Mutual Accountability Between Manager and Employee

Article Courtesy of BestBusinesses.org.

Within business hierarchy, managers are those responsible for the performance of employees under their supervision. Maintaining the behavior and performance of employees up to par is a crucial part of an organization’s ability to meet its goals for output and profit. So how does a manager effectively harness the latent power and capabilities for optimal productivity found within workers?

For starters, managers must know when to intervene if worker performance falls below expectations. Some managers find confronting an employee whose performance is falling below standards difficult, but most accept it as an inextricable part of their work. Moreover, good managers are trained, through education and experience, to carry out just such duties. That training enables them to traverse such situations with grace and tact, which make discussing an uncomfortable topic, like unmet expectations for work habits or job performance, easier for all parties involved.

Both are prickly subjects, and although they’re interrelated, they’re not interchangeable — this much any manager worth his salt knows. When intervening in any of these two areas, managers do well to find ways of improving unsatisfactory employee behavior while maintain said worker’s self esteem. It’s likewise important to foment in the latter a positive outlook. In the end, every member of a team must remain accountable to the other members.