Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Accountability
Article | Accountability Insights
Your Question:
“How do you convince senior management in an organization to start encouraging people to take more accountability and stop assuming that people won’t do the right thing unless someone holds their feet to the fire?”
Our Answer:
Top-down accountability, a way of life in many organizational cultures, has fueled the crisis of accountability we see in the world today. Why? When the Accountability Current flows in a top-down direction (i.e., top-down accountability), the organization fails to engender in its people the necessary ownership and personal investment to achieve sustainable results in today’s complex, ever-changing business environment. In sharp contrast, when the Accountability Current flows in a bottom-up direction (i.e., bottom-up accountability), people take greater accountability for achieving results and proactively report to their boss, their teammates, and their peers. Yes, bottom-up accountability requires a greater up-front investment in time and effort than top-down accountability requires, but it pays off substantially in the long run. People begin taking charge of tasks and overcoming obstacles, without waiting for someone else to do something. Follow-up becomes a natural, ingrained habit. And senior management expends far less time and energy sustaining a results-producing effort throughout the organization.
Which way does accountability flow in your organization? To make a quick assessment of your organization’s Accountability Current, answer True or False to the following statements:
| 1. | People in your organization do not report on their progress unless they are asked to do so. | |
| 2. | Your organization focuses on “holding people accountable” as opposed to getting people to “take accountability.” | |
| 3. | When problems arise in your organization, people do not move forward without involvement from their direct supervisors. | |
| 4. | Most people in your organization do not feel empowered to do whatever it takes to make things happen. | |
| 5. | Management in your organization must constantly follow-up on everyone to make sure the right things happen. |
If you answered True to three or more of the above questions, your organization’s Accountability Current most likely flows in a top-down direction. This means that your organization is probably working harder than necessary to obtain the benefits of accountability and will achieve “more for less” by changing the flow’s direction.
For more information on how to develop bottom-up accountability in your organization, go to www.partnersinleadership.com. Learn how greater accountability can help your organization increase revenue and profitability, reduce costs, and implement key initiatives.