A Simple Way to Improve Accountability & Team Culture
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A simple, smart way to improve accountability & team culture.
This week's #culturedrop is so simple and makes so much sense. My hope is that you'll do this starting right now, and also wonder why you hadn't thought of it before.
I am excited for this topic and to share this tip because it is fundamental to the work I do with teams, and an extremely helpful tool for building a culture of high accountability and great team culture.
This topic was inspired by a comment we received on one of our Culture Drop videos on YouTube, “How to Fire Bad Employees.” It’s a great question and I immediately wanted to do an episode about it, so here it is.
The challenge:
The gist of question asked was, “I have someone at work who is really miserable, and their negative behavior is impacting everyone around them. But they haven’t officially broken any rules, so how do I document and address this?” The frustration here makes sense: how do you hold someone accountable when their negative behavior isn't explicitly breaking any rules?
I’ll go into more detail but my short answer is: why aren’t there any ‘rules’ about how people need to show up as part of your team? It needs to be part of everyone’s job description.
“Most job descriptions only list the tasks an employee needs to complete in their role, but they fail to address how that person should behave as part of the team.”
The problem with traditional job descriptions.
Most job descriptions only list the tasks an employee needs to complete in their role, but they fail to address how that person should behave as part of the team.
The fact that this is missing creates an opportunity for a big gap in accountability. If someone isn’t performing their job tasks well, it’s easy to pinpoint and address. But when expectations around attitude and behavior aren’t clearly defined, holding someone accountable for a negative attitude or behavior is massively more difficult to do — because it’s subjective.
The solution: including behavioral expectations.
A very simple solution for this is to shift how we approach job descriptions. The shift is this: in addition to outlining the tasks of the role, job descriptions also include clearly defined behaviors and expectations for how employees should show up as part of the team.
“... provide a concrete foundation for holding people accountable for not just what they do, but how they do it.”
This provides a concrete foundation for holding people accountable for not just what they do, but how they do it.
Why it matters.
When you clearly define these behaviors, you eliminate subjectivity. If an employee’s behavior is out of alignment, you can point directly to the expectations outlined in their job description. It creates no wiggle room for interpretation because what’s expected is crystal clear.
Practical Steps for Implementation:
Revise Job Descriptions: Start by reviewing the current job descriptions within your organization. If they don’t include behavioral expectations alongside task-related responsibilities, then revamp them.
Define Behavioral Expectations: Clearly outline the behaviors that align with the culture you want to create in your organization. This might include things like having a positive attitude, taking ownership of your choice of words and impact on others, how you give and receive feedback, navigate conflicts, etc.
Integrate This Work: Incorporate these expectations into the hiring process, onboarding, performance reviews, etc. Doing this creates a consistent standard for how employees should behave and contribute to the team.
Final thoughts.
This approach is one of the elements of the culture work that I do with teams, and it’s incredibly impactful. When behavioral expectations are clearly defined, it becomes much easier to have tough conversations and document any issues when necessary.
This clarity helps ensure that everyone understands what it means to be part of the team and contributes to creating a culture of higher accountability.
Related Blogs:
Culture is a Verb: You Are What You Do
Want more?
This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop
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