5.1 Explain the principle of accountability in an organisation
Accountability is an assurance that an individual or an organisation will be evaluated on their performance or behaviour related to something for which they are responsible.
Key Points
• Accountability in business is critical, as the concept enhances the ethics of managers.
• Being accountable means standing by decisions, actions, and the overall well-being of projects.
• Accountability is also a management process that ensures employees answer to their superior for their actions and that supervisors behave responsibly as well.
• Accountability addresses both the organisation's expectation of the employee and the employee's expectation of the organisation.
• Accountable employees help to increase performance of business as a whole and to maintain a positive company culture, vision, and ethics.
• Accountability on a global scale, particularly in the case of NGOs, is complicated by the fact that different countries have varying legislative perspectives when it comes to accountability.
In organisations, accountability is a management control process in which responses are given for a person's actions. These responses can be positive or negative. Depending on the response, the person might need to correct his or her error. In other words, accountability refers to individual responsibility for the work performed and answering to peers and superiors for performance.
Examples of