How to Increase Accountability in Your Culture

Increase Accountability in Your Culture to Drive High Performance
Do you know how to truly embed accountability in your organization’s culture? The most effective leaders recognize that balancing organizational health with accountability is critical to high performing and high functioning teams. Consistent high performance is essential for staying competitive and achieving lasting results.

What High Performance Really Means
For leaders, high performance translates into pursuing bolder goals, navigating greater complexity, and managing tighter budgets with precision. For employees, it means meeting elevated expectations, adapting rapidly to change, and delivering more with fewer resources. Success requires a culture where everyone understands their responsibilities, is empowered to act decisively, and is held to clear standards of performance.

Companies are Not Firing On All Cylinders
When we assess organizational culture, we find that organizations are not performing at their peak because their leaders have NOT made company-wide accountability a priority.  Other research backs this up:

• A Workplace Accountability Study reported that 82% of respondents said they have limited to no ability to hold others accountable to do what they said they would do.
• A CEO Benchmarking Report found that CEOs rated “holding people accountable” and “letting go of underperformers” as their two biggest weakness.
• Gallup reported that only 14% of employees feel their performance is managed in a way that inspires them to take more responsibility at work.

Without high levels of accountability, it is hard for leaders to set the stage for consistently high performance — especially when the stakes are high.

Two Phases to Increase Accountability in Your Culture
There are, fundamentally, two phases to building a high performing culture with high levels of transparency and accountability:

1. Set Clear Performance Expectations
   To achieve results that matter, employees must know precisely what (Doing) is expected of them and how they are expected to do it (Being). Clear performance expectations about ensure that teams focus on executing the right tasks that advance the company’s strategic objectives. Equally important, expectations should guide behavior — reinforcing the cultural standards and values that define how work gets done.

   When expectations are unambiguous, employees can prioritize effectively, make better decisions, and contribute confidently to organizational success.

2.  Establish a Fair and Transparent System of Accountability
   The only way to ensure performance expectations are consistently met is to implement a company-wide system that clearly shows where individuals and teams stand relative to those expectations. The most effective systems are fair, timely, accurate, meaningful, and consistent — providing feedback that is proportionate and directly relevant to both roles and organizational goals.

   When accountability is transparent, employees understand the impact of their actions, leaders can make informed decisions, and the organization as a whole can sustain high performance over time.

Four Attributes to Increase Accountability in Your Culture
To increase accountability in your culture, focus on getting the following attributes right:

• Have a Strong Strategic Focus
  If you set up too many goals, you risk confusion, overlap, and a loss of focus. Identify no more than three core objectives at each level.  Each employee should know how what they do contributes to the team goals and, ultimately, to the company goals.

  To be effective, the objectives should be achievable with challenging, but reasonable, effort.

• Provide The Means to the End
  It is the leader’s responsibility to ensure employees have the tools, resources, and support necessary to achieve desired results. Success begins with identifying the specific capabilities required and the key obstacles that must be overcome across all levels of the organization. This might include customized training, access to specialized expertise, additional funding, expanded personnel, and — most critically — the consistent, visible support of leadership.

  When employees are equipped and empowered, they are far more likely to deliver results that align with both strategic goals and cultural expectations..

• Ensure Tracking of Progress
  Teams should meet regularly to track progress, celebrate successes, and share lessons learned. Performance results need to be transparent, so everyone understands where the team stands relative to its goals. When challenges arise, the team should collaborate to diagnose the problem, identify solutions, and make adjustments quickly.

  This shared accountability fosters collective ownership, strengthens trust, and drives consistent high performance.

• Have Meaningful Consequences and Rewards
  From the outset, employees must understand that performance carries both accountability and recognition. Substandard results require leaders to act — whether by providing targeted support, coaching, or, if performance does not improve within a reasonable period, making the difficult decision to part ways. Conversely, exceptional performance should be acknowledged and rewarded in proportion to its impact.

  When consequences and rewards are clear, consistent, and meaningful, employees are motivated to excel, and the organization reinforces a culture of high performance.

The Bottom Line
To increase accountability in your culture, start by building an environment grounded in trust, ownership, and continuous learning. Accountability flourishes when employees feel safe to take responsibility, learn from mistakes, and follow through on their promises. It takes deliberate effort and sustained leadership commitment — but the payoff is a stronger, more reliable, and higher-performing organization.

To learn more about how to increase accountability in your culture to increase performance, download The 3 Levels of a High Performance Culture that Leaders Must Get Right