for project completion. Employees don't view the context or worth of tasks in the same way. Therefore, one employee may be assigned a task that another may try to take over because he or she perceives greater compatibility.

On another note, there may be a lack of clarification when giving instructions for a project. This could play out when urging employees to form an SEO team and offer a new online marketing strategy. Should all team members give a new solution, or should it only be one of them? It's hard to tell.

Has Its Essence Changed Over Time?

The essence of accountability has changed over the years. In the past, it was widely interpreted as something bestowed upon one individual per task. Such an individual was given greater priority in the workplace. This was the case even when other members were expected to contribute assistance, but now the scope of its meaning has widened. The many interpretations of accountability are based on changing business culture.

People have more accepting attitudes about different types and levels of accountability. Let's look at an example. Speaking of the SEO team from earlier, maybe one member is assigned decision-making responsibility. Maybe another is assigned team coordination duties. Another member could be assigned the task of testing out marketing tools. It's all about generating more inclusiveness to keep up with increasing work demands.

Make sure you clearly define the kind of accountability you're offering or accepting for business projects.

How to Effectively Establish Accountability

Establishing accountability the right way means you have to acknowledge the various forms it takes. Hold employees accountable in a compatible manner, ensuring each one is fit to handle his or her assignment. When assigning tasks, be clear about what you expect from each employee, especially for a group project.

Group effort requires everyone to play an equally significant role. Avoid elevating the responsibility of one over another. Focus on creating cohesion between everyone.

Xzito understands that defining accountability is a complex thing, but doing so will help eliminate problems with assigning tasks. Schedule a consultation, and let us help implement accountability into your marketing strategies successfully.