As a major component in the base foundation of a business model, accountability is one of the most under used attributes. All interaction of employees, vendors and customers need to have interaction with some form or level of accountability.
Our business systems need to have three parts intertwined in all of its policies and procedures: Integrity, Accountability & Grace.
Integrity (Company Value System): These are the principles you must be guided by:
Value of people
Purpose
Honesty
Patience
Kindness
Self-control
Gentleness
Teachable
Competence
Quality
Open communication
Accountability:
Placement of responsibility:
Employer and Employee relationships:
Employers responsibility to provide an environment for employee success
Employees’ responsibility in performing to expected levels in order to maintain employment.
Company and Vendor relationships:
Company’s’ responsibility to interact with fairness, integrity and honesty.
Vendors’ responsibility to perform to levels of expectation in order to maintain use as a vendor by this company.
Company and Customer relationships:
Company’s responsibility to interact with fairness, integrity and honesty.
Customers’ responsibility to perform to levels of expectation in order to maintain use as a customer by this company.
Tracking System in place that monitors each employee, vendor and customer performance levels compared to real world forecast & goals.
Employees: All employee interaction from time of hire, new training and forward moving business performance goals implemented should all be in written form and reviewed with each employee. At the bottom of each written document the following should be reviewed and then signed by both the employee and employer:
I have read and understand all of the above expectations. I, realize it is up to me, the employee, to perform to expectations in order to maintain employment.
____________________ ___________
Employee Date
______________________ __________
Owner or Manager Date
Vendors: All vendors need to have a written documentation of levels of expectations based on the products and/or services provided. This will need to be created by you for you and your particular vendor. Most vendors want you to sign an agreement so they can hold you accountable. This needs to be reciprocated back to them as well.
Customers: All customers need to be held accountable, by us making ourselves accountable to them, from clear documentation of what products or services we are going to provide and at what price and when such products or services will be provided.
*We do not move forward without clear communication of price and time by having customer signatures, initials, E-mail or fax confirmation as well as possible verbal recorded authorizations.
Grace: All involved in this business world revolves around human interaction and with that brings into account human error, judgment, existing levels of knowledge that may be lower than performance levels require, emotional stability issues… the list of the “improvement areas” of the human condition could go on!
The point here is that everyone makes mistakes, poor judgments and poor self esteem attitudes and with that, lower than expected or acceptable performance levels. So what do we do with this?
We “value” the person(s) involved and truly desire for them to move forward and achieve success and grow. We provide a reasonable amount of coaching, mentoring and leadership to get them to success levels.
We “forgive” their short comings and provide the above mentioned accountable environment where they can grow.
We “release” those employees, vendors or customers who will not bend or move to a new level of success whether it is in attitude or expected performance levels. It is NOT gracious to “hang on to” underperformers after reasonable levels of investments of time, training, education and coaching has not produced the results needed. You would be not only doing the employee, vendor or customer a disservice, but yourself, other employees and your financial and emotional bank accounts as well!
This article was written by Dave Schedin, founder of CompuTrek Management Systems and Associate of HumanPoint. Dave has over 27 years of experience in the automotive field. He works with leaders in automotive to implement systems for increasing production and marketing results in additional profits as well as high customer satisfaction and retention. He lives in Gig Harbor, Washington with his wife Merrillee.
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