Sometimes we charge our employees with a responsibility. Many times we do not realize, they are unclear about their responsibility or how to fulfill that responsibility. Sometimes we quickly determine they don’t care or they are not capable. We then escalate to they are not accountable, and they don’t care when they fail to meet that obligation.
If you have repeated failure of accountability from a specific employee, set aside time to have a face to face meeting and find out what is preventing them from meeting their obligation. Start from the position of help: Am I doing everything I can to help them be more accountable? Is the task clear? Was the deadline clear ? Do they know how to accomplish the task? I am not suggesting this as a soft social experiment, but rather that we want our people to succeed, not fail. We don’t want to take back tasks we have delegated or fire people; but we would prefer that we can develop every hire into a great employee. At best these are teachable moments, perhaps they do not understand the task, or we may have to mentor them on how to accomplish the responsibility.
At best we develop better employees, team members who can take the load off our shoulders, and carry the company forward with us. At worst we find out that this person is unable to meet to meet their obligation and we have given them every chance to succeed. Now we can be honest and turn to the next man or woman up and hand them the responsibility.
Successful leaders do not shoot their troops. They educate, motivate, and coordinate them into a team that wins on the battlefield.
By: Bennie Franklin