What makes one team successful while another bickers and struggles to accomplish anything of substance?

I believe it all boils down to one word: accountability.

In my early career, the definition of workplace accountability seemed to be more about others holding others accountable. Using that definition, “Accountability in the workplace is all about setting and holding people to a common expectation by clearly defining the company’s mission, values, and goals.”

But that’s a difficult bar to exceed. A workplace study by Partners in Leadership found that 82% of respondents admitted that they have “limited to no” ability to hold others accountable successfully.

Not only that, but if we are constantly watching for others to make a misstep or fail in some way, we have now created a culture of fear, lack of trust and finger pointing. The fancy term for that is “external locus of control,” the belief that the actions of others – not ourselves – are the reason for things that happen or don’t happen in our lives.

Accountability: The Foundation of a Strong Culture

I have a different take on accountability. I believe, as Pete Lowe recently wrote, that “Real accountability happens in the context of a culture that supports trust and genuine teamwork, i.e. the recognition that everybody has a part to play of equal value to create a unified entity. Under this ethos, people are empowered to fulfil their role without fear of a blame culture.”

That’s exactly why CapRelo chose as its first value among seven this one: It’s my job.

We, each of us, take ownership of our work and our actions. We understand that what we each do or don’t do impacts how we are supporting a customer, or a customer’s employee who is relocating, or a vendor partner who is supporting that move, or an internal colleague who is trying to deliver a quality product on time and within budget.

How It’s My Job Makes Us Better

Having an “it’s my job” mentality makes us better global relocation managers. How? It means we trust each other to get the job done, to meet deadlines, to solve problems. And as a result, our customers trust us. Accountability is in large part why we’ve been the top rated relocation management company two years running by HRO Today.

Accountability is a fundamental piece of what has built the CapRelo culture. Through it, each one of us knows our goals, what our role is in achieving them, and is empowered and encouraged to take actions to support the goals and each other. If we make a misstep, we regroup, learn from it and get better, not point fingers or penalize.

It’s My Job is Reason Enough

When I think about accountability, the musician in me can’t help but think about an old Jimmy Buffett favorite in which the songwriter encounters a street sweeper happily doing his work in the middle of the night. When he asks why, the worker simply replies,

“It’s my job to be better than the rest
and that’s enough reason to go for me.”

Anyone in global relocation management knows that it takes a village of people to move one person, whether it is a few miles or a few thousand miles. It is critical that everyone in that village – all the different departments, divisions, outsourced partners and more – believes that it’s their job to be better than the rest.

At least, that’s what we believe at CapRelo. And that’s enough reason to go for me.

Looking for a global relocation services company where your successful move is their job one? Give us a call.