Employee engagement and retention continuously become real challenges for employers and HR for decades. For large companies, they might have the resources to increase benefits, communication, and perks level to ensure employees retention. They might also easily adopt newest technology to engage young generations or adopt better financial benefits for older employees. 

But more than newest technology or better salary, work environment and culture has increasingly become the main drivers of employee’s loyalty. The problem is, creating a fantastic work culture to increase employee engagement is not easy, so HR leaders should consider personal accountability in their engagement strategy. 

Having accountability = fantastic work culture? 

Accountability is when employees clearly understand their goals and how they contribute to the mission and initiatives of an organisation. When employees thrive in an accountable culture, they will do whatever it takes to get the desired or expected results. Most likely, it is because being accountable means being trusted and responsible to what employees should do. 

Gallup describes that people are intrinsically motivated to fulfill their commitments for a range of reasons, none of which include being mandated – at least not effectively nor sustainably. And when leaders encourage more responsibility among employees by creating an organisational culture that promotes and cascades accountability, loyalty will manifest. 

See also: Competency-Based Performance Evaluation for Management Team 

How to promote accountability?  

• Define what people are accountable for – employees need clearly defined expectations to achieve goals. Hence, managers need to be accountable through their own availability and time spent on defining what their team is responsible for. 
• Set and cascade goals throughout the organisation – managers should help employees set measurable, individualised goals that align with their individual role. And managers should prioritise ongoing communication about how everyone’s personal contributions and success impact the organisation’s achievements. 
• Provide updates on progress – people need information to course correct toward their goals. 
• Align development, learning, and growth – managers who focus on employee development help workers address the roadblocks that prevent their ability to deliver on goals while learning and growing in the role. 
• Recognise and celebrate progress – praise for good work is the most motivating of all forms of feedback. Identify, celebrate, and learn from successes to motivate employees to stretch and create responsibility role models for others to follow. 

When employers foster an environment where employees are encouraged and expected to focus on personal accountability, they are growing a team of engaged contributors. Employers will begin to see a group of more efficient, creative, and independent employees striving to do their best to contribute to the mission, vision, and initiatives of the organisations. 

Read also: The Key to Management Strategy: Employee Retention