Accountability – Consultancy

Having a Voice is Important – Even When Leaving

9 August 2022

by Mikki Kronenburg with No Comment Employee Engagement Employee Retention Leadership Loyalty Team Building

Do you ever feel like your organization doesn’t actually hear you? Or perhaps your organization doesn’t offer a safe environment that encourages you to speak up? All too often, one of these scenarios is played out in the workplace. Many businesses feel that they have processes in place to ensure employee feedback, but is it effective?

Stoping the Silence

Previously I wrote about the importance of not silencing your staff. Aside from providing a safe culture within the organization that encourages staff input and feedback, many companies miss out on the opportunity for the most honest feedback by skipping the exit interview. There are multiple reasons for the exit interview, but the most important is to get a candid overview of the organization’s culture and environment. The information obtained from an exit interview can identify opportunities for employee retention, leadership development, and succession planning.

Don’t Assume

When I left after 20 years with the same organization, I literally begged for an exit interview. After being completely ignored by one CEO (who suddenly left the organization without explanation), I approached the new CEO requesting a brief meeting. I was quickly dismissed and wished the best of luck in a brief email response. I simply wanted to express my experience with the organization and my concerns out of dedication to my previous patients and the work-family I left behind.

No one in management asked why I was leaving. Assumptions were made, but only those close colleagues knew the real reason. I could no longer work in an environment that didn’t support their staff, seek genuine feedback or provide the tools that allowed me to do my job at the level that made me feel fulfilled. More importantly, I no longer felt that the organization prioritized patient safety, leaving me feeling less competent as a health care provider.

Why The Exit Interview

Unfortunately, the absence of an exit interview is common. The insight that upper management missed by dismissing my request saddens me. Even worse, my work family is stuck in the same toxic environment that forced me to leave, and it’s only getting worse.

It’s essential to have clearly identified standards for the exit interview to make them successful. Most Fortune 500 companies perform exit interviews but only 40% feel they are properly utilized. Make sure to have a format that can get useful information. The last touchpoint with the employee gives the interviewer the opportunity to ask about issues that are concerning or unresolved. It also allows the employee to leave with a sense of feeling heard. Why is that important – they are leaving after all? Because in todays employment climate, you never know when you may need to call that worker back for some help. If they left on a sour note, they are guarantee not to help out in a shortage. This frequently occurs in healthcare but also in any skilled industry. Boomers are retiring at an alarming rate, and there isn’t always someone qualified to immediately replace them.

Making Them Count

Finally, assessing and utilizing the information after the interview is vital. We’ve all filled out an employee survey that was later thrown in the trash and never actually looked at, let alone the feedback reviewed and put to use. This is important if the organization has a genuine interest in maintaining a healthy culture and an environment that encourages communication and investment from the employees. After all, without staff, no organization would exist. Employees are the company. Dedicated and fulfilled leaders and employees want to put their best foot forward. The key is to keep both feet in the business but if they choose to leave, find out why. The reasons may surprise you. At the very least, it will provide you with valuable insight and the opportunity to improve and grow your business.

Why Does Accountability Matter?

20 January 2020

by Mikki Kronenburg with No Comment Employee Engagement Leadership Loyalty Team Building

Acknowledging our mistakes is a sign of strong character. It is a primary component of accountability and is essential for effective leadership. Accountability isn’t the same as responsibility, although the two terms are often interchanged. We all have responsibilities at work, the tasks that make up our job. Responsibility can be shared, divided up amongst team members. Accountability, however, belongs to only one person. It is what happens after an incident and how you respond and take ownership of the results.

Accountability is essential for building trust in the workplace. If staff are worried about getting thrown under the bus or are unsure of their leader’s support in the event of an incident, they are not going to exude creativity. They will work for the company but not with the energy and passion that they would if they know that mistakes won’t end their career with the organization. Obviously, I’m not talking about repeatedly making the same stupid mistake but rather the kind that happens on occasion.

Why Is It Important?

Despite the importance of owning our mistakes, and the fact that every human makes them, it becomes more evident that so many people in positions of power are not accountable themselves. How many of us have worked for a manager that never had our back? Or that took credit for success but was quick to blame when something happened? Everyone knows this scenario – the real question is, how are these individuals put in any position of influence?

There are so many reasons that businesses benefit from accountable leadership. Not only can accountable leaders quickly identify problems, but they can find solutions just as fast. Just like other characteristics of good leadership, the other members of the team will follow suit. Accountability will inspire accountability. It also breeds trust and loyalty, both of which increase productivity.

When Accountability is Lacking

Of course, you can’t discount the consequences of no accountability. When the blame game starts with management, it festers among the team. This will no doubt create division among the staff. There are those that will accept the blame, those that will fight back, and those that will become one of the brown-nosers to the boss in hopes of avoiding the blame. Either way, division of the team occurs. I have seen it happen to the best of them. Naturally, productivity declines, as does loyalty to the manager and the organization. Whether it’s the blame game or lack of leadership, employee engagement is sure to decrease.

Lack of accountability also affects the customer experience. Due to its profound effect on employee engagement, it will affect the way the employees treat customers. This will lead to first-time customers not returning, regular customers not returning, and those that do leave negative reviews. We all know that more people complain about a bad experience than shout out about the good ones.

How To Encourage It

Two approaches are often taken when someone shirks accountability. One is to ignore the problems, and the other is to remove the person from their team. Realistically, neither approach is ideal. Ignoring the problem will likely make it more significant or recurring, and you don’t want to terminate someone or shuffle them if they have the potential to be an asset to the team. First and foremost, lead by example. Again, accountability inspires accountability. Make sure that your staff has the tools and equipment needed to do their job efficiently and effectively. Ensure that there is a continuous feedback loop. Too often, feedback only happens when something goes wrong, but it’s essential to have feedback when things are going well.

Most importantly, provide them with an environment that makes it easy to own their mistakes. Working in a safe environment encourages creativity and productivity. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes, as it’s our mistakes that keep us growing.