2_Accountability

Step Two
ACCOUNTABILITY
The mystery
of the
missing link.

ACCOUNTABILITY Step Two
Step Two ACCOUNTABILITY
Accountability is the
key to profitability.
Accountability addresses both
your company’s expectation of its
employees and your employees’
expectation of the company.
In this e-book we take a look at
how defining and refining your
company’s processes leads to a
more accountable, profitable and
predictable business.
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ACCOUNTABILITY Step Two
Step Two ACCOUNTABILITY
Find and fix the missing link.
Let’s assume you have defined your business
strategy and therefore have a clear idea of where
your business is going over the next five years.
Now it’s time to consider how this aligns with
your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the
individual responsibilities within your organisation.
In many companies I work with, this alignment
simply doesn’t exist. It’s what I call The Missing
Link. Accountability is how you turn your business
strategy into reality; and without this link firmly in
place, you will never have a clear picture of how you
are performing against your goals.
If you don’t
measure it,
you can’t
improve it.
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ACCOUNTABILITY Step Two
Step Two ACCOUNTABILITY
The SMART way to set
realistic KPIs
There are essentially two types of KPIs. Those that
are company-wide indicators and those which are
linked directly to an individual. You really need to
have both in place.
Start by deciding which KPIs will give you the best
overall picture of your company’s performance and
that of its employees. A simple and effective way of
doing this is to use the SMART technique.
One of the most important keys to successfully
aligning KPIs and performance measures to
strategy is make sure your strategy is measurable
in the first place.
S
M
A
R
T
SPECIFIC
The KPI is clear and focused
towards performance targets
MEASUREABLE
The KPI can be expressed
as a quantity
ATTAINABLE
The KPI targets are
reasonable and attainable
REALISTIC
The KPI is directly relevant to
the work being done
TIME-BASED
The KPI can be measured
in a given time period
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ACCOUNTABILITY Step Two
Step Two ACCOUNTABILITY
Dashboards
give everyone
the heads up.
Monitoring your KPIs is an essential part of the
accountability process. Rather than keep the numbers
buried away in a spreadsheet reserved for board
meetings, I recommend a visual approach.
Creating DASHBOARDS which display your KPIs in
easy-to-read graphics, charts and tables is a great
way to share important data, ensure expectations are
clearly set and each person understands their part
within the overall big picture.
Review, rethink and revise.
Review your dashboards regularly. If things are going
well, then celebrate your success. If not, then refocus
and realign your plan to get back on track.
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ACCOUNTABILITY Step Two
Step Two ACCOUNTABILITY
Do your staff actually know
what their job is?
60% of company
budgets are not linked
to strategy
46% of people don’t know what is expected of
them in their job
Now you have quantified success, you need to make sure all
your staff understand the part they play in achieving your targets.
By setting personal KPIs for each staff member, you help
your employees understand their roles more clearly and, as a
consequence, perform better.
30% of staff incentives
are not linked to
strategy
People like being told what to do.
Highly-engaged, top-performing employees know what is expected
of them at work, have the materials and equipment to do their jobs,
and are given the opportunity to do what they do best.
If you can set clear job descriptions with clear expectations and
then train and support your staff to do this to the best of their
ability, you’ll soon see greater productivity from your team – and
your satisfied staff will stay longer with the company.
Only 10% of employees
say they understand
the company strategy
- Kaplan & Norton
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ACCOUNTABILITY Step Two
Step Two ACCOUNTABILITY
Can everybody
hear you?
Many companies I work with fail to recognise
the importance of internal communication.
There’s no point having a sound strategy and
well-considered KPIs if no one knows what they
are. I suggest daily huddles or at least weekly
meetings where these are openly discussed, and
employees held accountable for their part in the
company’s progress.
You can’t be the nice, friendly manager all the
time. Sometimes, you’ll need to have difficult,
open and honest conversations with your staff
when they fail to meet their responsibilities.
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ACCOUNTABILITY Step Two
Step Two ACCOUNTABILITY
Let’s make you
accountable.
Aston Business Advantage will work with
your company to help you become more
accountable and profitable.
We’ll help you clearly define your measurable
KPIs and then develop your dashboards
to share with your staff. We’ll create
organisation charts which link to job
descriptions and individual KPIs; and systems
for meetings to ensure they’re discussed and
managed. And teach you how to hold your
staff accountable.
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Aston Business Advantage
PERTH | SYDNEY | MELBOURNE