The blame deflector. At first glance, this employee might seem to be a clone of the mistake eraser. And yes, the two of them do have quite a bit in common. But when you get right down to it, their MOs are different. While the mistake eraser pretends that nothing bad happened to start with, the blame deflector is all too happy to admit that a ball was dropped…by somebody else. It’s always someone else’s fault!
“When the boss is wondering where an error originated, this person’s ‘deflector shields’ come up immediately,” says Bedford. “‘Well, I was only doing what I was told,’ he might say. Or, ‘I didn’t misquote the price to that customer. They must have misheard.’ If these types of excuses come out of the same employee’s mouth on a regular basis, don’t fall for them. Remember, a big part of accountability is owning up to your own mistakes.”
The truth avoider. This person “just can’t handle the truth!” When someone calls her out—for dropping the ball, for behaving badly, etc.—her reaction isn’t pretty. Maybe she bursts into tears, sulks for days, stomps off indignantly, or angrily denies all charges.
“If an employee is offended instead of accepting that the other person has made a valid observation, she has just killed her accountability,” points out Miller. “Denying or just having a bad attitude about what’s obviously true will cause her credibility and trustworthiness to take a significant hit. Other employees as well as customers won’t want to work with her.”
The white liar. When this person doesn’t want to spend time giving feedback, he says, “That PowerPoint looks fine to me,” even though he knows it’s on the bland side. Or when he knows he won’t be able to meet a deadline, he emails the client and claims to have been out of commission for a few days due to the flu. “Do you mind if I take a few extra days to complete the project?” he asks. “I want to make sure that I deliver the best possible work to you.”
“The white liar probably thinks he isn’t really hurting anyone with his fibs, but of course, that isn’t the case,” Bedford says. “Anytime an employee’s lack of total honesty impacts the quality of his own work, someone else’s work, or a client relationship, he has shown that he lacks accountability.”
“Next time you think that a lack of accountability doesn’t have a price tag, just look at this list and think again!” concludes Miller. “When you notice any of these behaviors in any of your employees (or in yourself!), make sure to address the issue promptly. Explain why you object to the behavior and make sure the employee knows what consequences will be incurred if it continues.”
“Especially in today’s transparent business environment, your company’s accountability cannot be taken lightly,” adds Bedford. “Safeguard it as the valuable commodity it is!”
For more information, visit www.millerbedford.com.
