Workplace Accountability

By Craig Dowden

Accountability is an important feature of any workplace. When employees are able to take responsibility for their work, they feel empowered by their decision-making and engaged within their organization. Similarly, when supportive employers and team leaders are able to hold their team accountable for what they do, the result is often a committed team that leaders can rely on.

However, “with great power comes great responsibility”, for employees and for their leaders. Although employees experience greater satisfaction with their jobs in high accountability environments, they also experience higher levels of job strain. This makes intuitive sense because now employees feel (and are) directly responsible for the outcomes of their actions. This allows them to feel “like an owner” by taking ownership of a decision and accepting the consequences for their actions when the stakes are high.

As a result of this dichotomy, leaders who are trying to increase accountability within their team must consider whether their leadership style is helping or hindering their efforts. In fact, research has shown that the type and quality of leadership received under these circumstances is critical to how this enhanced accountability is received.

In an ambitious experiment, researchers were interested in how the quality of leadership during times of heightened accountability would affect the outcomes for employees. Researchers administered surveys to almost 400 full-time employees who were asked a series of questions about their level of accountability (e.g., “I am held very accountable at work” and “The jobs of many people at work depend on my success or failures”), job tension (e.g., “I work under a great deal of tension”), job satisfaction (e.g., “Most days I am enthusiastic about my work”), and emotional exhaustion (e.g., “I feel used up at the end of each workday”).

When it came to quality of leadership, however, the researchers were specifically interested in the level of abusive supervision (e.g., “My supervisor ridicules me;” “My supervisor tells me my thoughts and feelings are stupid,” etc.). They believed that leaders who exhibited more abusive behaviours would experience much different outcomes from their employees in times of increased accountability than those who did not.

When examining the results, this is precisely what they found. When faced with increases in accountability, environments with abusive leaders experienced significant negative impacts on various outcomes, including job satisfaction, tension, and burnout. In work environments where supervisors were not abusive, increased accountability actually lead to better outcomes (e.g., reduced tension and burnout, and high levels of job satisfaction).

The researchers point out that this finding has very important implications for our organizational practices. Increasing accountability may be seen at the heart of employee empowerment and engagement, but this strategy can go off the rails without the right leadership. Organizations would be wise to consider the style of leaders who will be leading these groups before introducing measures to increase accountability within their departments.

Encouraging employees to take responsibility for their decisions and actions, and to accept the associated outcomes, can result in extensive benefits for organizations. However, it is crucial that such circumstances take place in a supportive environment.  When this has been achieved, an organization can introduce greater accountability measures and benefit from the increased empowerment and autonomy it provides. Cultivating this type of environment will decrease tension and emotional exhaustion, and will allow employees to flourish while facilitating greater satisfaction in the workplace.

Craig Dowden Ph.D., is a managing director of SPB Organizational Psychology Inc. SPB supports their clients across the country by providing industry-leading consulting services in the areas of assessing, developing, and engaging talent. Craig can be contacted at cdowden@spb.ca.

How to Participate Effectively in a Workplace Environment


Job security is a thing of the past, and competition for the jobs spared by the economic recession is fierce. You must take every opportunity to perform well and succeed in your job. Achieving success in a job can take a few years, so hunker down and expect to incubate and absorb knowledge, but remain positive and keep up your energy. The key to participating effectively in a workplace environment is by providing value in every aspect of your work.


Solve problems. In whatever your capacity is within an organization, continually look for ways to save your company time and money. Demonstrate how policies and procedures could be improved. This is how you show value to your company. Also, be a student of the business. Understand how it makes money and how your role contributes to its profitability.


Perform your job to the best of your ability. You can't get ahead if you don't do the job you were hired to do. Your evaluation will be based on whether you met the expectations outlined in your job description, so don't spend too much time outside those parameters in the early days.


Learn the office culture and unwritten rules. They don't teach this in school, but you must be savvy to the inner workings of your department and the company as a whole. For example, the rules of dress, how to get face time with senior management and the importance of participating in after-work activities are all part of the work game that you must learn in order to be effective.


Ask questions. Request feedback often, at least more often than your annual review. Your inquisitive nature will get the attention of your boss, and it may make your name rise to top of the list come promotion time. In the worst-case scenario, asking questions simply gets you answers about how to perform your job more effectively. Ask for more responsibility. Never be afraid to ask for the tools you need to do your job, including additional training.


Admit mistakes. Then learn from them. Nothing is worse than an arrogant know-it-all on the job, especially one who blames others for his failings. Confessing your missteps is a positive step and a sign of your maturity.


Learn continually. Never be satisfied with where you are. Get additional education and certifications if appropriate. Sponge the knowledge of your senior executives. In addition, be flexible to change. Changes in the business and the economy could drastically affect what your job looks like at any time.


Set boundaries. With technologies facilitating our being connected at all times, it is easy to be on duty 24-7. Don't let that happen. Draw a firm line between your personal life and your work life. At work, take breaks to renew yourself. Don't eat lunch at your desk unless it is absolutely necessary.

WORKFORCE PARTICIPATION AND SOCIAL INCLUSION

WORKFORCE PARTICIPATION AND SOCIAL INCLUSION


There are powerful equity as well as economic motivations for increasing workforce participation and providing pathways into work for people who are disadvantaged in the open labour market. Social exclusion can be defined as the interconnection and presence of employment deprivation (unemployment and non-participation in the labour market), economic deprivation (poverty) and socio-cultural deprivation (social isolation). Social Inclusion aims at building an understanding of disadvantage based on people's ability to participate in society, rather than simply financial measures such as the level of income or expenditure. As such the concept of social inclusion is a multidimensional conceptualisation of poverty and disadvantage that promises to take both social and economic dimensions into account and to focus not only on unequal outcomes, but on the processes that creates them. The focus of social inclusion is full participation in all aspects of social life and is concerned about any rupture of the social bond which prevents this occurring, such as unemployment, segregation, marginalisation, and discrimination. However, current research has highlighted the need to also consider the exclusionary potential of certain types of low paid or low quality work. The WRC has examined a range of issues associated with the dynamics of workforce participation as a key force in shaping the nature of social inclusion in contemporary Australia. Our most recent work has examined the particular challenges associated with boosting levels of workforce participation amongst indigenous Australians and the role of vocational education and training (VET) in boost labour supply.

Importance of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

 December 10, 2013 by Laran Joseph

 

Ethics are, at their essence, moral judgements about what is right and what is wrong.  In a business sense, these ethics are decided upon and formed by each company and underpin the decisions that anyone in the business makes.  The decision to behave ethically as one individual to another is easy for any decent moral human being, but it is easy to forget the impact a large, faceless business can have on the world.  Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility are all about bearing in mind the full weight of any corporate decision.

 

 

The Importance of Business Ethics to a Company:

 

Working as an ethical business has many benefits, not least of which is the ability to attract and keep investors, employees and customers.  Knowing that the company they deal with has stated their morals and made a promise to work in an ethical and responsible manner allows investors peace of mind that their money is being used in a way that aligns with their own moral standing. When working for a company with strong Business Ethics, employees are comfortable in the knowledge that they are not by their own action or inaction allowing unethical practices to continue.  Customers are at ease buying products or services from a company they know to source their materials and labour in an ethical and responsible way.

 

 

For example, a coffee company which states all their raw beans are picked from sustainable plants where no deforestation has occurred, by people paid a good living wage, in an area where investments have been made to ensure that producing the coffee for a foreign market has not damaged the local way of life, will find that all these elements of their buying strategy become themselves a selling point for their final product.

 

A company which sets out to work within its own ethical guidelines is also less at risk of being fined for poor behaviour, and less likely to find themselves in breach of one of the multitude of laws concerning required behaviour – for example, laws around payments to corrupt regimes, or environmental practice policies. The whole company can be fined, the directors can be fined, and individual employees can be fined if the responsibility for an infraction falls on their shoulders.

 

 

Reputation is one of a company’s most important assets, and one of the most difficult to rebuild should it be lost.  Upholding the promises it has made is crucial to maintaining that reputation.

 

 

Joseph, L. (2013, Dec). Retrieved 2014, from Importance of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: https://www.udemy.com/blog/importance-of-business-ethics/

EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS

Employability skills are general skills that are needed to get most jobs, but they also help you to stay in a job and work your way to the top.
While there will always be some job-specific skills that an employer is looking for, most employers will also want you to have some general skills. Chances are you'll be asked questions about both job-specific skills and general employability skills in a job interview. .
Generally speaking, there are eight skills that employers want you to have whatever industry you’re working in.

1. Communication

You have to be a good talker and maybe also a good writer (depending on the job). You have to be confident about speaking to people face-to-face or over the phone, and you may also need to write well enough to be understood in emails and memos.

2. Teamwork

You have to be good at working with people. This means both your workmates and other people that come into contact with your organisation.

3. Problem Solving

You have to be able to find solutions when faced with difficulties or set-backs. Even if you can’t think of a solution straight away, you need to have a logical process for figuring things out.

4. Initiative and Enterprise

You need to be able to think about the bigger picture and the future of the organisation you’re working for. Employers will value your ability to think creatively and to make improvements to the way things are.

5. Planning and Organising

You need to be able to organise yourself, plan project timelines and meet deadlines.

6. Self-Management

You need to be able to get on with your work without someone having to check up on you every five minutes. You should also be able to stay on top of your own deadlines and be able to delegate tasks to make sure things get done on time.

7. Learning

You should want to learn new things and be able to pick them up quickly. There are likely to be some changes to your job and to the structure of your workplace while you are working there. You should be able to take on new tasks and to meet the needs of a changing workplace.

8. Technology

Most jobs these days require you to use some form of technology.  You'll need to know how to use a computer and how to touch-type for most office jobs, but there are other types of technology that you might need to be familiar with depending on the industry you work in.

Victoria, S. G. (2014). Jobs. Retrieved 09 2014, from Youth Central: http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/jobs-careers/planning-your-career/employability-skills

Running Effective Meetings

Many people are hired, promoted, or elected into leadership positions without receiving any formal training or education on how to run an effective meeting. But the higher you go in an organization the more meetings you are responsible for!


There are a lot of good reasons for meetings, including providing an opportunity to:
Share ideas, information and preferences.
Participate in the decision-making process and provide input into decisions.
Be identified as able and willing to “champion” initiatives once decisions are made.
Come together as part of a larger whole within the organization.


But time, today more than ever, is a critical resource; so it makes sense to become a master of effective meetings rather than suffer through bad ones.

What Makes a Meeting Effective?

According to one survey of 635 executives, there are some distinct characteristics that describe good meetings. The following 7 were identified by respondents as the qualities they most want to see in meetings.
Active participation (88%)
Meeting purpose defined in advance (66%)
Each item on the agenda addressed (62%)
Follow-up actions and responsibility assigned (59%)
Discussions recorded (47%)
All (and only) essential personnel invited (46%)
Agenda published in advance (36%)


Unfortunately, respondents in the same survey of executives indicated that most meetings:
Drift from the subject (83%)
Show poor preparation (77%)
Are of questionable effectiveness (74%)
Suffer from lack of listening (68%)
Suffer from verbose participants (62%)
Run too long (60%)
Lack participation (51%)


Effective meetings don’t just happen. They require deliberate planning and must be conducted effectively and efficiently. The person responsible for making that happen is the person who called the meeting (e.g. project manager, chairperson, manager, CEO, etc.). If that person is you, there are a number of things you can do to ensure that your meetings offer a positive forum for exchange of ideas and information, rather than a dreaded workplace evil.

Before the Meeting

Preparation is one of the most important contributing factors to an effective meeting. Prepare your materials, your thoughts and even the physical (or virtual) space in advance of your meeting for optimal results. Take the time to provide meeting participants with the information they need to plan for and participate in the meeting. For example, think about who needs to attend the meeting. If you are unsure about certain people, speak to them in advance and let them determine whether they wish to participate. Once you know who to invite, develop and share the following in advance of your meeting:
The purpose of the meeting.
Objectives for the meeting.
A written agenda.


Make sure the space where you plan to hold you meeting is appropriate for the style and duration of the meeting and can comfortably accommodate all participants. Here are a few things to keep in mind when selecting your meeting room:
Participants must be able to easily see one another.
The room should be a comfortable temperature.
Make sure there is adequate space for day-planners, notebooks, or laptops.
Participants should be able to easily hear the discussion.

During the Meeting

Having taken the time to prepare for your meeting, there are also a number of things you can do during the meeting to increase its effectiveness. Some of the most basic include:
Start on time.
Review meeting logistics.
Stick to the agenda.
Develop action steps, assign responsibility.
Summarize and document meeting outcomes.
Finish on time (and make it clear that you’re finished).


Other important elements of successful meetings include how and how much people interact and participate, as well as the quality of the meeting output and whether it supports follow through.


Group Dynamics: One of the most important elements in assuring an effective meeting is handling group dynamics well. Participation is desired, but not one-sided participation. Be prepared to balance participation between quiet, vocally dominant and negative participants. Be sure to allow sufficient time for process and group development and redirect any unproductive behavior or commentary. Finally, avoid a rapid-fire process that may move the meeting along more quickly, but leave some people wondering 'what happened?" when the meeting is over.


Record Keeping: There are a number of ways to ensure that meeting discussions are captured, from making an audio recording of the entire meeting, to assigning yourself or someone else to take general meeting notes. Be sure that any note-taker understands what information must be captured (e.g. the gist of discussions, exact wording of proposals or motions and the names of those putting them forward, names of those responsible for future actions, etc.). Decide on your approach and what you want to record before the meeting and then let everyone know when the meeting starts that notes or audio file will be distributed after the meeting. There is no point in having everyone present try to capture the discussion when they should be participating in it.

After the Meeting

Write up minutes or meeting notes as soon as possible after the meeting. Distribute written notes or audio files to all participants and other interested parties, drawing attention to any action items which need follow through. Finally, ask meeting participants whether they found the meeting effective and how you can further improve future meetings.




References:


1. Smart, B.D. Achieving Effective Meetings – Not Easy But Possible.

Workplace Training and Education - Training Adults

In addition to taking adult education and adult learning theory into account when training employees, it’s also important to use delivery modes that support the way adults learn. The following are some approaches that enable adults to learn in ways they find most effective.
Just-in-time (self-directed)


Methods that allow employees to access the information they need as they need it allow them to exercise ownership over the learning process and immediately tie learning to practical application. These might include context sensitive help, embedded links to video tutorials or brief online training modules supplemented by discussion forums and social networks. The key to making this type of training effective is to have it readily available to the employee so it can be accessed “on demand” and to curate information as necessary to focus knowledge exploration. Just-in-time training snippets should also be limited to bite-sized chunks with the ability to access additional information as needed.
eLearning


The accessibility and potential for self-direction offered by eLearning can be a valuable asset when time and budget constraints impact workplace learning activities. Building better retrieval practice into eLearning (rather than the more typical recognition practice provided by multiple choice) and increasing the level of interaction will improve its effectiveness.



Collaborative Learning

Using online technologies that enable collaboration and rapid knowledge sharing, even among remote team members, can provide valuable learning opportunities for employees. Online group work is increasingly common and may provide a cost effective alternative for more traditional group-based learning.

Praxis


Praxis is Greek for action with reflection. The idea of doing while learning is a widely recommended approach to teaching adults. One way to 'do' while learning is to set skills in the context of problem solving; another is to provide experiences for the learners and allow them to construct their own knowledge. This type of learning is especially valuable for management and leadership training, development of innovation skills and for developing strategic and critical thinking abilities.

Groupwork


Traditional, face-to-face groupwork supports greater social integration within the learning environment, which has been shown to positively affect retention. Small groups of peers at the same level of career maturity create a social environment that motivates adult learners to persist.

Case Study

Incorporating real (or realistic) scenarios (cases) into problem solving activities engages adult learners by tapping into the natural human fascination with story-telling and by demonstrating relevance to learners’ current professional and personal challenges.

Combined Learning Modes

Groupwork based on the analysis of case studies and tied to real world problems that participants must resolve together combines the benefits of the preceding three training modes and can lead to transformative learning experiences.

Facilitated Discussion

Facilitated discussions encourage adult learners to participate more fully in large group discussions as the facilitator can draw out reluctant speakers and gently restrain more verbal participants providing more balanced participation.

Dialogue


Based on Paulo Friere’s principles of popular education and the subsequent work of Dr. Jane Vella (both of which build on the Socratic Method), dialogue education poses questions that learners reflect on and consider within the context of their personal experience and knowledge. Learners are invited to actively engage with the content being learned rather than being dependent on the educator for learning.

Spaced Lecture

Spaced lecture involves breaking information up into smaller portions and incorporating pauses that allow learners to review, reflect, discuss and summarize material covered to that point. When there is a large volume of information has to be shared, a spaced lecture approach ensures that participants remain engaged in the learning process.


There is no question that employee development provides value to both employers and employees. Effective employee development involves a progressive approach workplace training and education. It may incorporate education outside the workplace or even personal educational goals. In order for both employers and employees to reap the benefits of these programs, they must be developed and delivered in ways that work for adult learners and they must result in a successful transfer of knowledge and skills that are retained and subsequently applied.