A recent interview conducted by Adam Bryant with Lynn Blodgett, President and CEO of ACS revealed Lynn’s innovative insights into creating employee accountability by building incentive programs that are as self-policing as they are rewarding. Lynn treats team members at ACS as entrepreneurs and notes the importance of having employees at all levels feel “accountable for profits, revenue, and customer satisfaction.”
Unless you are an employee on commission, salaried and hourly employees know all to well that it doesn’t matter how hard or how little you work – the pay will always be the same.
So how do you build accountability and encourage stellar performance by all employees? By creating incentive programs, clearly defining goals, and giving staff the tools and resources to achieve those predetermined goals, you build an entrepreneurial spirit and that is accountable and measurable.
Boosting employee loyalty and commitment is critical for an organization as a whole. With high employee retention and accountability, your organization doesn’t go through the chaos, “storming”, and expense triggered by a high turnover rate. One clear way to boost an employee’s loyalty and long-term commitment is by treating them as an entrepreneur within your own organization. Encourage innovation, seek insights into aligning processes, and reward collaborative behavior.
When employees are accountable, they discover previously undiscovered leadership skills in themselves, promote their own goal setting processes, and increase employee “buy-in” to the organization. Whether you are a “mom and pop” organization or you employ thousands, these three accountability tips will increase productivity, profits, and employee loyalty.
Tip #1
With a team incentive program in place, employees will self-motivate to reach their highest potential and accountability. As with a pay for performance program, teams are compensated by reaching or exceeding the objectives predetermined for them. Examples of measurable performance-based incentive objectives include:
Increasing company wide profits
Increasing or expanding existing market share
Acquiring new customers
Improving Customer Service and customer retention
Increasing employee or departmental productivity
Improving organizational processes
Reining in company costs
Measurable performance-based incentive plans give employees control, holds them accountable for performance, and provides them with control over their resources to complete the goal and create an innate entrepreneurial drive. Other financial incentives include: employee stock options, merit pay, profit sharing, commissions, and bonuses.
Tip#2
Small gestures reap “big” rewards with employee recognition programs. Employees are greatly influenced by even the smallest of gestures – like writing a note that says “great job.” To be recognized for a contribution within an organization goes a long way – especially if the employee is part of a large organization where the feeling of just being a number can be prevalent. On a larger scale, recognition by receiving an award or company apparel can have a big impact on building accountability and loyalty in an employee.
Tip #3:
Employees feel accountable and are committed to organizations that involve them in some part of the hiring process. Make sure the new hire works in cohesion with your existing staff or you could risk conflict and “storming” within your gelled team. As mentioned in last week’s blog, when team members are directly involved with some part of the hiring process, they are more willing to mentor, be accountable for team success and ultimately more loyal, kind and respectful to the new employee.
Employee incentives and accountability build collaboration and cohesion among team members. With initiating employee accountability programs, which include incentive pay programs, organizations minimize the risk of employees being content to be “C performers” and sticking out a job just for the paycheck. Creating “A performers” insures the success and profitably of an organization while retaining top talent.
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Thanks for mentioning that incentive programs can help promote self-motivation in your employees. My uncle would like to open a paper company, but he doesn’t have a lot of experience when it comes to sales, and he needs to make his job appear more desirable to potential employees. Maybe an incentive program will attract more employees to his business.
A recent interview conducted by Adam Bryant with Lynn Blodgett, President and CEO of ACS revealed Lynn’s innovative insights into creating employee accountability by building incentive programs that are as self-policing as they are rewarding. Lynn treats team members at ACS as entrepreneurs and notes the importance of having employees at all levels feel “accountable for profits, revenue, and customer satisfaction.”
Thanks for mentioning that incentive programs can help promote self-motivation in your employees. My uncle would like to open a paper company, but he doesn’t have a lot of experience when it comes to sales, and he needs to make his job appear more desirable to potential employees. Maybe an incentive program will attract more employees to his business.
Employee accountability is a must in each worker, although unique reward system help boost the motivation of an individual on their career.
We agree, Ron. Accountability tends to plummet based on the level of employee engagement, too. Recognition, of course, is very important.