Accountability in the new dispensation

Denias Kagande
Accountability is one of the highest leverage changes a leader can make. As you go forward, remember that you should be on a journey to build a culture of what I call “results, not reasons”. There will always be reasons as long as those are good enough for you.

As President Emmerson Mnangagwa vigorously pursues an economic reform agenda and lays the path for new ways of doing things in Zimbabwe, it is imperative that we realise the importance of achieving the best accountability practices for both public and private sectors.

During this great year, I have enjoyed an increasing role as facilitator on public sector procurement.

And throughout that facilitation and coaching, I have observed changes that are made by executives and have the greatest impact.  These should be considered as Zimbabwe implements President Mnangagwa’s vision to do away with corruption and lay foundations for transparency and diligence.

What is accountability?

To be accountable is to be “liable; called to account; answerable”. A synonym is “responsible”. The definition shows two players: The one accountable for his or her actions and the one to whom he or she is accountable.

Being accountable requires action from the authority holding you to answer for your actions or lack of action. Thus, you can be listed on a plan or “to do” list as being the one responsible, but if there are no consequences for not fulfilling your commitment, then are you really being held accountable?

I think not!

Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to results.

It is the measure of a leader’s height. How high a leader will go is determined by how accountable he or she is. Accountability is not only what we do, but also what we do not do for which we are accountable. You either make yourself accountable or circumstances will make you accountable.

A colleague and procurement executive, Dr Abel Dzuke, likens accountability to rain.

“Everyone knows they need rain, but no one wants to get wet. It’s easy to talk about how ‘they’ need to be more accountable, but it can be uncomfortable when we apply it to ourselves.

“When is the last time you heard someone say, ‘I really need to be more accountable for my results?’ It doesn’t happen very often. Yet, we get more accountability from our teams by being accountable to them. It’s a two-way street.”

It is interesting that more often, the term is used in a moral or ethical context as we talk about politicians and other leaders being “held accountable for their actions”.

I hold this concept in a much simpler context; simply, being made to honour the agreements that one makes.

Accountability is an important public procurement principle that needs to be adequately addressed.

In public procurement, accountability essentially means to be responsible for our actions and decisions. Having the obligation to report and or answer to a designated oversight entity (and the public) on the consequences of those actions and decisions.

When accountability works

Think about it. What gives you peace of mind as President, minister, a leader, manager, supervisor or parent? It is simply knowing you can depend on others to do what they say they are going to do.

Imagine if that were the case with every employee, employer, and every responsibility or task that needed to be done.

Malcolm Forbes, a flamboyant multi-millionaire whose enthusiastic pursuits included yachting, motorcycling and ballooning, was once asked how he could be riding around Manhattan on his Harley and flying around the world in balloons when he had a huge business empire to run.

He simply stated: “I did my job.”

I’m convinced beyond reasonable doubt that what he meant was that he assured that everyone else was doing their job.

In short, he had built a culture of accountability in his organisation. The clarion call is to uphold this accountability culture in the public, NGOs and private sectors.

Accountability breeds

responsibility

As a country, we need to witness our transition from beating ourselves up for the failures of our diverse teams to seriously confronting our team members over non-performance on simple, clear, short-term commitments.

What should change? We need to extract very precise commitments from our people for action, either a result or a change in behaviour to get in line with policy.

We need to put in place tools for accountability. A clearly delineated strategic plan with quarterly commitments for action by our team members and data on performance in each area of our institutions.

Lastly, we need to mandate policy in all areas of the institution to get the norms we want clearly defined.

In short, these leadership actions will send shock-waves through the troops. I have come to a sobering conclusion that the old game is over. The new game is accountability or no game at all.

I have no doubt that this shift in leadership action will have dramatic impacts on the performance of institutions and Government over time.

Steven Covey said it well: “Accountability breeds response-ability.”

 How to get there from here

So, how do you make that shift as a leader?

First, do self-assessment. Are your people honouring their commitments to you, even the little ones, for instance, being on time to meetings, getting back to you when they say they will, etcetera? What are the consequences for them if they do not?

What are you training them to do or not do by your actions?

Having done the assessment, is change needed? If yes, then go about putting in place clear agreements you can hold others accountable to.

If an agreement is broken, demand that a new agreement be kept. If there is a pattern of broken agreements, confront the employee and consider asking them to take some time off, at their expense, to think about how they are “showing up” now and how they want to show up in the future.

Also, make the commitments of team members visible by posting your strategic plan in the conference room or holding regular team meetings to review progress on commitments.

Then, as you monitor the plan or “to do” list as a team, others become aware when team member “X” has not met the agreement.

Reviewing commitments as a team encourages accountability as no one wants to be the “odd man out” who is not getting the work done.

Accountability is one of the highest leverage changes a leader can make. As you go forward, remember that you should be on a journey to build a culture of what I call “results, not reasons”. There will always be reasons as long as those are good enough for you.

Is this easy? No. Straightforward? Yes. Easy? No. It’s not going to be as easy as cutting margarine with a hot knife. It’s not a stroll in the park. I struggle with it myself. But I know that targeting accountability is one of the highest leverage changes a leader can make.

Holding others and yourself accountable is tough and not for the faint-hearted.

 

Denias Kagande is a public procurement specialist consultant, fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply and an executive member of CIPS (Zimbabwe branch). He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail.