1. Instill a Mindset of Personal Accountability
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Train and encourage personal accountability to increase engagement and, ultimately, productivity and profitability.

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Walk away from this blueprint with: SAMPLE Situation
Driving personal accountability in our teams and in ourselves leads to greater individual, team, and organizational performance. It can also boost creativity and innovation, strengthen manager/employee relationships, increase employee engagement, and reduce turnover.
In order for a culture of personal accountability to exist, employees need to feel in control of their actions and clearly understand the expectations and scope of their roles.
Resolution
To address this deficit, managers must understand how and when to encourage autonomy and how to empower their employees to take success into their hands. Thorough manager training can and should provide this type of information.
McLean & Company’s accountability training will:
Articulate why personal accountability matters.
Enable managers to identify strengths and opportunities related to accountability and set relevant goals.
Cover the various elements of an accountability mindset.
Guide managers through instilling a mindset of accountability.
Plan post-training initiatives to reinforce training concepts.
Complication
Despite its benefits, managers struggle to instill a mindset of accountability in their employees, likely because of two issues that require attention: lack of knowledge and/or lack of will.
The understanding that accountability improves employee performance, development, interpersonal relationships, trust, empowerment, and engagement. This holds true regardless of level, business function, or individual personality type.
The knowledge that accountability is naturally associated with consequences, both positive and negative, but should be an avenue to foster positive relationships, develop key competencies, and learn from mistakes.
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3. GUIDED IMPLEMENTATION
MCLEAN & COMPANY OFFERS VARIOUS LEVELS OF SUPPORT TO BEST SUIT YOUR NEEDS
CONSULTING
“Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”
GUIDED IMPLEMENTATION
“Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”
DIY
TOOLKIT
“Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”
WORKSHOP
“We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”
Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options
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4. You’ve built trust and empowered employees – now foster an accountability mindset
Empowerment
Trust
Accountability
1. Importance of Personal Accountability
2. Adopt a Mindset of Accountability
3. Manage Accountability Within Your Team
Trust is the foundation of accountability; if you don’t yet have strong organizational trust, start there.
Need help building trust? See McLean & Company’s research: Train Leaders to Adopt an Informed Trust Approach to Drive Employee Engagement and Business Results.
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5. SAMPLE SLIDES
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6. “ ” What is accountability?
Accountability is about following through on commitments and taking responsibility for outcomes.
Highly accountable individuals:  
Tell the truth, even when it doesn’t serve them (i.e. they have made a mistake).
Take responsibility for outcomes, both positive and negative.
Never make excuses and never place blame.
Establish clear expectations for themselves and their team members.
Embrace change as the path to excellence.
Honor commitments to themselves and others.
Seek out both positive and negative feedback. “
Accountability is an essential element of high- performing organizations. However, there must be a sense of safety. Employees need to feel comfortable taking accountability.
– Craig Dowden (Ph.D.), Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Author ”
Joint accountability entails everyone on the team working together for the common good and pitching in to drive for success.
McLean & Company insight
Accountability is not something you can mandate – it’s a mindset of high-performing people and organizations.
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7. Accountability is heavily tied to organizational performance
Accountability drives high performance in teams and organizations.
The performance level of teams depends heavily on accountability and who demonstrates it:
in weak teams, there is no accountability;
in mediocre teams, supervisors demonstrate accountability;
in high-performance teams, peers manage the vast majority of performance problems with one another through joint accountability (Grenny).
According to Bain & Company, accountability is the third most important attribute of high-performing companies. Some of the other key attributes include: honesty, performance-focused, collaborative, and innovative (Mankins, 2013).
Similarly, a lack of accountability is heavily tied to destructive organizational behaviors.
Source: The Oz Principle, 2015
When the workforce as a whole demonstrates personal accountability in their work, they are more likely to focus their efforts on breaking down barriers, solving problems, and creating solutions.
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8. Due to its impact and low effectiveness, accountability is an area of interest in 2015
In a recent McLean & Company Agenda Poll, HR leaders in organizations of all sizes rated a Culture of Personal Accountability in their top 4 HR priorities, with an average of 77% ranking it as a high or very high priority.
A recent Workplace Accountability Study showed similar results:
91% of respondents ranked accountability as a top development need in their organization.
82% of respondents reported that they currently have no ability to hold others accountable.
Source: Pomeroy, 2015
Mean: 77% “
It’s clear that in order to implement practices that are beneficial to the individual – as well as the organization as a whole – companies must foster an environment where individual efficacy is encouraged and where communication is both elicited and valued.
– Fierce Inc. ”
McLean & Company, 2015, N=52
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9. MCLEAN & COMPANY HELPS HR PROFESSIONALS TO:
Now, more than ever,
HR leaders need to help their organizations maximize the value of their people.
McLean & Company offers the tools, diagnostics, and programs to drive measurable results.
– Jennifer Rozon,
Vice President,
McLean & Company “
Empower management to apply HR best practices
Develop effective talent acquisition & retention strategies
Build a high performance culture
Maintain a progressive set of
HR policies & procedures
Demonstrate the business impact of HR
Stay abreast of HR trends & technologies 
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