Addressing accountability skill gaps in Singapore

Toward the end of 2014, the Singapore Government released the Continuing Education and Training (CET) 2020 Masterplan that supports efforts to restructure the economy, develop a career-resilient workforce, and build deeper expertise in Singapore's personnel, with increased involvement by employers in enhancing and valuing skills.

But apart from providing structured training programmes to improve technical skills, more emphasis should also be placed on increasing individual and organisational accountability, which in turn can increase employee engagement and ultimately lift productivity.

From our Pulse Survey, we found that only 18 percent of respondents reported the highest levels of accountability in their organisations.

This means the vast majority of respondents felt that individuals at all business levels don't take account of their actions and honour the commitments they make to others. This can lead to missed deadlines, scapegoating, overruns, and ultimately severely impact productivity.

Our research indicated a correlation between low accountability and gaps in the workforce pertaining fundamental business skills, including:

• The ability to obtain the needed skills and resources to complete activities
• The ability to advocate for a different viewpoint when others disagree
• The ability to get others to accept an accountability they disagree with
• The ability to address a commitment they made but did not keep
• The ability to admit mistakes despite the associated risks

Performance management, coaching, and training are common strategies that can be used to improve poor accountability and its associated skill gaps. However they are being overlooked.

Only 30 percent of respondents indicated they use coaching and 45 percent use performance management to support accountability.

Aside from using performance management and coaching more effectively, which can be quite an art, leaders can follow these eight steps to close accountability skill gaps:

1. Set clear goals for all employees, linking back to organisational objectives
2. Build alignment on how goals will be achieved
3. Advocate for employees to receive the skills and resources needed for success
4. Admit mistakes to advance problem solving while preserving credibility
5. Develop capabilities to effectively provide feedback – both constructive and positive
6. Increase employees' comfort with handling conflict and providing feedback
7. Resolve dilemmas that underlie business issues to provide clarity
8. Coach accountable action and lead by example

Using these steps as a guide, leaders can provide a framework for their teams to follow by establishing internal and external contracts, clarifying the conditions that are needed to fulfil them, and providing a process of giving and receiving feedback to keep commitments on track, which can then become a foundation for further measurement.

By setting boundaries and guidelines, these activities will lead to a great proportion of the workforce acting in a highly accountable manner, meaning that commitments are fulfilled and the job gets done.

Instead of focusing on addressing a lack of skills and poor productivity in isolation, a deeper, company-wide focus on developing a strong culture of greater accountability is also needed to ensure long-term business success.