Why you must hold your people accountable

Michael Canic, Ph.D.

“Sometimes one must cut off a finger to save a hand.”

Chinese saying

Let’s talk about accountability. One of the toughest things to do as a manager is to hold
your people accountable for poor performance. Why? Your discomfort. Discomfort
with the prospect of “the conversation”. Sitting down face-to-face with an employee,
discussing his poor performance and outlining the consequences if things don’t improve.
Discomfort with how the conversation might impact your relationship. Discomfort with
the thought of ultimately terminating the person’s employment. And discomfort with the
anticipated time and effort to replace the person not knowing if you would be any better
off. Discomfort permeates every aspect of the accountability process.

The Tempting Alternatives

The thought of discomfort drives us towards various alternatives:

1. Just Give It Time. Your first reaction is typically, “let’s give it some time and see if
things improve.” See if things improve? Not likely unless you intervene and provide a
way for things to improve. Hoping a performance problem goes away is not on the list of
proven management techniques. In fact, if not addressed, the problem will probably get
worse.

2. The Incompetence Protection Program. When things don’t get better, you become
more creative: “What if we relocate the person to another department or put him in
charge of a special project?” O.K., reality check. Are you creating a legitimate
opportunity for the person to succeed? Or are you rationalizing to avoid discomfort?

3. The Surrender Option. When all else fails you are tempted to conclude that “the devil
you know is better than the one you don’t.” You allow yourself to be held hostage by
poor performance because of the difficulty and uncertainty of finding a good
replacement. Don’t let yourself off the hook so easily. As a leader who has been
entrusted to help your organization “win”, is surrender truly an option? Or is it merely
putting off the inevitable short-term pain that is necessary for long-term gain?

Signals and Consequences

As a manager, you are constantly sending signals, intentionally and unintentionally to
your people. They judge everything you say and everything you do. But there’s more.
They also judge everything you don’t say and don’t do.

So what signals are you sending when you fail to hold people accountable? The wrong
ones. That poor performance is acceptable. That you lack the courage to deal with

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difficult issues. That you are not committed to achieving your organization’s goals.
Each of these erodes your credibility. When leaders lack credibility, employees lack
motivation. When credibility is lost, it is very hard if not impossible to regain.

Your Obligation
Your role as a leader is to help your organization win. Ask yourself this question: How
committed am I to winning? Compromising this to avoid the discomfort of holding
people accountable cheats the organization and all those who are committed to winning.
When you hold people accountable for poor performance you respect the commitment of
those who have bought into the vision. You give them a chance to win.

Holding your people accountable and having a clear conscience requires, first, that you
have held up your end of the bargain. That you have set your people up to succeed, not
to fail. This means creating the right environment. People need to have a clear
understanding of what is expected of them and how they fit into the big picture. They
need sufficient skills, resources, and authority to do what needs to be done. Their
incentives should be aligned with what is expected from them. And they require regular
feedback, guidance and support to improve. Once these are in place, it is up to each
individual to get the job done.

If an employee still isn’t meeting expectations, then there is one absolutely compelling
reason why you have to hold him accountable. And it has nothing to do with him. It has
to do with everyone else. It is to avoid de-motivating and demoralizing all those who are
getting the job done. All those who have bought into the vision and are charging hard to
make it happen. It is so they don’t say, “Why should I bust my backside when
management doesn’t deal with those people who are holding us back?” If people start to
think that way, then you do have a big problem. The performance of the team suffers and
you’ve compromised your credibility.

The other reason for holding the employee accountable is because it sends a clear signal
that poor performance is not O.K. That you and the organization are committed to your
goals and that everyone has to do their part. It gives the employee the impetus and
opportunity to improve. And it offers him the sense of achievement that comes from
meeting the challenge.

Constructive Accountability
How do you effectively hold people accountable? By preserving their dignity.

1. A common purpose. Reestablish the common goal that you and your employee are
working towards. That you share a commitment to the same vision. This sends a signal
that you are colleagues, not combatants.

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2. Take responsibility. Reaffirm that to achieve the goal, you are responsible and
committed to creating an environment in which your people can succeed. This
demonstrates that your agenda is not simply to place blame on the employee.

3. State your expectations. Outline what you expect of the employee to help the
organization win. Be clear and concise. What do you expect in terms of performance
and results? This lets the employee know that you have expectations of them as well as
of yourself.

4. The current situation. Using data wherever possible, explain how the employee’s
current performance and results are not meeting expectations. Remember, don’t make
the person the problem, the problem is the performance and results.

5. Solution and follow-up. Determine what both of you need to do differently to help
the employee succeed. Do you need to provide more guidance or more resources? Does
the employee need to try different techniques or procedures? Once these are determined,
outline next steps: what you expect to be accomplished by when, and when you will meet
with the employee to discuss progress.

The Bottom Line

Holding people accountable is tough to do. Yet the alternatives are far worse.
Accountability should never be arbitrary. Nor should it be premature – every employee
needs the opportunity to succeed in an environment in which they can succeed. But
without accountability, your company is much less likely to win.

© Copyright 2004, Edge Consulting Services, inc., all rights reserved