A Lack of Accountability
By Adam Radzik
Consultant to Professional Firms

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar to you?

“Not only did he not have the project I had assigned to him to be ready by Friday, he didn’t even have the courtesy to tell me he wouldn’t have it!”

“Here we are at this new client discussing a big matter, and my associate, who was supposed to have done the research, is unable to answer the most basic questions posed to him by the client. The client looks at me, understandably upset, as if to say, ‘What kind of place are you running here?’ I was mortified. Later that same afternoon, the client sent me an e-mail firing us from the case.”

“Upper management is always lecturing me about my need to delegate. To whom should I delegate? These people make so many mistakes, over and over again, it takes me three times as long to get the job done, and it is so aggravating, so I just do the job myself.”

“You know, whenever I get in a crunch and I ask around for help, they all tell me they are too busy, too busy. Yet, when I take a look at their monthly hours, half of them need more work just to meet their minimum hours requirements.”

“At our firm we are upside down. Everywhere else, the partners leave at six and the staff stays until nine to get the work done. Here, the staff leaves at six and the partners stay until nine to make sure the work gets done. Where did we go wrong?”

There are a number of issues intertwined in these troubling vignettes, but a prominent and recurring theme is the lack of accountability, a problem I have been asked to help with many times during my years as a management/marketing consultant for professional firms.

In an upcoming book of mine, Quick Advice on How to Improve Your Relationships, I point out that “Every relationship has to be managed. There are no exceptions.” The lack of accountability that partners experience often has its roots in inadequate management of the employer –employee relationship. New employees (never mind old employees) quickly gauge what they can and cannot do with their supervisors. Can they come in late? Can they miss deadlines? Can they agree and commit to performing tasks and not experience any consequence if they don’t perform as agreed? Can they offer flimsy excuses that will be accepted?

The testing of their superiors begins soon after they start their new jobs and, of course, they are helped along by the more tenured staff who advise them not to kill themselves trying to meet the Monday deadline: “Half the time, he won’t even remember when the assignment is due ” or “Just tell her you had to do work for another partner.”

From that same book : “ We systematically train others in how they should treat us.” Whether we realize it or not, by our responses we either reinforce or discourage the behavior of others. Unfortunately, many of the difficult and frustrating circumstances we find ourselves in are situations of our own making.

Can firms that have tolerated a lack of accountability turn those attitudes around? Absolutely, but it will require training, coaching, commitment and consistency. Finally, it should be said that the changing of any long-practiced behavior will require repeated attempts to bring success, but there are few obstacles in the world that can withstand the monumental powers of determination and perseverance.

If you want training on how you can get better accountability from your employees: Contact Sales Improvement Consultants Today!


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