 |
| Accountability and ownership are similar but not the same. Here's why it matters. |
Organizations
have an accountability crisis, according to the Workplace
Accountability Study. Leaders know that accountability is vital for
success. However, they struggle to build a culture of ownership within
their teams. 82% of respondents say they have limited to no ability to
hold others accountable – they either try but fail or avoid it
altogether.
Employees don't have a good relationship with
accountability either. Accountability systems fail to motivate them.
Most people think that feedback occurs only when things go wrong. A
study by Gallup found that only 14% of employees feel their performance
is managed in a way that inspires them to take more responsibility.
When
accountability is absent, people don't take obligations seriously.
Only one-third see due dates (or "by-whens") as real commitments. A
vast majority aren't sure what their company is trying to achieve and
one-third feel that priorities frequently change, creating confusion.
Accountability
is difficult to achieve, yet attainable. One of the problems I see is
that leaders think they can impose a sense of responsibility on others.
Instead, I advise that they focus on creating a culture of ownership –
if you want people to feel responsible, empower them to own their work.
The Differences Between Accountability and Ownership
We’re
living in a metrics-obsessed world and organizations are using a
staggering number of metrics. However, they struggle to create
accountability systems that actually work.
PartnerHero CEO
Shervin Talieh wrote on Forbes, "How we approach metrics has remained
largely unchanged. Our mindset around metrics and the way we measure
outputs are topics conspicuously missing in most discussions about the
future of work."
As Talieh explains, there's a dangerous side to
being metrics-obsessed: "This creates organizational rigidity and
establishes that when the target is hit, people can take their foot off
the gas. Simply put, it stops the cycle of continuous improvement."
Often
leaders focus on monthly and quarterly results, promoting short-term
thinking rather than true accountability. Thus, people care more about
hitting the metric of the month than about doing the right thing.
Take
the idea of tying CEO's bonuses to stock price. It definitely drives
stock increase, but at what price? By focusing on selfish metrics,
companies pay a long-term price – employees and the community also
suffer the consequences.
This doesn't mean you should stop using
metrics, but instead focus on building a culture of ownership. Reward
the behavior that will help you achieve your key performance indicators.
Accountability and ownership go hand in hand but are two different things.
Accountability
is to be held responsible for fulfilling your duties and
responsibilities. It requires answers and has consequences.
Accountability is an external process defined by others. Someone – the
organization or your manager – will hold you accountable by providing
goals and measuring progress.
However, a sense of ownership is
not something that you can't impose. It's intrinsic rather than extrinsic,
just like motivation. People (not you) choose what drives them. The
good news is that when team members feel ownership, they don't just care
about achieving the goals: they go the extra mile.
In healthy
cultures, people have a strong sense of ownership. They don't need
external pressure to achieve lofty goals. No one is waiting for someone
else to do something – or to tell them to do something.
Where ownership is the motivation, accountability is taking responsibility for the outcome.
Taking
ownership of a project doesn't mean you own it – it means you care
about your role and the overall outcome. Taking ownership is a
commitment. You feel responsible to yourself, not just others.
A culture that lacks ownership is easy to spot, usually manifesting in:
- Silos across teams: When people focus on small pieces or don't do something because it's not their job.
- Bystander effect: Everybody sees the trash, but no one cares to pick it up (more on this later).
Do as I say, not as I do: Managers expect people to operate in a certain way but then act as if rules don’t apply to themselves.
Ownership-driven
employees take the initiative – they commit to tasks as they see them
arise and don't need to be told what to do.
Accountability is doing what's rewarded or measured; ownership is taking good care of your work and responsibilities.
People
understand what they are accountable for – consequences for
underperformance are often clear. However, being held to account causes
anxiety. A recent neuroscientific study revealed that we respond to
being rated with a sense of being threatened — we feel unsafe when
someone puts us in a box in this way.
Accountability systems are
the formal and informal ways that leaders talk about, assess, and
reinforce the contributions of team members. They include everything
from annual performance appraisals and routine check-ins to measuring
progress toward goals and tracking project milestones.
Ownership
inspires people to go above and beyond. It's a state of mind in which
you feel in charge. Not only do you have the motivation, agency, and
willingness to step up – you will also do whatever it takes to achieve
the goals.
Psychological ownership is the experience of being
psychologically tied to something, creating a powerful emotional
connection. As behavioral scientist Francesca Gino wrote, "The state of
psychological ownership is not only cognitive but also affective: simply
by calling an entity — whether an object, another person, or a job —
'mine' suggests that we have an emotional connection to it."
According to the Gallup Management Journal, building a culture of ownership is the result of multiple elements:- Challenging work and problems to solve
- Meaningful goals with a clear purpose
- Autonomy to decide how to achieve goals
- Connection to the team, job, and organization
- Opportunities to grow as a result of going above and beyond
- Feeling appreciated by colleagues and leaders
Research
by Perce et al. uncovered three roots that contribute to psychological
ownership: efficacy, self-identity, and belonging.
Efficacy is
the ability to produce a result – the satisfaction of creating an
outcome based on one's actions. Self-identity results from what we feel
we own: if you love your job, you attach your identity to it.
Self-identification can be felt toward a purpose, team, job, or company.
Finally, belonging is a fundamental part of being human, as we are
social animals who need to be connected to others to thrive.
For
an employee, psychological ownership is not always necessary for work
but definitely enhances it. A study by the University of Minnesota
Duluth found that psychological ownership is associated with job
satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and performance.
The
same study uncovered that accountability and responsibility result from
psychological ownership rather than drive it. When we feel ownership,
we expect accountability from ourselves and others.
Accountability is the path to psychological ownership.
A
manager responsible for the success of a project will feel personally
accountable for the outcome but will also expect participation and
accountability from team members. By feeling this type of personal and
managerial responsibility, a sense of ownership for the outcome quickly
develops.
Interestingly enough, according to research by David
McConville, formal ownership rights (such as stock options or
profit-sharing schemes) don't necessarily increase psychological
ownership and productivity.
Ownership is not about making people feel like owners but that they own their work.
How to Build a Culture of Ownership
Focus on the why
Often
leaders are so obsessed with creating alignment around goals and
metrics that they lose perspective – they focus on the tree, not the
forest. While ensuring team members know 'what' they need to achieve is
vital, it's still more important that they understand the 'why.'
Rather
than focus on the outcome, emphasize the impact you’re looking for.
Creating a culture of constant improvement or Kaizen is more important
than creating more business leads. Instead of "We need to increase the
number of clients by X," try, "We want to provide such a high-quality
service that clients will not want to do business with other companies
than ours."
Don't just tell your team what they need to achieve –
be absolutely certain they get the why. Define what success would look
like and let people decide how to achieve it.
Pick up the trash
In
most companies, people ignore the trash on the floor, leaving it for
someone else to pick up. At Netflix, picking up the trash is a metaphor
for taking care of problems, small and large. The company doesn't have a
rule to enforce it but rather promotes a sense of ownership. Picking up
the trash is a habit built naturally to prevent the "that's not my job"
excuse.
Encourage discipline, not rules.
Netflix
provides employees with lots of freedom, power, and information to make
decisions. In turn, it generates a sense of ownership and
self-discipline. To avoid controlling rules, Netflix trusts that
employees have its best interests at heart. Whenever there's an issue,
they ask tough questions to make sure no one leaves the trash for others
to pick up:
- Are expectations being clearly communicated or was misunderstanding a key cause of this?
- Is this problem created by an outlier who may not be a fit at Netflix?
- Why would someone acting as a responsible adult do this?
Reward collaboration, not individual goals – ownership is a collective mindset.
Delegate authority, not just responsibility
Managers
often expect people to become more accountable without giving them the
power to make decisions. Distributing decision-making rights to those
closest to the work provides speed and, usually, better outcomes. Those
in more proximity to the 'client' or problem are better informed to make
decisions.
The Andon Cord is a concept that was vital to the
Toyota Production System. It consisted of a pull cord or button that any
worker could activate to stop production, prevent faulty cars, and fix
the problem.
Delegating authority increases a sense of ownership –
people take the outcome more seriously. If you want people to own the
consequences, let them own their decisions.
Reward the behavior, not the metric
Adding
accountability does not always equal success. When Mailchimp added the
notion of direct accountability to a measure for one of their teams a
few years back, team members chose work that drove the metric they were
accountable for – to the detriment of overall customer experience and
revenue. A classic example of perverse incentives.
As John
Foreman, Chief Product Officer at Mailchimp, wrote, "When you add
accountability to the movement of a measure, you do indeed 'get what you
measure.' But it often feels Shakespearean. You get what you measure,
but what you get is not what you wanted."
Mailchimp learned that it's better to focus on indirect accountability: Reward the behaviors that help move the needle.
Rather than checking if his team "moved the measure," Foreman recommends asking:
- What are the levers you have on the team for moving your measures?
-
Why did you think the work you just completed would move your measures?
Why do you think it did or didn't have the desired results?
- What have you learned from that experience that will influence your next work?
- Tell me why the work you've planned next, then, is going to move your measures?
Employees
should own the behaviors that will move the metric – they should do
what's right, not just achieve a short-term target.
Focus on the end product, not the project
The
difference between focusing on the project and the end product is
ownership. It encourages people to care about quality and outcome, not
just deadlines or milestones.
Customer engagement platform Twilio
organizes staff into small teams that own the experience from end to
end. As CEO Jeff Lawson explains, "Our teams are defined by three
things: the customer they're serving, the mission they're on in service
of that customer, and the metrics that tell us whether we're doing a
good job." This approach allows each team to take the ball and run with
it.
Leaders at Twilio strive to poke holes through the
organization to increase visibility across teams. For example,
developers sit in on sales calls or occasionally handle support tickets
for their products.
When people focus on the forest, not the tree, their sense of ownership increases.
Stop rewarding unfairness
When
organizations give underperformers a pass, they reward a lack of
accountability. Even worse, they usually punish high-performers by
giving them more work to offset low performers' inefficiency.
Fairness
is crucial to promoting a sense of ownership within your team. If
people don't feel treated fairly – either because managers play
favorites or give low performers a pass – they will disengage or fight
to get credit. This thus promotes individuality.
Prioritizing
fairness at work helps overcome biases within accountability systems.
Studies show that managers tend to treat certain groups advantageously
over others. Fairness is about rewarding people for the outcome, not
input such as presenteeism or busyness.
Allow people to define standards
When
goals and metrics are defined by managers, they feel foreign. It's hard
for people to own something that "comes from the top" without being
consulted. Inviting people to help define the standards not only creates
ownership: it also removes the need to get buy-in.
Hubert Joly, a
former CEO of Best Buy, applied that principle to turn the dying
electronics retailer around. He asked store managers, "What does it look
like when we are at our best?" By encouraging employees to dream of a
better future – to define the standard for the company – Joly created a
culture of collective ownership.
When people help set the bar, they feel more motivated to reach and exceed their goals.
Building a culture of ownership
Accountability
is important, but ownership creates a more profound impact. A culture
of ownership replaces blame with questions. When things go wrong, people
focus on learning from it instead of pointing fingers.
As a
leader, showing genuine appreciation can go a long way in reinforcing
positive behaviors. Reward those who step up and go above and beyond.
Avoid giving a pass to those who don't care – this will send the wrong
message to those who do have a sense of ownership.
Metrics
matter. However, focusing on doing the right thing is more important.
Reward the behaviors that move the needle, not the people who are good
at beating the accountability system.
To your greater success and fulfillment,
Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT
Take the Next Step...
Interested
in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability,
culture, and employee engagement ? We begin with a collaborative
discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To
request an interview with Peter Mclees please
contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com or Mobile:323-854-1713
Smart
Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers,
ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food
production facilities, wealth management services, real estate services,
nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong
culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork
necessary for growth.
Having worked with several companies
throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies
that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company
achieve sustained growth and prosperity.
