Compassionate Culture:  Driving Accountability In the Workplace

Julie Boggess
A workplace culture of compassion fosters a caring and empathetic environment. Workplace culture can directly influence recruitment, productivity, and retention  Certainly, unleashing the untapped compassion within our staff is close to impossible when morale is in the tank. Building a workplace culture of compassion is the best decision companies can make to influence their bottom line.

 
 As a leader within the healthcare industry, I have had to balance kindness, care, and concern with a focus on outcomes. But how do I drive accountability in a compassionate way? 
 
 
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 What is Accountability?

An obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions

Merriam-Webster

A recent survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review found more than 5,400 upper-level managers found that accountability was their single most neglected behavior and that 46% failed to perform in this critical area. There are essential components for supporting a culture of compassion with accountability. 

Gallup Workplace offers this framework:

1. Define what people are accountable for. 

For some, compassionate actions in care delivery come naturally, and others need more instruction.  Compassion is more than an abstract concept, and there are specific actions that employees can incorporate in care and service delivery to demonstrate compassion. Develop a universal playbook through education that can be efficiently accessed and self-paced.   

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2. Set organizational and personal employee goals. 

This is a good opportunity to identify strengths and opportunities for growth.  Access a simple tool via the link below that can help you assess your organization's opportunities to improve aspects of a compassionate culture.  Distribute this tool to as many employees as you can to establish your baseline.

3. Give employees updates.

Build investment in building a compassionate culture by sharing progress.  The Compassion Culture Temperature Tool can be your gauge for tracking progress.  

4. Invest in development, learning, and growth. 

One and done training/education will not yield desirable results.  Build in-house training capabilities with train the trainer programs that help build a sustainable compassion culture.  All AGE-u-cate programs include a train the trainer component to help staff grow coaching and mentoring skills.  

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5. Recognize and celebrate progress. 

Recognition goes a long way in reinforcing desirable employee actions.  According to Gallup Workplace, "Praise for good work is the most motivating form of all feedback."  This is a simple, yet often forgotten element of creating a culture of accountability."  In addition, "Identify, celebrate and learn from successes. It motivates employees to stretch and creates responsibility role models for others to follow."

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

– Albert Einstein

 

Request our Compassion Culture Temperature Tool

 

 

Conclusion
 
 Holding employees accountable with compassion is important and essential for company growth. If you are unable to create an environment of compassionate accountability, then you create a culture of inadequacy. Adopting an environment where all team members strive to create a positive work culture that holds employees accountable and meets goals will be rewarding in which everyone can be an integral part of the team.
  
AGE-u-cate has tools to assist in meeting goals for building a compassionate culture.  
 
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