Accountability enigma

Everybody hails accountability. Ever ybody demands accountability. Everybody talks accountability. Few are able to deal with it. Accountability remains the weakest of Leadership skills. Gallup recently surveyed leaders on how well they believe they are performing across seven core leadership competencies. Managers in a separate sample were also asked to evaluate their leaders.

Results show that both groups identify creating accountability as the lowest-rated competency. Less than half of leaders (only 46 percent) report that they are outstanding or exceptional at creating accountability, defined as holding everyone responsible for delivering exceptional performance. Gallup data further says that managers are even more pessimistic, i.e., only 30 percent say their leaders are good at holding their teams accountable. These figures are shocking. They are telling too.

Without accountability there is no merit. Without merit there is no trust. Without trust there is no engagement. Without engagement there is no growth. That is why most global surveys are reporting an all-time dip in the employee engagement, i.e., over 70 percent employees are disengaged at various levels. While engagement is a frontline topic, accountability, which is a major leadership and organizational growth element, is a back-bencher when it comes to mainstream discourse. I ask leaders/managers why is slack performance or behaviour being allowed? I get answers like “I have tried it many times, it does not work”. My next question is, “when all did you try?” The answer is vague and uncomfortable, “We had our half yearly review, and in most meetings we do hold people responsible”. Another leader would say, “Well, I know he is not good, but I also know he has the backing of the top guy, so it is useless trying to make him accountable”. Another mysterious response is: “He is a senior guy, and keeps bringing in results, so even if his behaviour is a bit off, it’s ok.” These are the mind-sets that abound in organizations’ accountability approach—reluctant, patchy and apologetic. The need to make accountability a core leadership skill requires the following actions:

Accountability Act#1- Set a culture of accountability- Culture makes people follow norms and values. Consider the famous example of Pakistanis breaking queues in the country and standing in queues the minute they land in Dubai. Organizations need to determine what accountability means to them. Does it mean compliance to policies? Does it mean annual appraisals? Does it mean a code of conduct that is non-negotiable? The answer to these questions will determine the type of behaviour people will adopt towards the accountability in the company. Culture is about a set of values that represents the beliefs of the leaders of the company. Leaders have to reflect and carefully choose what values they want people to practice. If trust is a value, does this mean that people will be held accountable regardless of age, position and tenure? If so, are these values just paper values or are they part of organizational behaviour? The leader must create clear expectations and communicate to them top to bottom. Responsibilities need to be stated not just in the job descriptions but in one-to-one meetings and other connect opportunities. Communi cating the expectations with absolute clarity is key to making people aware and behave in the manner required.

Accountability Act#2- Develop systems of accountability- A culture that embodies the right norms and values but does not have the right systems to ensure adherence is going to be inconsistent and unreliable. Thus proper documentations, processes and systems are required to ensure the scale-up of the desired behaviours. In Pakistan while the rest of the road traffic is dangerously uncontrollable, the Lahore-Islamabad motorway serves as an example of the system creating a culture of its own. The same cars that are speeding up on other roads immediately switch to the speeds and rules required on the motorway. The system of tracking, photographing and penalizing cars violating the rules has ensured that regardless of what happens around, the motorway has a culture of its own. Accountability with systems and systems with indiscriminate enforcement are key to creating a mass buy-in for being asked and being held for doing or not doing.

Accountability Act#3- Train and develop skills for holding people accountable- This is a major reason why accountability becomes an elephant in the room. Leaders and managers have no clue to how to conduct accountability conversations or sessions. These sessions are perceived as the performance beat-up class. The numbers are the main determinant of the conversations. The drumming-down style of hammering the gaps on employees, and the employees responding in scribbling retaliations make these sessions the most dreaded meet-ups. Leaders need to go through training of how to hold regular sessions. What all are part of these meet-ups. They need to be trained on how to navigate difficult conversations. The real practice should be on how to convert the difficulty into opportunity for employees.

Accountability Act#4- Measure the progress- The most important part is the accountability of the accountability process. The process needs to be reviewed through feedback and results. The most commonly used is the engagement survey. Within the engagement survey, there should be a separate section for accountability that covers areas like ‘does the leadership walk the talk?’ Are the values of the company part of the performance appraisal? Is the accountability across-the-board? These results should be treated with as much strategic importance as the profit-and-loss statements. Losses of scores in these areas should be addressed with urgency and importance.

Accountability should be for all. The best way to let it spread all across is by starting from the top. You may hold a hundred people accountable at the bottom; it may not have the same impact as holding one top person accountable. There are many cases these days when employees who leave complain about harassment, etc., by top people of the company. They say they complained but nothing happened. The social media splashes these stories. At one of the companies, they asked the top guy to be off till the enquiry took place. The enquiry was held and with proof he was asked to leave. This sent a message all the way that nobody was above the red line. Leadership without accountability is just a rank or designation. As they say, “If leadership is immune from accountability, it’s not leadership, it’s entitlement”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026