Avionics News April 2015 - 68

series

BUSINESS BASICS
B Y

G R E G

L A S L O

Responsible parties

How to use accountability to improve employee performance

W

hen the weight of the world is on your shoulders,
in a timely manner for the benefit of the organization. Put
you need a helping hand. In your avionics repair
another way, the employee does what he says he'll do, when
shop, that's the team of employees you created.
he says he'll do it.
These are the folks who help you deliver on your promises
There's a lot going on in here, especially if we assume an
to customers. In the best of times, they're just as dedicated
employee to be trustworthy, self-motivated, and professionally
to your collective success as you are. In the worst, you can
mature. Indeed, the accountable employee is willing to
practically watch the buck pass them by.
answer for his actions, even when his performance falls short.
In between, though, something nefarious can happen. They
He won't make excuses or settle for getting "close but no
lose accountability. They stop feeling responsibility for their
cigar," or ignore your expectations of him, according to Peter
part of your operations, and they don't so much own their
Germann, executive coach with MDA Leadership Consulting.
work as they put it on a flexible lease arrangement. But if you
In these cases, he does whatever he can to make sure he
have any amount of work that needs
makes good on his word.
done - and done right - you must get
He's motivated to do this for
Ac c o r d i n g t o a s t u dy by G a l l o p ,
that sense of duty back.
several reasons. The first comes
the key factor in workgroup
According to a study by Gallop,
from you as a manager. He knows
performance is having
the key factor in workgroup
you're watching, so he walks the
e m p l oye e s w h o k n ow w h at ' s
performance is having employees
line, according to Joe Tye, chief
ex p e c t e d o f t h e m .
who know what's expected of them.
executive officer and head coach
At the same time, according to
of Values Coach. He's concerned
AMA Enterprise, a division of the
that you'd be disappointed by any
American Management Association, half of all managers
lapses, so he works to avoid them - to prevent punishment
thought at least one-third of their employees avoided
and enable rewards.
responsibility at work. Put those together, and it's clear that
The second comes from peer pressure. He's aware that
employees and employers are on different pages.
his team members are watching, too, and they may call
Accountability synchronizes those needs. With it, employees
shenanigans on his lackluster performance, according to Tye.
know what you expect, and you have a way to hold them to
He avoids letting these co-workers down because that may
that task. How that happens becomes more clear when you
make him an outcast, which creates an uncomfortable work
understand what, exactly, it is, why it's important to a smoothsituation.
running shop, and what tools you have to put it to work.
The third comes from his own values; he accepts personal
responsibility because that's who he is. He's committed,
Objective leadership
focused on accomplishments instead of busy work, and
At the most basic level, accountability comprises an
willing to improve in skills and performance. He's habitually
employee's ability to fulfill his responsibility and accomplish
on time, he communicates his questions and concerns, and he
assigned tasks, meet goals, and sustain productive behaviors
works with an eye toward the success of the entire enterprise,

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april

2015
Avionics News April 2015

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