Hold Employees Accountable: Effective Tips for Providing Constructive Feedback

December 19, 2024 12:00

Realizing your team’s performance doesn’t meet your standards is challenging. But addressing it is another issue entirely.

Unfortunately, holding employees accountable is where most leaders fail. Whether it’s keeping them responsible for:

👉 Attendance
👉 Safety
👉 Results
👉 Performance
👉 Ethical standards

Many managers struggle to give feedback to their staff.

While taking responsibility for tasks seems like common sense, the truth is common sense is different for every individual. 💭

Your perspective of what’s “normal” is based on your life experiences, and the same can be true about your team.

Rather than relying on what you think your employees should do, the best route is to communicate with teammates (even if it feels uncomfortable!).

If you’re struggling to hold employees accountable in the workplace, check out our interview with Indie Ops Network™ member Xandra!

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How to Hold Someone Accountable at Work

Managing a small team requires open communication. But sometimes, holding employees accountable for results and offering constructive criticism can feel like a gray area. 🤔

Before diving into how to practice accountability, let’s define accountability and highlight why it benefits small businesses.

What is Accountability in the Workplace?

Employee accountability involves team members taking ownership of their responsibilities, like daily tasks and decisions. 📋

Holding staff accountable is especially crucial for small teams, where roles may extend to more duties than the average employee.

Why is it Necessary to Hold Employees Accountable?

Infusing accountability in your work culture allows your business to:

✅ Strengthen work performance and output
✅ Identify and reduce recurring work mistakes
✅ Promote autonomy and individual responsibility
✅ Develop trust among team members
✅ Create a healthy and open work environment

What Happens When There’s Zero Accountability?

When no one is held responsible for their actions or inactions, your business runs the risk of the following:

❌ Unclear expectations and confusion over responsibilities
❌ Lower quality results and workflow issues
❌ Lack of support, low morale, and high turnover rates
❌ Less employee initiative and lower productivity
❌ Poor work culture and business reputation

And the list goes on… Sounds like a nightmare, doesn’t it? 😱

Accountability allows you to maintain a strong team where every employee knows what they need to do to achieve the desired outcome for the business.

Rather than putting out fires constantly, you can focus on being proactive and getting ahead of the curve. We talk about how to be proactive with your small business here.

What Are the Benefits of Accountability for a Small Business?

While holding staff accountable for performance may feel daunting, the pros outweigh the cons. For instance, when you communicate with your team from the very beginning, you can set clear expectations and build trust. 👐

Giving positive and constructive feedback also allows room for employees to grow and improve their performance over time.

Think of your gentle nudges as encouragement towards their milestones. After all, you’re rooting for them to succeed! 💪

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For Managers Holding Employees Accountable

Wondering how to create a work culture where accountability is the norm? We’ve got you covered!

💬 Be clear about your expectations, from the hiring and onboarding process to daily operations. For example, you can discuss your employee’s 90-day milestones and what you’d like them to accomplish within a specific timeframe.

💌 Share positive and negative feedback with your staff. Connect with your team regularly. If they’re hitting their quota, send them an appreciation email. If they’re struggling with their tasks, find out how you can help them get back on track.

🔥 Accept work mistakes. Hiccups and issues are bound to happen. The best way to work through them is to acknowledge them and create a prevention plan for the future.

📈 Track behaviors and progress. Use your software of choice to assess time tracking, attendance, and overall performance. In a recent audit, Layla reassessed the team’s priorities by looking at time trackers on ClickUp.

✋ Be an example in the workplace. Beyond communicating your expectations, show your employees how you want them to approach their daily responsibilities.

A Candid Discussion: Hold Employees Accountable (00:46)

Xandra begins the conversation by pointing out that everyone comes into a work situation with different life experiences, affecting how they navigate their role.

Most humans don’t know how to communicate effectively with team members and offer input without hurting feelings. As a result, some managers may worry about the repercussions of being honest, like an employee quitting. 😰

But this concern is a personal projection of what could happen. Fear is taking the steering wheel.

While you may want to avoid sensitive conversations, you can’t let personal objections get in the way of making necessary improvements for the company.

💣 Truth bomb: People want to know if they’re doing a good or bad job. That’s why feedback is essential!

If you want to hold employees accountable, you must learn how to give feedback to your staff in a meaningful and timely way. Xandra outlines 4 ways to achieve this:

✔️ Build professional relationships
✔️ Communicate clearly
✔️ Provide consistent feedback
✔️ Be direct

How to Give Constructive Feedback to Staff (03:09)

As the manager, you likely have a relationship with each team member, allowing you to check in with them when necessary. Here’s an example of what you can say:

💬 “Hey [employee name], I noticed that when you [describe action], this is the result. In the future, please do this instead. Is this clear?” 💬

That’s a straightforward way of addressing an issue. But the next question is when you should reach out about your concerns.

Xandra emphasizes taking action immediately. If you come across any recurring problems, don’t wait. 🏃‍♀️

She also recommends scheduling a call versus dropping a comment about the behavior in your project management software.

How to Communicate Effectively With Team Members Remotely (04:14)

In remote settings, there are a few ways to hold employees accountable:

- Positive feedback: Praise is great for Slack, emails, and voice memos
- Negative feedback: Critical conversations work best with face-to-face interactions or over the phone

Virtual meetings are very informative because you can gauge your colleague’s physical reactions to your input and see if they understand what you need from them. 💻

For instance, if you mention the mistake for the first time and they’re apologetic, you can start a dialogue about the next steps.

Let’s switch gears and consider another scenario: What happens if you set expectations, provide feedback, and hold employees accountable, but the issue persists? 👇

It’s time to introduce the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)!

Take Disciplinary Action With a Performance Improvement Plan (06:28)

A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) outlines performance expectations with time obligations. Businesses typically implement a PIP as a last resort after repeated efforts to correct behaviors.

📚 Learned a new term today? Check out our business procedure glossary to add more vocabulary to your toolkit!

If you need help with this conversation, consider using this example as a guide:

💬 “I want to let you know that we’re putting you on an improvement plan. We want to help you succeed in this role but to do that; we must work together to figure out what’s missing. Because this issue is a core component of the job.” 💬

If you’re considering using these examples to support your discussions, modify the language to accommodate the situation.

How you hold employees accountable for results may also depend on the timeline. For instance, maybe you’re giving them a year to learn a new software or a few months to master Excel basics.

💬 Be specific with your expectations. For example, you must master these 5 skills in 3 months.

🔎 Then, monitor their progress weekly. If you schedule 30-minute check-ins, you can ask how they’re doing and if they require additional support.

It all goes back to the trust component and the relationship you’ve built with the person.

💡 Love this insightful discussion? You can watch the full 45-minute interview with Xandra by joining our Indie Ops Network™!

Final Tips: Communicate With Teammates About Ownership (10:38)

Xandra expresses the importance of having employees take ownership of their work. When you delegate an area of your business to someone, they should treat it like they’re paying a mortgage. 💸

For example, if you have to pay the mortgage, but the bank’s website is down, you must find another solution. Similarly, when someone runs into a barrier at work, they should try to find a way to resolve it.

Conveying the importance of ownership from the beginning is essential. Regularly giving positive feedback is also crucial to encourage employees to excel. 😊

👉 Bottom line: Get in the habit of offering constructive and positive feedback until it becomes natural for you.

Work Culture Shift: Hold Employees Accountable

Holding employees accountable is where most leaders fail, but you don’t have to fall into this category. Instead, you can learn how to give feedback to your team members and actively communicate to ensure everyone works towards the same goals.

Ultimately, you want every employee to succeed. After all, you’ve already invested so much time and money into their training. Weighing in from time to time is just an extra step.

🚨 Help! What do I do if an employee isn’t a good fit? No need to sound the alarm. If you want to prepare for the worst-case scenario, read this post to learn how to fire an employee with dignity.

Special thanks to our guest, Xandra Pendergrass. She’s an Operations Strategy and Leadership Consultant, supporting companies in the financial services industries and helping build a culture around effective management.

Are you responsible for a team of 3-30? Do you need extra support from a community of seasoned operators?

If so, join the Indie Ops Network™ to watch our entire catalog of interviews, receive vetted recommendations, use process improvement plans, and so much more.

Let’s keep our teams on track and enjoy the process!

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