If You Want Accountability, You Must Grant Authority

By Michelle Malay Carter on July 6, 2009 

If you want Accountability, you must grant AuthorityFor What Are Employees Accountable?
Employees are accountable for bringing their best to bear to their tasks and for giving their manager their best advice.?? Note:?They should not be accountable for their output, but rather their effectiveness in light of the circumstances.? Their output is part of the equation but cannot be the only point of assessment unless you want disengagement and corruption.

Double Accountability for Managers
Managers have double accountability.? They, as employees themselves must bring their best to bear and give their managers their best advice, but in addition, they are accountable for the output of their team.

Often, when I propose this definition to managers, they start to squirm.? Why?? Because this is fundamentally unfair (and fairness is a precursor to engagement) without requisite authorities.

What Are Requisite Authorities?
If we want managers to be willing to step up to the plate and own accountability for the work of their team, they must be granted the following four MINIMUM accountabilities.

From Elliott Jaques’ Requisite Organization Meta-Model – Four Minimum Managerial Accountabilities

  1. The Authority to Veto Assignment of an Unacceptable Candidate to Their Team
  2. The Authority to Assign or Approve All Tasks to Their Direct Reports
  3. The Authority to Review Effectiveness, Reward within Limits, and Recognize their Direct Reports
  4. The Authority to Initiate Removal of a Team Member from their Team

How to Get Accountability
If you are lamenting the lack of accountability within your organization, you might want to review the authorities you have granted your managers.? You won’t get one without the other.? Organizations have to learn to stay out of the manager’s sandbox.

Do your managers have these authorities???What you grant is?your prerogative, but if you don’t grant these, then you can’t hold them accountable for the output of their direct reports.

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.

Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement

Comments

3 Responses to “If You Want Accountability, You Must Grant Authority”

  1. Leading like Christ on July 7th, 2009 12:13 am

    Nice post! It’s very interesting how giving authority goes hand in hand with receiving accountability. I guess it’s important to first lead by example and give authority so that once the leader is gone, the followers can take charge. If a leader aspires to build up those that are following, i.e. by granting certain authorities and leading by example, accountability will follow. Thanks for the article!

  2. Michelle Malay Carter on July 7th, 2009 6:13 am

    Hi Leading,

    Thanks for stopping by and for the comment. Yes, organizations have yet to figure out the link between the accountability and authority.

    Yes, leading by example is an important component to personally earned authority which is different than positional authority.

    Regards,

    Michelle

  3. Chris Young on July 13th, 2009 1:01 am

    Excellent post Michelle!

    I have featured your post in my weekly Rainmaker ?Fab Five? blog picks of the week (found here: http://www.maximizepossibility.com/employee_retention/2009/07/this-rainmaker-fab-five-blog-picks-of-the-week.html) to share with my readers.

    Be well!