What is Accountability?

What is Accountability?

In the 2007 revision of OHSAS 18001, a requirement was added for allocating, documenting and communicating accountabilities — as well as responsibilities. While accountability is not defined in OHSAS 18001, it is an important concept in a management system.  The dictionary definition is “the state of being accountable, liable or answerable.”  According to wikipedia, the word “accountability” is an extension of the terminology used in money lending systems that first developed in Ancient Greece.  One would borrow money from a money lender and would then be held responsible for their account to that party.
It is worthwhile, in this context, to explore the differences between authority, responsibility and accountability in an organization:

• Authority is the right to make a decision or take an action
• Responsibility is the obligation to ensure that an action is taken
• Accountability is to be answerable for a particular activity or action to a particular entity

Although clearly related, these terms are not synonymous.  One may have the authority to take a certain action – for example, to spend money on behalf of the organization – but not be obligated to take that action.  Similarly, an individual may have an obligation to do something – for example, to ensure the organization complies with a particular legal requirement — but not be accountable.  The organization may lack a mechanism to hold that individual responsible (answerable) even if compliance is lacking.  Similarly,  an individual may be held accountable – e.g. fired for a particular action – even if he or she did not have the authority or the responsibility to accomplish the activity in question.
There are five key elements of an effective accountability system:

1. Clearly specified standards for authority and responsibility
2. Adequate resources to meet the assigned responsibilities
3. Monitoring and assessment of individual performance
4. Appropriate consequences for taking or failing to take action
5. Consistent and unbiased application of accountability standards

 It should be noted that accountability is not necessarily the same as blame.  Often, organizations seek to assign accountability only when they are looking for someone to blame.

How can you distinguish the difference?

In most organizations, much of what is done requires a group effort where no one person is completely responsible for a particular action or decision.  In addition, accountability goes hand-in-hand with authority and responsibility.  This means that, generally, those with the greatest accountability will be highest up in the organization.  Therefore, if you are truly attempting to identify who is accountable, the result will be a list of people that includes individuals at the top, as well as the bottom, of the org chart.  If you are seeking to assign blame, usually finding a single “fall guy” will be sufficient.