Agile organizations have clear performance standards for employees but encourage them to make the additional effort to be “best in class.” Two recent examples of this come to mind for me: During a recent post-holiday sale, I watched an engaged retail worker pick up trash on the store floor, even though the boss wasn’t watching. The second example was when a TSA agent pulled a suspicious bag to be searched, even though it was the last bag at the end of his shift. Of course it was my bag, and even though I was not above doing some good old-fashioned grumbling, I was glad to know they made the extra effort to keep everyone safe.
In EMS, “best in class” means exceeding expectations and going beyond minimum standards—doing what’s right even when no one is watching.
Throughout this series, we’ve looked at four primary perspectives when evaluating how agile an organization is: how aware and alert the organization is to change; what leadership’s orientation is; whether the organization’s processes and structure reinforce or undermine agility; and, finally, if performance-based measures are part of the organizational culture. Let’s look at how each affects, or is affected by, the factor of responsibility and accountability.
Awareness and alertness
As Leonardo da Vinci said, “Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind.” Are you using your powers of observation to proactively question clarity around roles, responsibilities and accountability? This is an insidious issue for many emergency service organizations, leading to staleness and complacency.
In challenging times and during periods of significant change, you must not let yourself become complacent. After all, our clients are not complacent, the market isn’t complacent, and our political and financial masters (from local councils to Medicare and the Office of the Inspector General) aren’t complacent. If you are complacent, you become fragile very quickly.
So how does an organization stay proactive and alert? It involves probing whether there is, in fact, clarity (agreement) on what’s to be done, who’s got the ball, and completion timeframes or check-in points on specific projects. More than that, it requires a clear understanding of, and consistency with, the organization’s broader mission. The best way to check if responsibilities and accountabilities are clear is to ask questions. It takes significant but valuable time to ensure that the organization is fully alert and not acting in a complacent fashion. It usually begins with the leader’s orientation to the future.
Leadership orientation
“Why hasn’t this been completed?” I asked the contractor. He replied that he wasn’t sure what, exactly, I wanted. “Then why didn’t you call so I could explain?” I asked.
The contractor’s excuse was that it was close to quitting time. “And, truth be told, we forgot to call the next day,” he said.
We’ve all been in these circular conversations. As a leader, it’s like being trapped in a maze of good intentions, excuses and delays. For the follower, it’s like walking through a fun house. The mirrors on the wall distort the images (feedback), and the follower is sure that the trap door is going to open at any moment. These perceptions set up both leader and follower for failure.
Agile leaders develop a lower threshold for alibis; they become better communicators and enforcers of what they want done. If you are more interested in being liked and popular than in holding people accountable for results, you are a fragile leader.
Agile leaders accept the premise that in times of significant change, leaders need to provide additional clarity, support and reinforcement. But at the end of the day, there is nothing hardhearted about holding people accountable for high standards and making tough, often agonizing decisions concerning yesterday’s heroes, who no longer contribute. It’s tough love. Leaders must care enough about their entire staff, their futures and the welfare of the organization to hold people accountable for their actions (or lack thereof) and behaviors.
High-value processes and structures
What often differentiates agile organizations from fragile ones is the sophistication of internal accountability systems. Many EMS organizations achieve the minimal baseline when it comes to human resource and development processes, but agile organizations excel in this area.
Baseline practices include:
- Managers are held accountable by their chiefs/directors for providing up-to-date job/position descriptions and annual written reviews for each of their direct reports.
- Accountability for performance development is reinforced by senior management during annual performance reviews.
- Annual salary review increases are supported by the annual written review.
Best practices include:
- Chiefs/directors hold all department managers accountable for providing ongoing feedback and development plans.
- The agency tracks completion rates for performance development processes.
- The agency differentiates between individuals’ annual merit increases based on performance.
- Criteria for increases are communicated to each employee at the beginning of the year.
- All managers are provided with appropriate training in performance development.
Development of a performance-based culture
Weaving clarity and accountability throughout the agency is a key component of agile organizations. The greatest kind of leadership exists when your partner looks you in the eye and holds you accountable.
Creating a culture of accountability means developing a climate in which people can speak openly, admit mistakes without fear and worry more about serving the customer than looking better than a co-worker.
There are several cultural dimensions that can contribute to or discourage accountability. The biggest fear people have about accountability is that they will be punished for their actions. Agile organizations realize that blaming people for events that have already occurred does more harm than good. It tends to make people secretive about their actions and competitive with their co-workers. Workers end up looking out for “number one” more than for the success of the organization.
Continuously moving toward clear responsibilities and accountabilities is one of the 11 ways we become agile organizations. Remember, it’s not a single event or a destination but a process. Typically it is not about any one individual; more frequently it’s about the underlying processes, leadership styles and the way you view the future regardless of your position in the organization.
