Businesses that hold themselves accountable – internally and to consumers – fare better in competitive markets, foster more brand loyalty with customers, and see increased internal productivity. And businesses that facilitate accountability in otherwise opaque industries can be powerful forces of disruption.
Essentially, accountability is the process of taking responsibility for your decisions and actions. In a business context, this means being transparent, internalizing feedback, and establishing clear responsibility systems in your organizational structure.
Let’s unpack the many roles accountability plays in business. And know what accountability meaning is.
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What Is Accountability?
Accountability is the assurance that every individual organization or person is evaluated. Most often, the evaluation parameters are the performances, behavior, and responsibilities. These are the teams by which the company’s performances are getting evaluated.
Every person in the professional world is evaluated by the meaning of these factors. This is the meaning of accountability. When you are measuring up the company’s accountability meaning, you have to evaluate the company’s performance along with the company features and the company trustworthiness.
By assessing these factors, you can measure up the accountability of the specific companies.
What Is The Role Of Accountability?
You know the accountability definition. But by measuring up the accountability level, the company and the organization’s trustworthiness will be determined. Even when you want to draw the line for measuring up the positive sides of the trustworthy structures, this accountability is always going to give you a better idea about it.
From knowing the organizational structures to internal structures, these accountability measures will always help you. Here are some of the factors which you will know by measuring the level of accountability.
Accountability is determining the level of professionalism every employee has. Along with professionalism, even the users can also understand how much of the companies are trustworthy and eligible to deliver the best consumer experiences.
1. Accountability As An Internal Strategy
Especially in structures consisting of several siloed teams, accountability can help an organization carry out complex tasks and projects transparently. It allows independent teams, managers, and employees to understand how they fit within a system – their roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
Without accountability, a business opens itself up to confusion. You might find multiple people working on the same task or – worse – contradictory tasks. You might have loops of similar feedback that waste time, or no feedback at all, because no one knows who’s responsible for a project’s particulars.
If you’re interested in learning more, watch this talk from Fortune magazine’s Senior Editor, Adam Lashinsky, in which he discusses the DRI model and accountability in project development.
2. Accountability And The Consumer
Consumers want to know that if something goes wrong, someone will take responsibility. They also want to know that your business is honest with how it presents itself before they use your product or service.
Take the real estate industry, for example. Historically, there have been scant few accountability mechanisms for real estate agents – it was nearly impossible, therefore, for real estate consumers to find the right agent. That left space for disruption from Nobul, a real estate digital marketplace that “enables buyers, and sellers to openly see the transaction histories, pricing, reviews and services of real estate agents.”
According to CEO Regan McGee, the platform brings “transparency and accountability to the real estate market.” The company has seen massive support from real estate buyers and sellers, as evidenced by its billions in completed sales.
3. Accountability And Talent Acquisition
Accountability can also play a role in talent acquisition and recruiting. Businesses with robust systems of accountability in place are better poised to find the right candidates and may experience lower turnover rates.
An essential component of accountability is the clear division and precise explanation of each employee’s roles and responsibilities. Without these accountability structures in place, a business might hire an imprecise fit for a role, or a candidate might get the wrong impression about a role.
In either case, the employee will be dissatisfied with their work environment, forcing them either to leave or continue working in a position they aren’t suitable for: both bad outcomes. Therefore, every organization wants to recruit an accountable employee. This is the main reason for the recruiting process. In addition, the companies are doing experiments to know the accountability level of the employees.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that accountability helps a business’ bottom line. Its roles in project development and recruitment make it an essential tenet for businesses wanting to improve efficiency and productivity. And its value to consumers can help entire industries become more transparent and value-driven if you want to improve your company positions. Then accountability measurements are the only steps that you can apply and make progress.
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