Put the Snakes on the Table

Have you given much thought to the notion of behavioural accountability in your workplace?We often hear about the importance of holding employees accountable.  That expression seems to imply that something, or more commonly, someone external to that employee, is responsible for ensuring that an employee lives up to her/his end of the employment contract.  It expresses a cultural norm with respect to power and empowerment within an organization.I would also argue that it speaks to a reactive, rather than a proactive norm within an organization.  It often means that those in positions of hierarchical power, managers and supervisors, (individuals I prefer to refer to as workplace leaders), are charged with a responsibility of monitoring or overseeing what others are doing.  When those “others” make a mistake, when they fail to do something that they are supposed to, the leader has to “hold them accountable.”Most of the time that means some sort of punitive or disciplinary response, with a threat of more severe work related consequences if the mistake, problem, or error is not corrected.  An unintended consequence of this approach is that often the only time an employee meets with her/his leader is when that leader needs to “hold her/him accountable,” to point out what she/he is doing wrong and make sure she/he knows that it better not happen again.

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