Do your employees have an attendance problem? Or does your organisation have an accountability problem?

Is punctuality an issue in your organisation? Because getting some employees to show up on time isn’t easy. 

It’s often made harder because organisations see it as an attendance problem, not an accountability problem.

Let me explain. If an employee knows what time they’re supposed to be at work and they don’t show up on time, the employee has an attendance problem. If you’ve communicated to the employee what the expectation is and they still don’t come to work on time, then you have an accountability problem.

HR managers must recognise when an organisation has an accountability issue, instead of simply blaming the employee for their misconduct or wrongdoing.

In this blog, we’ll explore the difference between attendance and accountability and why it’s an important distinction. We’ll then look at how to implement accountability in your organisation.

Accountability and attendance 

When your organisation creates a policy or procedure, you’re communicating to employees how you expect and want certain things done, and what will happen if they’re not done. Meaning what the consequences are.

The consequences don’t have to be disciplinary. It could be a conversation with a manager. An email warning. Or a perk revoked. The point is, the employee understands the consequences.

And if they don’t follow the rules and aren’t disciplined, they know they can get away with it. And some organisations let it snowball, and don’t do anything about it because it creates more work.

They let it slide because they don’t want to deal with the possibility of losing an employee and the extra work that it creates. But sometimes the situation can get out of control. Which is why organisations need to get better at holding employees accountable.

Why is it important to be accountable?

Sooner or later, the frustration will reach a peak. You won’t be able to help yourself, and you’ll make an example of the employee. Feelings are hurt. It becomes personal. It’s messy and ugly.

Employees learn by doing. So, other employees will figure out that they can get away with something because there’s no accountability, and will start to test the system. Not every employee will do this, but I’m sure you can think of a few employees who will. 

This is why holding employees accountable from the beginning is really important. All the time. If HR managers are worried about the work they’ll have to deal with to keep employees accountable, you can assure them that they’ll have more work to do when they onboard new employees. And a plan can always be put into place to rearrange internal work or adjust deadlines.

Because not holding employees accountable for being late is a slippery slope. Now sure, being late “isn’t a big deal”. But it communicates to employees that they can disrespect other policies because they won’t be held accountable.

Organisations spend a tremendous amount of time focused on the wrong direction and not addressing the root cause of the problem. Which is why it’s really important to recognise when a situation has an accountability issue, because it will save you the most scarce resource your company has—time. 

No amount of money can buy your organisation a 25-hour day. So what’s the best way to focus on accountability? Take accountability as an HR department.

How to take accountability first  

Apple is the best example of this. 

Steve Jobs coined the concept of the directly responsible individual. Everything at Apple, from new AI map tools to the species of tree inside the Apple Store, is assigned to someone and they’re directly responsible for it. 

Now, completing the project or task isn’t a measure of success or failure. But by explicitly giving other employees clarity around accountability, there’s less room for embarrassment, pointing fingers and playing the blame game. 

Another great way to keep your department accountable when communicating and interacting with employees is to make sure you: 

• Complete tasks for them in the agreed upon timeline.
• Be responsible for the success of your team and make the effort to support them when needed. 
• Respect everyone by showing up prepared and on time to meetings.
• Don’t sweep problems under the rug or assume the issue is already being dealt with. Instead, flag issues as they arise.

When one person isn’t accountable, it becomes everyone else's problem. And then it snowballs. And then things like missing deadlines and arriving late to work become the norm. You suffer. Your team suffers. And eventually, your workplace culture suffers too.

About us

Martian Logic has been guiding HR teams in building accountable, transparent workplaces for years. Our intuitive HRIS covers recruitment and onboarding to performance management and compliance ensuring your organisation can identify issues early and tackle them effectively. With real-time analytics and customisable workflows, our platform helps managers apply policies evenly so employees know exactly what’s expected, with no guesswork involved. Ready to transform your HR strategy and foster a culture of accountability? Contact us today and discover how Martian Logic can boost engagement, retention, and long-term success.