7 Vital Examples on Holding Employees Accountable at Work
One of the most important aspects of a successful work environment is accountability.
When people are held accountable they understand expectations and act to meet them. Everything runs smoothly (most of the time)!
The times when managers must enforce standards and expectations are when employees exhibit concerning behavior or fall short on performance.
Here you will find seven common scenarios that require holding employees accountable. Find out how to raise the issue with your employee and how to keep them accountable and on the right track.
Scenario: Showing up late
As soon as you start to recognize a pattern of tardiness, it’s time to bring this issue up. Don’t allow it to become a habit.
How to raise the issue
“You’ve been showing up late to work on several occasions. Last Monday, you got here 20 minutes past start time. When you’re late, your work gets delayed and you’re not as productive. It’s also not fair to me and your coworkers who show up to the office on time. We need to address this and make sure it doesn’t keep happening. Can you walk me through this and your thoughts on it?”
How to hold them accountable
Review the official company policy on attendance and make sure the employee understands it. Restate the time that they are expected to arrive at work.
Offer solutions to working around issues, such as leaving 20 minutes earlier or sending a text or email if they know they will be late.
Let the employee know that you will be monitoring their arrival from now. Tell them what the consequences will be if they continue to come in late. For example, if the employee is late 3 more times they will be disciplined or even fired.
Scenario: Missing deadlines
Deadlines exist for a reason. If we didn’t set them, our pace would slow down and business would stall.
When an employee misses a deadline, it should be addressed seriously.
How to raise the issue
“So, the deadline for your metrics report passed yesterday and you did not submit it. Unfortunately, that affects other people’s ability to progress with tasks requiring information from the report. I’d like to find out why you missed the mark on this one. Did anything unexpected happen this week?”
How to hold them accountable
Have a serious conversation with the employee about why the deadline wasn’t met.
Ask questions like “What prevented you from getting the work done? What needs to be done differently? How are you going to avoid this problem in the future?”
Put the weight of the conversation on them to explain what happened. You can give needed input, but try to have the employee think critically about the situation.
Ask the person to increase task tracking or status updates.
If missed deadlines continue to be a problem, examine whether workloads and timeframes are reasonable, or if further training or discipline will be required.
Scenario: Poor work quality
No manager wants to receive poor quality work from a report. This sets off alarms about the employee’s reliability and how they may negatively impact the business.
How to raise the issue
“I’ve noticed that you have been struggling with some of your assignments lately. I wasn’t satisfied with the analysis in this report and there are several typos in the document. Your work needs to meet a high level of professionalism. What can I do to help you succeed going forward?
How to hold them accountable
First, reinforce the expectations and level of quality needed in the employee’s work.
Then, determine if the work quality is poor due to lack of ability or lack of motivation, or something else. Address the underlying issue and set accountability goals for the employee.
For example, if lack of ability or knowledge is the problem, focus on education. Assign the person to work on research to better their understanding or enroll them in a training course. Follow up to see what they have learned and if the quality of their work has improved.
Scenario: Being a bad team player
Not everyone is going to get along all of the time. It’s just a fact of life.
But if you have an employee who generally doesn’t mesh well with the team, it can cause real tension.
How to raise the issue
“I can’t help but notice that there seems to be some awkwardness and tension when we have group meetings or collaborative projects. When I asked you to work with Janelle last week I expected the two of you to come together to present ideas. Instead, it seems like you didn’t communicate much and came up with separate,very different ideas on your own. Can you talk to me about why working with the team seems to be difficult?”
How to hold them accountable
Talk through the times you have observed the employee not working well with others.
Note if their reasoning has to do with controllable factors like aversion to group work, poor communication, etc.
If the problem seems to be more related to personality differences and a general stubbornness on the part of the employee, it is harder to come up with solutions.
You will have to decide whether the negative impacts on the team brought about by the difficult employee are outweighed by the value they provide.
Work with the employee to get to a better place with everyone, through team building or other mediation.
Be frank with them about the importance of the team and how inability to work with others may result in them being transferred or having limited career opportunities.
Scenario: Negative attitude
Those with negative attitudes can lower team morale and cause unnecessary drama in the workplace. It is best to address and attempt to correct negativity.
How to raise the issue
“You seemed to be pretty pessimistic about the updates in this morning’s meeting. I also overheard you airing some complaints to George in the hallway after the meeting. It kind of brings down the entire team when you react negatively to things that we’re discussing. I want to make sure we talk over anything you don’t agree with, but I’d appreciate it if you could be more positive and forward thinking when it comes to change.”
How to hold them accountable
It can be difficult to hold an employee accountable for improving their bad attitude.
Managers must be sensitive to the feelings and concerns of the employee, but be firm in not tolerating inappropriate behavior.
Take note of specific behaviors that convey negativity. For example, if the employee rolls their eyes at a teammate’s ideas or gossips about others behind their back.
Make it a point to immediately call out these actions and call upon the employee to do better. If the negative attitude persists, you will have documentation to justify the appropriate discipline.
Scenario: Lack of initiative
Employees who fail to take initiative only do what is asked of them and are not as productive or helpful as they could be.
How to raise the issue
“This week it seemed like you had more downtime than usual. It’s great that you were able to get all of your tasks done quickly. But I’m hoping that in the future you can take initiative and find other things to contribute to when you find yourself without specific assignments.”
How to hold them accountable
Try to determine why the employee is not taking initiative.
It could be that they are afraid of overstepping or of criticism, or perhaps they would rather avoid added responsibilities.
Emphasize the benefits of taking initiative and point out others who do it well.
Have more frequent check-ins with the employee. Give them the opportunity to bring their ideas forward or to volunteer to work on something.
Scenario: Not speaking up
An employee who never shares their insight needs to be encouraged to actively participate in meetings and discussions.
How to raise the issue
“Natalie, I missed out on hearing your perspective during the brainstorming session. I know that you have great insights because you share them with me in our 1:1s. I’d like you to be more comfortable putting your ideas out there when we come together as a group.
How to hold them accountable
The key to helping a reserved employee speak up more is gentle but persistent encouragement.
Reassure the employee that their thoughts are valued. It takes teamwork to advance objectives, and the team doesn’t function as well if some people hold back.
Hold the employee accountable for participation by directly asking them to give their input during meetings and group gatherings.
If they continue to keep to themselves despite your probing, consider asking them to take a public speaking course or relevant training.
