Have you ever worried that a colleague performing an important task for you may not be fully committed? On the other hand, if you’re confident they are fully engaged with the task, you can rest reassured  they will do everything possible to succeed. You’ll have peace of mind and be able to focus on other priorities.

Of course, the sense of responsibility is not the same from one person to another. It depends on our personal values and dispositions. However, it can be strengthened by favorable circumstances or undermined if the conditions for success are not set.

Are you able to tell how you contribute to these circumstances?

You should know that  a colleague’s sense of responsibility depends, to a large extent, on the degree of autonomy that you grant them. 

If you dictate precisely how to do things, step by step, then your colleague is likely to get bogged down, because they might have approached things differently. Thus, handcuffed by your directives, they will be less efficient and will perceive your attitude as a lack of trust in them. This will, in turn, affect their level of accountability. 

If you make all the decisions, or often overrule those made by your colleague, you are still showing a lack of trust in them. They will feel obligated to check everything with you, which will undermine their autonomy and sense of responsibility. 

Taking over their work to speed up the process or because you think you’ll do a better job also negatively affects their sense of responsibility. 

Next time, they may rely on your intervention, so they won’t be as engaged with the work as they should be.

In fact, the greater the autonomy, the more your employee will feel responsible for achieving their goals and objectives. If they take ownership of the approach, they will be more committed, because they won’t be able to hide behind the decisions of others. And all the credit (or almost all the credit!) will go to them. 

However, you should not leave them to navigate their own challenges, which would  be like taking a cold shower. If you leave a colleague with an insurmountable task, they will be less motivated to complete it..

On the contrary, consider incorporating follow-up routines according to the complexity of the task and your employee’s level of experience and autonomy. If they are experts and autonomous, give them a lot of leeway to achieve the expected results, which will help to motivate them. On the other hand, if they are less  experienced, be there to help them overcome the challenges they face while letting them do their own research. Your impact will be all the more positive if you encourage them to find solutions on their own through your judicious questioning. 

They will gain skills and confidence, and feel more responsible for their success the next time around.

Stay safe,

Ginette