Every effort to improve performance can be accelerated and facilitated with a foundation of personal and organizational accountability. Our experience has shown us that until you get accountability right, you probably won’t get anything else right. Identifying and closing the distance between what you need people working on and what they are actually focusing on is an essential step in helping your team or organization improve their performance. We call this gap in performance the “Accountability Gap.” These gaps are too often ignored and accepted as a part of the organizational culture. When that happens, efforts to implement, execute and improve often turn out to be disappointing, short-lived, or both.
Consider the following example of how greater accountability led to a crucial improvement in performance and results. After experiencing a substantial decline in profitability, a well-known hotel chain implemented the Accountability Training throughout every level of their organization. The big idea: get everyone to focus on key results in their daily work, not just on “doing” their job. As people, on a daily basis, began looking for ways that they could impact accountability for revenue, customer satisfaction and quality objectives, performance improved. In fact, at every hotel where the training and emphasis on accountability was implemented, the numbers always went up. In the months that followed, the company was not only able to significantly improve performance, but restore a full $40 million in profitability.
Before the focus on personal accountability for organizational results, no one could really tell you what the hotel performance objectives were. In fact, one employee, when asked, responded: “to make another billion dollars this next fiscal quarter!” She had no idea what the company was trying to do. Every effort to “close the gaps” and help people at every level of the organization take personal accountability for organizational results helps people move beyond compliance and mediocrity to true personal ownership and real continuous improvement.
To learn more about how to create a Culture of Accountability at every level of the organization, we invite you to join the Accountability Community at www.ozprinciple.com, where you can watch videos of actual client case studies.
Accountability Training, Accountability Gap, Culture of Accountability, and Accountability Community are registered trademarks of Partners In Leadership Inc.
Whether the post merger/acquisition focus is on combining cultures, adopting the cultural traits of the acquiring company or creating a culture where two distinct subcultures operate symbiotically, leaders must take accountability for creating the culture that will bring success in both the long and short term. Unfortunately, most leaders don’t. The majority of mergers/acquisitions not only fail to deliver the intended benefits, but also destroy shareholder value. Here’s an example of how taking greater accountability for the post merger/acquisition cultural transition can make a big difference.
After a merger of two pharmaceutical giants, the post merger environment was a breeding ground for Below The Line behavior. These were some of the questions that abounded: “Why wasn’t this considered during due diligence?” “Who dropped the ball on this issue?” “How long has this been going on?” and “Why doesn’t my manager know about this?” Having already adopted Self Track training, the two companies determined that only an Above The Line approach would help everyone take accountability for improved communication and culture integration. Whenever people asked post merger questions, they were urged to ask another set of questions as well: “What else can I do about it?” and “Who else can I contact to obtain the information I need?” By placing accountability with the person who was asking the question, leaders and managers created an organization full of people working to solve problems, rather than complaining about them. The increased “Solve It” dialogue led both companies to adopt best practices from each other, resulting in a superior combination of best practices. Instead of succumbing to perpetual complaints and paralyzing confusion, these two companies helped their people take accountability for the basics of cultural integration. The results were huge cost savings, reduced turnover, improved sales performance, and increased shareholder value.
The Partners In Leadership Accountability Training and culture change processes help clients accelerate the formation and integration of post merger/acquisition cultures. With over two decades of experience working in the post merger/acquisition environment, Partners In Leadership is expert at helping leaders define and implement the right cultural transition solution for their business needs. To learn more about our post merger/acquisition cultural integration and transition services, we invite you to join the Accountability Community at www.ozprinciple.com, where you can review actual client case studies.
Above The Line, Below The Line, Solve It, Accountability Training, and Accountability Community are registered trademarks of Partners In Leadership Inc. Self Track is a trademark of Partners In Leadership Inc.
One of our recent studies revealed that only 13% of executives surveyed felt they held other people accountable for results in an effective, successful way. 86% admitted that their ineffectiveness often leads to a failure to achieve desired results. There is a leadership crisis in organizations today relative to holding others accountable. Developing leadership competency in managing issues of accountability, culture change, execution and organizational improvement has become a top priority. Consider the following example.
A leading architectural and engineering firm asked for our help in training its leaders to cultivate greater accountability in the organization for achieving three key objectives: employee engagement, client satisfaction, and profitability. We used the Steps To Accountability and The Results Pyramid models to help their leaders learn how to change the way people think and act by changing their experiences. Here’s how one leader described the impact of our leadership training: “We now have a much greater awareness of the experiences we are creating and how those experiences shape beliefs, drive actions, and produce results. The models are thought-provoking tools in our day-to-day work and help to keep us on track.” The results: substantial improvements in employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and profitability within the first year. Now the firm is working on perfecting their ability to hold others accountable in a positive, principled way going forward.
Partners In Leadership’s Leadership Development training helps leaders identify how they can both improve their leadership skills and their leadership style to achieve their desired results. Working with the models, principles, and practices of positive accountability, leaders learn how to better facilitate a sense of ownership and buy-in in their teams and throughout the organization. To learn more about leadership development that builds greater accountability for achieving results, we invite you to join the Accountability Community at www.ozprinciple.com, where you can review actual client case studies.
Steps To Accountability, The Results Pyramid, and Accountability Community are registered trademarks of Partners In Leadership Inc.
