Five Ways Accountability Training Can Benefit Your Career

Doing your work well isn’t the only thing employers consider when hiring or promoting. Soft skills, including emotional intelligence, organization, and personal accountability, are just as essential.

Sometimes when we get caught up in the urgency and importance of things, we lose accountability and point fingers. We may put off a tedious or difficult task until crunch time—or worse, ask someone else to do it.

No one is perfect, but advancing your career means taking ownership of your responsibilities.

These are just a few reasons that accountability training can benefit your career.

What Does Personal Accountability in the Workplace Look Like?

When most people think of accountability, they probably think of admitting their mistakes. This idea isn’t necessarily untrue, but personal accountability is so much more.

At your job, accountability looks like being honest and dependable. It means you own up to what is yours—good and bad. The faction of personal accountability that perhaps matters most in the workplace is taking responsibility for your tasks and following through on them.

The Three C’s of Accountability

Personal accountability in the workplace is important for all, particularly those in leadership roles with direct reports. Most actions driven by personal integrity and accountability are inherent to one of the three C’s:

• Clarity: Make sure your marching orders are clear and easy to follow

• Courage: Don’t be afraid to be vocal when you need to correct someone or emphasize the expected standards

• Commitment: Follow through on consequences or rewards. Without doing so, other employees feel they can’t trust you with responsibilities

We want to be able to count on our leadership team and all of our fellow employees. Can you guide them through things that get challenging or when something urgent comes up? Without accountability, you’re only “talking the talk but not walking the walk.”

Who Is Accountability Training For?

In the workplace, personal accountability must be apparent from bottom to top. Therefore, everyone can absolutely benefit from accountability training!

Creating more workplace accountability creates a more positive work environment that makes employees want to stick around.

If you’re not in a leadership or managerial role yet, accountability training can help you propel your career forward.

At the REDC at Yavapai College, we understand that moving forward in your career can take a lot more than performing your job duties well. Take our Accountability at Work course and learn to be a better coworker and leader.

Five Ways Accountability Training Can Benefit Your Career

Learning accountability happens from when we are young, though it might be hard to translate into work performance for some. While the four-week accountability training at REDC will thoroughly explain the ins, outs, whys, and hows of taking accountability for your actions at work, here are five ways accountability training can benefit your career.

Resolve Conflicts

Once again, accountability does involve admitting mistakes and knowing where a breakdown occurred. If everyone takes responsibility for what they need to accomplish and admits to (and fixes) their mistakes, it stops the blame game.

Create Clear Lines of Communication

One of the three C’s of personal accountability in the workplace, clarity, can prevent many conflicts. Along with showing integrity, being transparent shows respect for employees and peers. It shows you trust them with their jobs and you respect their time.

Being closed off means no one can hold you accountable, and others must spend unnecessary time and energy getting what they need from you.

Focus on Your Goals

Taking ownership of your job and accomplishments generally means having defined, measurable goals. If you’re responsible for what you need to get done, it allows you to focus on those goals.

Goals don’t always have to be significant accomplishments. They can be:

• Completing a simple, daily task

• Organizing your workspace and keeping it tidy

• Creating more efficient methods within your job

Whether you want to complete the weekly report before the deadline on Friday or become a CEO in 10 years, accountability keeps you on track.

Showcase Leadership Skills

Your actions and attitudes are contagious. While accountability is looking out for your own actions and attitudes, you could indirectly inspire others to do the same. Attainable goals and a to-do list show you can properly delegate tasks to others. Holding yourself accountable can help when holding others accountable.

Build Trust

We trust people that do what they say they’re going to do. It means they’re honest and have the tenacity to make things happen. Employers look for people that can follow through on their promises. Building that trust through personal accountability is vital when looking for a promotion or a letter of recommendation.

Take the Next Step In Your Career

There are way more benefits to accountability training than we can list here. Our Accountability at Work course will fill you in on the rest and show you the steps for more accountability at work.

Utilize these skills and further your career with resources provided by the REDC. We host job fairs, list employment openings, and deliver courses and training across many industries. Get in touch today and see how we can help you further your career.