Lights flash on theroom monitor in a senior living community, but for several crucial minutes, nocaregiver responds. Each staff member assumes someone else on the team istaking care of it. By the time someone finally checks in, a resident’s request has gone unmet, andfrustration is mounting among the crew.
Unfortunately, sceneslike this happen far too often.When accountability is absent, small lapses like an unanswered call light or amissed chart entry can snowball into bigger problems. If no one clearly owns atask, it often falls through the cracks, and in a care environment, thatmeans residents may not get what they need, andteam morale takes a significant hit.
Avoidance ofaccountability is a well-known team dysfunction. Patrick Lencioni, in hisrenowned model of team performance, identified it as one of the five coredysfunctions that can undermine even the best teams. In practice, evenwell-intentioned senior living teams can falter if members fail to holdthemselves and each other accountable for their commitments.
Smalllapses accumulate,tasks slip through the cracks, standards erode, and high performers growresentful of colleagues who don’t pull their weight. Ultimately, unresolvedaccountability gaps undercut the very mission of senior care organizations,which is to deliver consistent, high-quality care to residents.
As a senior livingexecutive, I’vewitnessed firsthand how a lack of accountability can quietly take root even incaring, professional teams, jeopardizing both employee morale and residentoutcomes. This article examines the real cost of avoiding accountability andoutlines how senior living leaders can cultivate a culture where commitmentsare clear, responsibilities are owned at every level, and everyone holdsthemselves accountable for their part in the team’s success.
I’llexplore why avoiding accountability is so harmful, look at a real example ofhow bringing back accountability transformed a community, and discuss concretestrategies to build an accountability culture that drives better care andstronger business results.
It may be common, but avoidingaccountability has severeconsequences for an organization. Infact, research indicates that more than 80% of managers struggle with holding employeesaccountable. On the other hand, 91%of employees say better accountability is one of their company’s top needs inleadership development. When accountability is lacking, team performance andworkplace culture suffer in multiple ways:
Missed Deadlines and Mediocre Performance: Withoutaccountability, even clear goals can go unmet. Team members will come to assume that there are no real consequences to missing adeadline or delivering subpar work. Leadership expert Patrick Lencioni observesthat teams avoiding accountability often miss deadlines and deliver mediocreresults. Similarly, an Executive Agenda analysis notes that a lack ofaccountability “encouragesmediocrity” andleads team members to shirk the high standards they might otherwise uphold.Over time, this norm of mediocrity drags down overall performance andproductivity. In a senior living context, missed deadlines or lapses inperformance could mean delayed responses to resident needs, incomplete careplans, or other quality issues that directly impact those in our care.
Resentment and Low Morale: Nothing breedsresentment among employees faster than whensome colleagues consistentlyfail to do their part and are not held accountable. Team members who carryextra weight grow frustrated with those who chronically underperform. InLencioni’s model, this dynamic is toxic to team cohesion; people start to feelit’s “not fair” and may either reduce their own effort or leave the team.Executive coaches also observe that a lack of accountability creates resentmentand places an unfair burden on leaders to discipline or pick up the slack. Overtime, morale plummets as committed employees see others getting away with less effort. In a senior livingcommunity, for example, if a few nurses regularly skip required documentationand their peers or supervisors must alwayscover for them, frustration will mount. High performers may disengage or eventransfer rather than tolerate a culture where mediocrity is allowed.
Decreased Engagement and Trust: A sustained lack ofaccountability erodes the trust that underpins effective teams. When peopledon’t do what they promised and face no repercussions, coworkers stop relyingon them, or anyone, to follow through. Trust among teammates is replaced by cynicism,which in turn crushes employee engagement. Studies of workplace culture havefound that a lack of accountability is associated with low team morale, unclearpriorities, unmet goals, and high staff turnover.In essence,when no one is accountable, people mentally check out. It’s no surprise thatsuch environments see higher staff turnover; employeesdisengage and eventually leave for organizations where they can depend oncolleagues and be rewarded for pulling their weight. For senior livingproviders already challenged by workforce shortages, poor engagement, andhigh staff turnoverdriven by low accountability can be devastating. Continuity of care sufferswhen dedicated staff quit out of frustration.
Unclear Priorities and Increased Conflict: Avoidance ofaccountability often goes together withambiguity about who is responsible for what. When roles and expectations areunclear, team members can easily point fingers or assume “someone else willhandle it.” Ambiguity is a known driver of the accountability problem. Lencioninotes that teams that avoid accountability are frequently plagued by uncleardirection and priorities. Without clarity, employees willsecond-guess decisions and delay action, which creates fertile ground forconflicts and blame-shifting. If it’s not explicit who needs to complete acritical task (for example, updating the daily medication log), each person mayassume someone else did it until a problem explodes and triggersfinger-pointing. Small misunderstandings like these, multiplied across anorganization, create a culture of stress and defensiveness rather thancollaboration.
Lower Quality of Care and Safety Risks: In healthcare andsenior living, a lack of accountability can literally put lives at risk. Whenemployees don’tfollow through on critical responsibilities, like adheringto safety protocols, double-checking medications, or responding to call lights, thequality of resident care declines. Mistakes or omissions that would have beencaught in a culture of accountability instead go unaddressed. Research hasshown that a lackof accountability in care settings erodes quality and increases the risk oferrors and adverse events. One study in the Journal of PatientSafetyestimated that over 210,000 hospital patients die each year due to preventablemedical mistakes and infections, manyof which could be avoided if staff consistently followed proper procedures. Insenior living facilities, the stakes are similarly high: failing to own up toand fix a small problem (like a wet floor) can lead to a resident’s fall, andnot being accountable for completing rounds can mean a resident in distressisn’t tended to promptly. On top of this,when staff hesitate to take responsibility for issues, families quickly losetrust. If a family notices recurring problems that no one will own and address,the community’s reputation suffers. In short, avoidance of accountabilityundermines the consistent, high-quality care that residents deserve and expect.
Compliance Violations and Legal/Financial Fallout: Senior living is aheavily regulated industry, and a lack of accountability around compliance canland an organization in serious trouble. When team members don’t take ownershipof tasks like documenting care, administering medications on schedule, or keepingup with required training, the organization risks regulatory violations. Missedlogs, unreported incidents, or neglected procedures can lead to deficiencies onsurveys, fines, or even lawsuits. A culture with poor accountability might letsmall infractions slide until they snowball intosystemic issues. As one industry article noted, “a lack of accountability in healthcare can cause significantdamage to your organization… ruin your reputation and increase the risk of lawsuits.” Beyond fines and legal costs, compliancefailures distract leadership and staff from their primary focus of care as theyscramble to do damage control. In contrast, an accountable culture catchesissues early and addresses them openly. For instance, if a nurse realizes theymissed a documentation step, they report and correct it immediately rather thanhoping no one notices. This kind of honesty and proactiveness keeps theorganization in good legal standing and aligned with its ethical standards.
Higher Costs and Lower Financial Performance: Avoidance ofaccountability can hit the bottom line in less obvious but very real ways. Onemajor consequence is inefficient use of resources. When no one owns a problem,it often requires last-minute fixes that are costly, forexample, hiring expensive agency staff to cover chronic call-offs or payingovertime because some employees didn’t finish their work during regular hours.Workplaces that lack accountability often tolerate behaviors that drive upcosts, such as absenteeism or wastage, because no one confronts these issues.In senior living, labor is the biggest expense, and inefficient staffing due topoor accountability (e.g.,shifts left uncovered, leading to emergency agency usage) directly erodesfinancial results. Additionally, high turnover linked to low accountabilitycreates continual recruitment and training costs. Consider an environment whereteam members don’t reliably show up or complete their duties. Reliableemployees will eventually leave (incurring turnover costs); temporary staff orfloat pool nurses must be brought in to fill gaps (premium costs); and managersspend time “firefighting”problems rather than improving operations (opportunity cost). Over time, thesefinancial drains can mount into hundreds of thousands of dollars lost,impacting the community’s ability to invest in improvements or even remainfinancially viable. Simply put, a lack of accountability is expensive.
In summary, theavoidance of accountability acts like dry rot in an organization: it slowlyundermines team performance, trust, engagement, care quality, compliance, andfinances. It creates a work culture where everyone assumes someone else willsolve the problem, so important responsibilities fall through the cracks. For senior living teamscharged with caring for vulnerable residents, this dysfunction is especiallydangerous.
Thegood news is that with the right approach, leaders can turn this situationaround. Before looking at specific solutions, here’s anexample of how establishing accountability made a measurable difference in onecommunity.
Evenabstract concepts like “accountability” have very tangible impacts when putinto practice. In one senior living community within our organization, we faceda costly problem: excessive use of agency staff. Call-offs and open shifts wereroutinely being filled by outside agency caregivers, driving up labor costs andsometimes compromising continuity of care for residents. At its core, staff members felt noreal ownership for ensuring all shifts were covered. If someone called out,everyone assumed management or an agency nurse would handle it. This was aclassic accountability gap; everyone was busy, and no one was proactivelyworking together to fill the void.
Toaddress this, our leadership team implementedpeer-to-peer accountability scorecards for shift coverage. We introduced asimple system where each week the team openly tracked and reviewed howscheduling issues were handled. If a staff member needed a day off or had anemergency, it became theirresponsibility, in partnership with their teammates, to find a suitablereplacement from within the existing team (barring true last-minute crises).Each successful instance of teammates solving a coverage gap without defaulting to agencyhelp earned that team a point on the scorecard. The results were posted on apublic “commitments board” in the break room, so everyone could see the team’sprogress in reducing agency dependence. We also sparked some friendly competition:units or communities that maintained the lowest agency hours or the most internal shift swaps wererecognized at monthly all-hands meetings.
Theimpact was quickly apparent. Over three months,that community saw a 40% reduction in agency staffing hours, drasticallycutting our agency expenses. This was a stunning improvement in a short time.More importantly, the exercise sparked a mindset changeamong employees.Nursing aides began swapping shifts among themselves more proactively (“Icovered your evening shift, you cover my weekend,” became a commonunderstanding), and nurses who might previously have called out on short noticegrew more hesitant to do so, knowing their colleagues were counting on them.The public nature of the scorecard created a sense of constructive peerpressure: no one wanted to be the reason their team had to resort to anoutsider. As one caregiver put it, “I don’t want to leave my team in the lurch unless I absolutely must.We’re in this together.”
Notonly did this initiative save money, but italso improved camaraderie and consistency of care. Residents were moreconsistently cared for by familiar team members rather than a rotating cast ofoutsiders. Full-time staff took pride in the fact that “we’ve got each other’sbacks,” and it showed in their engagement. In fact, employee engagement surveystaken afterward showed an uptick in statements like “My coworkers are committedto doing quality work” and “We feel responsible for each other’s success.” Thepeer-to-peer scorecard tapped into employees’ intrinsic desire not to let teammates (and by extension,residents) down. By making accountability a shared goal rather than a top-downenforcement, it became part of the team ethos.
This case demonstrates that accountability is contagious in the best way. Once a few employees start actively owning problems and solutions, others are inspired (and socially pressured) to do the same. The dramatic 40% reduction in agency hours translated into not only financial savings but also better staffing stability and higher trust within the team. It’s a powerful example of how increasing accountability through transparency and peer commitment can yield rapid, significant benefits in senior living operations.
Avoiding accountability may be the norm on dysfunctional teams, but it’s possible to build a culture where accountability thrives.
This is where senior living leaders come in, as they play a pivotal role insetting the tone and establishing practices that encourage every individual to take ownership of their responsibilities and hold peers to high standards in apositive, constructive manner.
Model Accountability at the Top: Culture flows from leadership. Leaders must start by holding themselves accountable, openly and visibly. Follow through on your commitments, admit mistakes, and show that you welcome feedback from others. When a CEO or administrator owns up to an error (for example: “I missed the deadline to submit our budget, and I apologize; I’ll make sure to fix this, and I welcome my team to hold me to it”), it sends a powerful message that accountability is not a punishment but a shared value. Leading by example also means consistently walking the walk on policies and standards. If punctuality is expected, leaders should be on time for meetings. If documentation is required, leaders should not circumvent the process for convenience. By modeling the behavior you expect, you build trust and set the expectation that everyone, even those at the top, is accountable. Research confirms that when leaders demonstrate personal accountability and integrity, it creates an environment where others are more likely to take responsibility as well. In practice, a nursing director might publicly share their own development goals and update their team on their progress, implicitly inviting others to do the same. When leaders consistently uphold their promises, it establishes a norm throughout the organization: we do what we say we will do.
Clarify Expectations and Goals: Ambiguity is one of the biggest drivers of accountability failure, so leaders must remove the guesswork about “who is responsible for what” and “what success looks like. ”Every employee must know exactly what is expected of them in terms of duties and outcomes, and how those expectations tie into the organization’s broader mission. Amazingly, one study found that 85% of employees were not sure what their organization was really trying to achieve, an astounding communication gap that makes true accountability almost impossible. To avoid this, senior living executives should communicate a concise set of top priorities (for example, “Increase resident satisfaction by 10%” or “Cut fall incidents in half”) and then link each department and individual’s goals to those key results. When goals are crystal clear and limited in number, it’s much easier to hold people accountable, because there’s little confusion over what matters most.
Clarity also means defining specific standards for performance and behavior. Vague directives like “provide good care” should be translated into concrete, observable commitments (for example, “every caregiver will complete their dailycharting by the endof shift” or “respond to call lights within 5 minutes on average”). With clear expectations in place, employees canbe held accountable forsomething tangible. It’s equally important to get buy-in on these expectations.Whenever possible, involve employees in setting their goals and the “how” oftheir work. People are far more likely to commit to targets they had a hand increating. (Lencioni notes that lack of buy-in, or commitment, precedesavoidance of accountability; conversely,when individuals help set the goals, they feel more responsible for achievingthem.) One McKinsey study found that in companies with effective performancemanagement, 91% of employees said their goals were explicitly linked tobusiness priorities, underscoring the value of alignment. In practice, acommunity Executive Director might hold a workshop with staff to define what“great resident experience” looks like and to set a few measurable teamtargets. Once everyone agrees on the targets and understands their role in reaching them, it becomes much more natural forpeers (and managers) to call out (or better yet, support) anyone who is veeringoff course. The whole team is committed to the same clear objectives.
Make Commitments Visible and Track Progress(Transparency): Transparencyis a powerful enabler of accountability. People are far less likely to drop theball when they know their progress is visible to their peers, notin a “Big Brother” sense, but in a supportive, collective sense. Leaders canestablish mechanisms for public commitments: employeesstate their goals or tasks openly, and progress is regularly reviewed by thegroup. This could be a “commitment board” in a staff area, a shared spreadsheetof key deliverables, or a segment in team meetings where each person reports ontheir top priorities and updates. The idea is to create a routine that says, “We all know what eachof us is supposed to deliver, and we will regularly check in on it together.”
Socialscience backs up the power of this approach. The American Society of Trainingand Development (ASTD) conducted a study on goal achievement and found strikingresults: simply committing a goal to another person gives you a 65% chance ofcompleting it, and having a specific accountability appointment with someoneraises that chance to 95%. In other words, when you publicly declare “I will doX by Y date” and you know you’ll be asked about it later, you’re almostguaranteed to follow through. Senior living leaders can leverage this by facilitating more public sharing ofcommitments. For example, at the end of each department meeting, every managercould state one action they’ll complete before the next meeting. Or a memorycare team might have a whiteboard where they write down daily task assignments(e.g., “Update 5 care plans by Friday: John”). The next day or week, the teamcollectively reviews what got done. This kind of peer visibility creates gentlepressure not to let others down, just as we saw with the shift coveragescorecard in the case study. A leadership organization called Executive Agendaattests that incorporating peer accountability (where colleagues routinelyreport progress to one another) has led their member companies to significantlyhigher success rates in meeting objectives.
Another transparencytool is to use team dashboards or scorecards that everyone can see. Forinstance, tracking key performance indicators (like response times, fall rates,or training compliance) on a public dashboard by unit can spur teams to takeownership of their results. If one unit’s fall rate is higher this month,seeing that data out in the open can prompt a healthy discussion: “What can wedo about this?” rather than waiting for a manager to scold them. The key is toframe transparency positively, not punitively.Emphasize that “we’re all in this together and nothing isswept under the rug.” When responsibilitiesand results are out in the open, there is no place to hide. Team membersbegin holding themselves accountable because everyone can see the score.
Encourage Constructive Peer Feedback and Support: The hallmark of a truly cohesive team is undoubtedly peer-to-peeraccountability. Team members should feel empowered (and obligated) to givefeedback to one another, rather than relying on the boss to intervene everytime something goes awry. Leaders can nurture this by training and encouragingstaff to respectfully call out inconsistencies and have each other’s backs. Forexample, if a caregiver notices a colleague hasn’t sanitized a piece ofequipment properly, in an accountable culture, they’llpolitely remind them or help them address it ratherthan ignore it or assume it’s someone else’s problem. This level of comfortdoesn’t happen overnight; management needs to openly discuss it and normalizeit. Make it clear to your team that holding a teammate accountable isn’t“tattling” or criticism; it’s an actof caring about the team’s success. You can reinforce this mindset in staffhuddles or training workshops by using the language of accountability openly(e.g., asking in meetings, “Who can I count on to double-check the supplyinventory with me this week?” or “Let’s pair up as accountability partners tocomplete our new training modules.”).
Leadersshould also coach teams on how to give feedback constructively. Critiquesshould focus on specific behaviors or results rather than personal attacks. Forinstance, a peer might say, “I noticed the incident reports weren’t filedyesterday. How canI help make sure we get those done today?” When teammates learn to have thesedirect conversations, issues get addressed much faster and in a lessheavy-handed way than if management steps in.It also creates mutual respect: everyone is held to the same standards, whetheryour title is caregiver or lead nurse. Patrick Lencioni points out that thebest teams are those in which “team members hold oneanother accountable to high standards and performance”, notbecause they’rebeing policed, but because they genuinely don’t want to let each other down orsee the team fail. One practical method is to establish accountability“partners” or buddy systems for key tasks. For example, two department headsmight agree to review each other’s monthly compliance checklists before submission, eachgently ensuring the other doesn’t miss a step. Over time, this normalizes theidea that anyone onthe team can remind anyone else of a commitment. The result is a tighter, moreself-correcting unit. Importantly, as peer accountability grows, the leader’sburden decreases: theteam starts to regulate its own performance instead of waiting for the boss tocatch every issue. When a team reaches this level, avoidance of accountabilityhas little oxygen; coworkerssimply won’t permit persistent lapses, and that peer pressure drives continuousimprovement.
Recognize and Celebrate Follow-Through: Accountabilityshouldn’t only be about catching failures; it should be just as much aboutcelebrating follow-through and success. Positive reinforcement goes a long waytoward solidifying an accountability culture. Leaders and teams shouldintentionally acknowledge when individuals or groups meet their commitments,especially under challenging circumstances. This could be as simple as publicpraise in a meeting: “Kudos to the night shift! 100% of care logs werecompleted on time this week, which is fantastic accountability.” Or it might involve tangible rewards: perhaps ateam that meets its quarterly quality targets gets a celebratory lunch or smalltokens of appreciation. The point is to show that keeping your promises andhitting your marks is noticed and valued. As the authors of The Oz Principle (a well-known book on workplaceaccountability) emphasize, accountability should be seen as “a personal choice to rise above one’scircumstances and demonstrate ownership.” In other words, it’s a behavior to champion, not to punish.By highlighting examples of individuals who exemplify true ownership (like anemployee who identified a problem and fixed it by themself),you encourage others to follow suit.
Celebratingfollow-through also nurtures team trust and morale. When employees seecolleagues reliably do what they said they’d do,trust blossoms, andwhen leadership calls it out positively, it reinforces that this is theexpected norm. High-performing teams often have little rituals to appreciatereliability, like a round of applause in daily huddles for “30 days with nomissed medications” or peer-nominated “Accountability Champion” awards. Thesemay sound hokey, but they tap into basic human motivation: we all like our goodwork to be recognized. When accountability is consistently tied to positiveoutcomes and appreciation (instead of only being associated with blame or extra work), employees begin to take pride inbeing accountable. That pride fuels a virtuous cycle: staff go the extra mileto keep their promises and help colleagues, knowing it contributes to somethingbigger and will be appreciated. Over time, success stories accumulate. Perhapsyour facility avoided a state citation because a team member proactively caughtand corrected an issue… sharethat story! Show how accountability averted a crisis or led to a glowing familycompliment. Celebrating these wins connects the dots between accountability andthe mission we all share in senior living: providing excellent, safe care andservice to residents.
Whenaccountability is woven into the fabric of a senior living community, thepositive effects ripple through every aspect of the organization. A strongculture of accountability improves the experience of residents, boostsoperational efficiency, and builds trust within teams. In fact, anaccountability-focused team tends to excel in four key areas:
Accountableteams ensure residents receive more reliable, consistent care. Why? Becauseteam members don’t say, “I thought someone else would do it.” Instead, theyeither do it themselves or make sure it gets done. Fewer care tasks are missed, andissues get addressed more quickly, directly improving thehealth and satisfaction of residents. Forexample, if a resident’s care plan review is due, an accountable nurse willmake it a point of pride to complete it on time (and a peer or supervisor willfollow up if it’s not done). As noted earlier, a lack of accountability can putlives at risk; conversely, a high-accountability environment helps preventerrors and adverse events. Moreover, residents and their families can alsosense an accountable culture, whichshows up in staff attitudes (“We’lltake care of that; I’ll make sure it happens”) and in consistent servicedelivery. This builds the community’s reputation for quality. In short,accountability is a prerequisite for excellence in resident care, turning thecare standards on paper into real actions day in and day out.
Accountabilityand compliance go hand in hand. In an accountable team, employees don’t lookfor ways to cut corners on regulations or paperwork; they hold themselvesresponsible for meeting those requirements as part of the job. If something isamiss, they report it rather than hide it. This proactive stance keeps theorganization ahead of survey deficiencies and legal risks. For instance, if anincident occurs, an accountable team will document it and initiate correctiveaction immediately rather than hoping no one notices. Regulators often note that facilities with a cultureof candor and continuous improvement (both fruits of accountability) tend tohave better survey outcomes. When staff at all levels feel responsible forethical conduct and compliance, it also reduces the burden on managers andcompliance officers to “police” every situation;doing the right thing becomes everyone’s job. Leaders can rest easier knowingemployees are upholding standards even when no one is watching. In the end,accountability protects the organization both legally and morally, ensuringthat promises made to residents and regulators are kept. It also bolsters thecommunity’s public image and trustworthiness in the eyes of families.
Asour case study showed, a culture of accountability can dramatically reducereliance on expensive stopgapmeasures like agency staff or overtime. When team members take ownership ofstaffing needs, volunteering for extra shifts when truly needed, adhering toschedules, and helping each other fill gaps, the need for outside labor drops.Similarly, accountable employees manage their time and resources better,avoiding waste and inefficiency. They treat the organization’s resources(budget, supplies, etc.) as they would their own. For example, an accountablemaintenance supervisor will ensure preventive maintenance is done on schedule (avoiding costly repairs later) without needingto be chased, because he accepts that responsibility fully. Over time, theseefficiencies add up to significant cost savings. Reducing turnover by buildinga better work environment also lowers recruiting and training expenses.(Industry-wide, turnover can cost tens of thousands of dollars per employeereplaced.) Most of the time, highaccountability also correlateswith higher productivity;people who take initiative tend to streamline processes and solve problemsbefore they escalate into costly issues. In sum, accountability has a directROI: fewer last-minute emergencies, more efficient use of resources, and astable, experienced workforce that improves the financial performance of thecommunity.
Perhapsmost importantly, a culture of accountability builds trust, the cornerstone ofany high-performing team. When everyone does their part and owns up to issues,colleagues know they can count on one another. This trust enables more robustcollaboration, honest communication, and resilience under stress. Teams withhigh internal trust tackle challenges as a united front, rather than wastingenergy on blame or CYA maneuvers. In a senior living setting, for instance, thenursing and dietary staff can coordinate closely and transparently on a resident’s care plan; each truststhe other to follow through, so residents don’t fall through the cracks betweendepartments. Trust also extends between staff and leadership: when leaders holdthemselves accountable and treat staff as partners in upholding standards,employees trust management more. They feel safer speaking up and takinginitiative to improve things (because they trust they won’t be unfairly blamedfor honest mistakes). This creates a positive cycle: accountability breedshigh trust, and high trust makes it easier to sustain accountability. Atrusting, accountable team is also more agile and innovative. Peoplebring up problems early (since they take responsibility) and trust others tohelp solve them, which leads to continuous improvement. Organizations with thiskind of culture are far better equipped to weather crises (like a pandemic orsudden staff shortage) than a low-trust, low-accountability organization whereissues would be compounded in tough times.
Avoidanceof accountability may be common in teams, but it’s byno means inevitable. With deliberate leadership and a commitment to culturalchange, senior living organizations can overcome this dysfunction. The journeybegins with leaders making a clear, personal decision to prioritizeaccountability in their own actions and in the values they instill in theirteams. It continues with the practical steps I’vediscussed: setting crystal-clear expectations, involving team members in goal setting,making responsibilities and results transparent, fostering an environment ofpeer support, and rewarding the behavior we want to see more of.
Aswe’ve seen, the rewards for doing so are immense. When accountability thrives,teams transform from a collection of individuals protecting themselves into acohesive unit fighting for a common cause. Employees at all levels feel greaterownership and pride in their work. Problems are identified and solved earlier.High standards become everyone’s responsibility, not just the supervisor’sburden. Trust replaces cynicism. In the senior living context, theseimprovements manifest as safer, happier, healthier residents and a stronger bottom line that allows the organization toreinvest in its people and communities.
ForHR executives, founders, CEOs, and other organizational leaders, the charge isclear: make accountability a cornerstone of your culture. This means hiring anddeveloping managers who won’t shy away from holding their teams to theircommitments, and training staff to understand that holding each otheraccountable is an act of respect and dedication to the mission. It means bakingaccountability into performance reviews, orientation programs, and everydayconversations, shifting it from a dreaded concept into a celebrated norm. It might even mean having the courage to removethose few individuals who refuse to embrace accountability and drag down theteam despite coaching, because one persistently unaccountable person can poisonthe culture you’re trying to build.
Inclosing, creating a high-accountability workplace means building a team whereeveryone can confidently say, “If I commit to doingsomething, I’ll do it. And if you don’t, I will kindlyremind you, because we don’t let each other fail.” It’s about replacing the blame game with asolutions game. Senior living organizations that make this shift will not onlyavoid the pitfalls of dysfunction but will distinguish themselves in anincreasingly challenging industry. When each team member takes ownership oftheir responsibilities and follows through, it unlocks the full potential ofthe team to deliver compassionate, excellent care.
AsPatrick Lencioni wisely said, “When it comes toteamwork, accountability is about the willingness of team members to remind oneanother when they are not living up to the performance standards of the group.”Ultimately, that willingness is an expression of respect and commitment to eachother, rather than conflict. As leaders, let’s cultivate that spirit in ourteams. The seniors we serve and the employees we lead deserve nothing less thana culture where promises are kept and everyone can be counted on.
Free Accountability Checklist (PDF)
To help you turn these insights into action, I’m offering a free AccountabilityChecklist (PDF) that you can use with your team. This checklist distills thekey steps and practices for building a culture of accountability in a seniorliving community. It’s a practical tool you can bring to your next team meetingor training session to start closing accountability gaps right away.
How to get it: Comment below or send me a direct message with the word “OWN IT.”I’ll reply with your free accountability checklist. Let’s make accountability the cornerstone of excellence in your senior living organization!
