Managing for Accountability

Managing for Accountability

A Business Leader’s Toolbox

Lynne Curry
Managing for Accountability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox

Copyright © Lynne Curry, 2022.

Cover design by Charlene Kronstedt

Interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd., Chennai, India

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other
except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior
permission of the publisher.

First published in 2021 by

Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-63742-074-4 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-63742-075-1 (e-book)

Business Expert Press Human Resource Management and Organizational

Behavior Collection

Collection ISSN: 1946-5637 (print)

Collection ISSN: 1946-5645 (electronic)

First edition: 2021

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Ben Swann, the best son I could ever hope for.
To God, who is there with strength, comfort,
and wisdom in every part of my life.
 Description
Written by a veteran management consultant, Managing for Accountability:
A Business Leader’s Toolbox, gives business owners and managers a tool-
box containing everything they need to hire, inspire, manage, and retain
accountable employees who do what they say they will and who invest
100 percent effort into their jobs.
This book is perfect for those who want a roadmap detailing how
to: choose exactly the right employee; set expectations for accountability
as part of their company culture; inspire employees to “own” their jobs;
effectively address problem behaviors that get in the way of maximum
performance; retain their top talent; and create accountability in mem-
bers of Gen X, Y, and Z. Each chapter provides useful, practical, field-
tested strategies and solutions that can be immediately implemented.
Written for owners and managers who have little time to read,
Managing for Accountability is chockful of useful tips and well organized
to enable readers to return to specific chapters for a quick reference when
they need an immediate tactic or actionable strategy.
The author, a nationally respected organizational consultant and exec-
utive coach, offers explicit guidelines for coaching employees to work
their hardest to achieve breakthrough levels of performance, maintain-
ing employee commitment at a high level, and bonding employees into
high-performance teams united in achieving their employer’s business
goals and creating an accountability culture.
Readers will find the real-life stories engrossing and the checklists and
tools immediately actionable and will walk away knowing exactly how
to inspire employees, how to maintain employee commitment at a high
level, and how to create an accountability culture in their organization.

Keywords
accountability; productivity; results; employee performance; employee
engagement; employee motivation; ownership; retention; employee
­commitment; buy-in; self-management; all in; discretionary effort
 Contents
Advance Reviews������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xi
Foreword��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� xix
Acknowledgments������������������������������������������������������������������������������� xxiii

Chapter 1 What Managing for Accountability: A Business

Leader’s Toolbox Promises You������������������������������������������1
Chapter 2 The Accountability Payoff�������������������������������������������������5
Chapter 3 The Tools You Need to Attract Quality Applicants
and Screen for Accountability�����������������������������������������11
Chapter 4 Creating Accountability and Forward Momentum
in Your Employees����������������������������������������������������������39
Chapter 5 Creating an Accountability Environment�����������������������59
Chapter 6 Inspiring Your Employees to Work as One Team������������69
Chapter 7 Pressing Reset if Employees Start to Slip From
Accountability����������������������������������������������������������������95
Chapter 8 Coaching Your Employees to Increased Accountability����105
Chapter 9 Retaining Your Top Talent��������������������������������������������121
Chapter 10 Tailoring Your Accountability Management Strategies
to Gen X, Y, and Z�������������������������������������������������������139

Bibliography���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������149
About the Author��������������������������������������������������������������������������������151
Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������153
 Advance Reviews
“In Managing for Accountability, Lynne Curry effectively distills 40 years
of experience counseling companies across the globe into a practical, step-
by-step guide that helps any leader and organization create and sustain a
culture of accountability. Curry provides real-life experiences and field-tested
solutions to recruit, retain, and inspire high-performing teams. The strate-
gies in Managing for Accountability are useful, simple, and put immediate
results within every leader’s reach. The book is as enjoyable to read as it is
valuable.”—Mark D. Nelson, President and CEO, Bristol Bay
Industrial, LLC

“Managing for Accountability is a top choice in my library of recommended

reads. Dr. Lynne Curry has assisted me, my partners, and employees through
challenges for more than three decades. She’s helped us to work together profes-
sionally to achieve our potential, always focused on excellence. She has always
been responsive, straightforward, and direct with her meaningful advice
and counsel assisting me to develop and grow in leadership.”—Larry Cash,
Founder and Chair of the Board, RIM Alaska, California, Guam,
Hawaii

“Managing for Accountability’s author is brilliant, inspirational, creative, and

brings a fresh and compassionate insight into the workplace. It is a comprehen-
sive and well-written guidebook that every executive, manager, and supervisor
will want on their desk. It promotes new ideas for improving employee perfor-
mance, morale, and the bottom line while creating new cultures. I write this
as a business leader with 35 plus years working in the resource and technology
industry, government, and the nonprofit sector. This book is a necessary read
for management and leaders to succeed in a changing business world, as well
as creating future workplace cultures.”—Rebecca Parker, Executive
Director of the Anchorage Senior Activity Center
xii Advance reviews

“In Managing for Accountability, Curry has assembled a collection of les-

sons learned from her decades of management experience, with lots of strate-
gies and examples that can be applied on a daily basis. This book belongs in
every manager’s toolbox!”—Roger Weese, President, Principal, RSA
Engineering, Inc.

“Lynne Curry writes about a topic she has lived with, taught on, and written
about every day for many years. In her trainings, I have experienced the depth
of her understanding when it comes to people and their relationships to their
work. The advice column she produces rivals Dear Abby, except that they are
aimed directly at the workplace and how to improve the work environment.”
—Mike Coumbe, Deputy Director, Alaska Conservation Foundation

“I’ve been following Lynne Curry’s superb work as a successful management

consultant and coach for over 25 years. Curry’s conversational and fast-paced
writing style is wonderfully matched with her many pages of important prin-
ciples for effectively inspiring employees to work harder and as a team fully
united toward a common goal.”—Larry Wood, attorney and mediator

“Managing for Accountability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox is a must have

for every leader seeking to inspire stellar performance from every employee.
Accountability is made, not born and is created, ignited, and fueled by your
actions as a leader. Lynne Curry has taken her four decades of human resources
expertise and loaded this book with tools for optimizing employees’ commit-
ment. This is a must read!”—Gail Forrest, Senior Human Resources
Consultant at Tandem HR

“Lynne Curry is both an expert in her field and a professional with a knack
for breaking challenges down and giving readers roadmaps to help them
through difficulties. Managing for Accountability is loaded with valuable
information and guidance for becoming a better leader.”—Millie Johnson,
Vice President of Shareholder Development at Chugach Alaska
Corporation, a company with more than 5,000 employees

“Lynne Curry’s new book drills down to the core of profit, management, and
organizational leadership via the relationship between accountability and
leadership. The book is a terrific explanation of what accountability means
 Advance reviews xiii

to an organization and its relationship to profit and leadership.”—Human

Resources Attorney Charles Krugel

“Lynne Curry has identified a key managerial and organization problem and
provided practical, achievable, and quantifiable solutions. Creating an orga-
nization with accountability from top to bottom and reaping the benefits of a
well-functioning team is worth the effort.”—Tom Van Flein, Chief of Staff
and General Counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives

“The key to Lynne Curry’s advice is that it is indeed “actionable”.”—Nancy

Johnson, Vice President and General Manager, KTUU TV

“Managing for Accountability’s no-nonsense approach to recruiting, hiring,

developing, and managing a culture of accountability in the workforce
provides today’s business leaders with a comprehensive proven toolset.”
—Jim Bates, President, LMJ Consulting

“In Managing for Accountability, Curry has assembled a collection of lessons

learned from her decades of management experience, with lots of strategies
and examples that can be applied on a daily basis.This book belongs in
every manager’s toolbox!”—Roger Weese, President, Principal, RSA
Engineering, Inc.

“Managing for Accountability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox has exactly the

information and guidance I’ve been seeking. It’s a practical read with a
no-nonsense approach. It offers an easy how-to implementation guide for deal-
ing with real on-the-job scenarios. After my first read, I found myself going
back to key points I picked up from the book. I was able to execute these tools
with employees. Curry delivers her straight-to-the-point professional advice
in a way that is easily implementable.”—Brooke McLaughlin, Associate
Broker, The Summit Group

“Curry’s Managing for Accountability puts 39 years of management con-

sulting experience into one easy-to-read tool for managers at different levels.
Curry’s ideas are easy to implement and they deliver measurable results.”
—Dee Buchanon, owner, Apex Marketing and Alaska Statewide
Director of Marketing, Subway Development, Inc.
xiv Advance reviews

Curry expertly covers how to assess your corporate culture and create a real,
effective culture of accountability.”—Todd Clark, President, DenaliTEK

“This is a clearly written guide to achieving an accountable workplace, one

in which managers and employees work for a common goal. Lynne Curry’s
years of experience have produced a book that will be valuable to any
organization.”—Harry Cylinder, CPCU, ARM Risk and Insurance
Consultant, Beacon Insurance Services

“A must read for every business leader. Dr. Lynne Curry provides proven strat-
egies to guarantee your team members are fully vested and committed to your
organization’s success. It provides solid advice for virtually every situation that
business leaders face on a daily basis.”—Paulette Dale, Ph.D, Professor
Emeritus, Miami Dade College and Author, Did You Say Something,
Susan?

“Managing for Accountability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox fills a long over-

due gap in hands-on leadership resources and will elevate the productivity
of today’s workforce and instill in them a sense of pride and accountability
for their work. Dr. Curry’s pragmatic approach to accountability and trust
translates theory and concepts into a series of carefully considered steps to
create an environment where accountability thrives.”—Wilson Duffles, Vice
President, Digital Solutions

“Managing for Accountability offers readers Curry’s many years of experience

and relays her message with eloquence, knowledge, and a high EQ. I will be
the first in line to purchase it for my current and future clients!”—Debbie
Heckendorn, PHR, SHRM CP, President, HR Virtual Partners, LLC

“Lynne Curry writes a timely book for organizations, managers, and leaders
at all levels. Her emphasis on “accountability” underlies the foundation of
organizations that seek a well-aligned, competitive team.”—Matt Heilala,
President, Alaska Foot and Ankle Specialists

“Managing for Accountability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox is a common

sense, tactical guide to better accountability. It’s full of things you know or
 Advance Reviews xv

should know and must do to optimize talent.”—Karen King, President &

CEO, Spawn Ideas

“Lynne Curry’s writing style is refreshing and easy to read. Curry lays a great
foundation for learning the good, the bad, and the ugly of what accountabil-
ity is and is not and how to be successful when fostering it. I can’t wait to
share Managing for Accountability with my leaders.”—Stacy Laackmann,
SPHR, Human Resources Director, Northern Valley Health, Inc.

“Managing for Accountability is for business leaders who are serious about
success. Its pages are filled with proven strategies and the practical tools
that you’ve been looking for. Get ready to ignite peak performance that will
launch your organization to unprecedented heights.”—Todd Michero, Lead
Pastor, Community Covenant Church

“Managing for Accountability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox offers easily found

answers to questions every responsible organization should be asking its lead-
ership. For anyone who is looking for specific strategies for an issue or problem,
the book is arranged in a manner that lets you go right to the section you
need to find an answer quickly. The book is well-written and gives the reader
a step-by-step process to help make improvements in employee attitude and
work performance. It’s a must read!”—David Morgan, Director, Alaskan
Center for Sustainable Healthcare

“Dr. Lynne Curry’s Managing with Accountability inspires you to be a leader

with compassion, empathy, and accountability. You will learn strategies to
recruit and retain top-performing team members. Using real-world exam-
ples, Curry radiates inspirational leadership and helps you create a healthy
work culture that motivates your employees to always perform at their
best.”—Brenda Pacarro, Workforce and Shareholder Development
Supervisor/HR, Calista Corporation

“A company culture that promotes employee accountability will have a com-

petitive advantage in any market. Lynne Curry’s Managing for Account-
ability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox provides business owners and executives
with the skills and strategies that will inspire both managers and employees
xvi Advance reviews

to be fully committed to and work hard for the company. This book will be a
must read if you want to optimize your company’s most valuable resource—
your employees.”—D. Michael Rabe, Principal/Civil Engineer, CRW
Engineering, LLC

“Lynne Curry has long been recognized as a leading expert in the field of
human resources and employee relations. Curry has risen to the difficult
task of resolving management/employee issues with a remarkable record of
success in getting companies back on track. Managing for Accountabil-
ity should be a required reading and kept close at hand as a resource to be
consulted.”—Attorney William Satterberg

“Managing for Accountability is a tool every leader and manager will dog-
ear and have in the top tray of their toolbox.”—Pat Shier, recipient of the
Governor’s Denali Award for Individual Leadership and National
Cooperative Rx Executive Board Member

“In Managing for Accountability and in her writing and training, Lynne
Curry gives managers, leaders, andemployees practical tools to make the
workplace fast-paced, energizing, and a source of rejuvenation.”—Ramji
Srinivasan, Founder and CEO at Teiko.bio

“Managing for Accountability is a must-have, well-written book using relat-

able experiences that companies can reference to elevate their team’s account-
ability. We can all benefit from Curry’s expertise to elevate our HR ROI to 100
percent.”—Gail Stelling, Controller, Arizona Commerce Authority

“Dr. Lynne Curry has long been the emergency responder for many businesses.
We have called Lynne to help us navigate the most challenging moments of
growing our business from one to over two thousand employees. When a sit-
uation seemed impossibly mired in complexity and negativity, Curry would
calmly and professionally chart a path out of the woods for us. In Man-
aging for Accountability, Curry has distilled the lessons of her long career
creating solutions from conflict and dysfunction. She is a brilliant commu-
nicator who can distill complex strategies and techniques into accessible and
 Advance Reviews xvii

a­ ction-oriented language, a skill she has clearly brought to the writing of

this book.Business leaders should have this one sitting on their desk for quick
reference.”—Dave Stephens, Chief Executive Officer, Ouzinkie Native
Corporation and Katmai Government Services

“Positive. Practical. Succinct. Wise. In Managing for Accountability,

Dr. Lynne Curry taps her vast experience to offer a top-notch handbook for
those striving to manage with integrity and skill. For quality hires and mea-
surable productivity, this gem of a book is chock-full of insights.”—Award-
winning author and former small business owner, Cheryl Bostrom

“I found Managing for Accountability: A Business Leader’s Toolbox insightful.

As a leader, I appreciated the steps and questions presented to engage employ-
ees to get there.”—Tiffany Van Horn, BU President at Corix Group of
Companies

“This hands-on guide will show you where to focus and what to do to create an
engaged, productive culture.”—Wanda T. Wallace, Managing Partner of
TheLeadership Forum and Author of You Can’t Know It All: Leading
in the Age of Deep Expertise

“Managing for Accountability outlines practical and actionable steps to

attract, inspire, and motivate employees to take full responsibility for organi-
zational success.”—Barbara Bell, RurAL CAP, Chief People & Culture
Officer

“Managing for Accountability provides inspiration as well as tangible and

effective action steps for leaders to level up their workplace culture to one
of accountability. It’s a must-read for leaders who are committed to leading
from the front.”—Jennifer Woodward, Human Resources Manager,
Chickaloon Village Traditional Council.
 Foreword
I am a Fortune 500 General Counsel with experience in labor and
employment counseling and litigation for three large organizations across
three different industries. I am also the Founder and President of a man-
agement consulting firm that focuses on process improvement and reso-
lution of employment disputes.
I have been connected to Lynne Curry for over eight years on LinkedIn
and have followed her impressive career during this time. Lynne is an
exceptional professional with tremendous expertise in all types of employ-
ment matters. Indeed, for 39 years, she led her own training and human
resources consulting firm that served over 4,300 clients in 21 states and
three countries.
In addition to being the “Dear Abby” of employment law, and pub-
lishing weekly advice columns on tricky workplace issues in several states
for many years, she is also a successful author of four books on a range of
important workplace topics.
Accountability is the key to all corporate success. From a personal
level, I pride myself on being an extremely accountable person, ensuring
that I always meet my commitments to others. Being accountable has led
to increasing levels of responsibility throughout my law firm and in-house
career.
From a corporate perspective, accountability is a topic that I am
very familiar with, since one of my former employers emphasized it as
one of the top competencies needed for success at their organization. To
drive this competency to the next level, I was charged with creating an
Accountability team in their Legal Department and developing a new
process for enhancing accountability in corporate projects.
Once developed, this new process was rolled out broadly and was
presented at a Global Legal Conference and shared with other functions
within their organization. My positive experience driving accountabil-
ity within that organization convinced me embedding this competency
within any company can be a real game-changer on every level.
xx Foreword

Lynne’s new book on accountability provides extremely valuable

information to help readers like you bring your organization to unprec-
edented levels of success by teaching you everything you need to know
about accountability.
Critical topics covered in this practical toolkit for success include:

• What is accountability, and why it is important for corporate

success
• How to determine if your company has an accountable cul-
ture and, if not, how to drive a culture of accountability
• How to hire accountable employees, including the specific
questions you should ask during interviews
• How to strengthen accountability in new employees and how
to coach existing employees to become more accountable
• How to create an accountable environment from the top
down using goals, measures, rewards, modeling accountable
behavior, and personal connection to employees
• How to create high-functioning teams whose members are
accountable to one another
• How to address performance issues by encouraging employees
to choose accountability
• How to retain top talent through stay interviews, enhancing
trust, providing flexibility, and offering development oppor-
tunities
• How a coaching culture enhances accountability
• How to tailor your accountability strategy to be most effective
for employees of different generations

In addition, the book includes real-world examples of how account-

ability concepts and strategies have been successfully applied to companies
facing challenges like you face each and every day in your organization.
Because of the importance of this topic and the significant positive
impact that enhancing accountability will have on your company’s suc-
cess and bottom line, this is a leadership book well worth reading and
 Foreword xxi

adding to your permanent leadership library. I know that I will add it to

mine and will refer to this valuable leadership book time and time again
in my career.
—Wendy L. Hufford, Founder and President,
Effective Dispute Management, LLC, Rye, NY, 2021
 Acknowledgments
Richard Birdsall, J.D., a trusted friend and sounding board who has worked with
me for more a decade and has graciously reviewed every concept presented
4,300+ clients who provided thousands of opportunities by offering 43 years of
challenges to fix
Wilson Duffles, Vice President of Digital Solutions, Chugach Government
Solutions, who pushed me to add new topic areas
Bryan Emmons who created IT sanity, despite COVID-19
Millie Johnson, Vice President of Shareholder Development at Chugach Alaska
Corporation, a company with more than 5,000 employees, who encouraged
me by saying “I can’t wait for this book to be published; it’s a roadmap”
Wendy Hufford, Fortune 500 senior vice president, general counsel, and
fortune 20 chief litigation counsel, who squeezed reviewing Managing for
Accountability into her busy schedule
Karen King, President and CEO of Spawn Ideas, whose company ranked nine
years in Outside magazine’s “50 Best Places to Work” in America, who
generously squeezed reviewing this book into her fast-paced life
Eric Lincoln Miller, an agent who supports his authors’ 100 percent
Subscribers to www.workplacecoachblog.com who field-tested many of the
concepts presented in the book now in your hands
Zeke, Deuce, Gracie, and Gabriel who thrust leashes into my hand to encourage
“open air thinking” to enhance each day’s writing

Other Books by Lynne Curry

Beating the Workplace Bully: A Tactical Guide to Taking Charge by Lynne Curry,
AMACOM, 256 pages, 2016
Solutions, Communication Works Inc., 2006 and 2012
Won By One, Communication Works, Inc., 2002
Managing Equally and Legally, McFarland & Company, 1990
 CHAPTER 1

What Managing for

Accountability:
A Business Leader’s Toolbox
Promises You
Accountability is a choice, a decision you want each of your employees to
make. Accountable employees demonstrate ownership and take responsi-
bility for results. Employees with accountability invest themselves in your
organization; they give 100 percent. They do what they say they will,
and more.
Accountable employees ask:

• “How can I contribute?”

• “How can I help my employer, manager, and coworker
succeed?”
• “How can I be more productive?”

When you view the inside of an organization staffed by accountable

employees, you see employees who:

• Show up on time and ready to work

• Communicate openly and candidly
• Demonstrate reliability
• Work hard
• Admit and learn from their mistakes
• Show initiative and tackle obstacles
• Listen to and act on improvement-oriented feedback
2 Managing For Accountability

Accountable employees make an owner or executive’s work life easier

and fuel an organization’s success.
Accountable employees also benefit from enhanced professional
fulfillment, along with increased respect and recognition from their
­
managers and colleagues.

Making Accountability Happen

Accountability doesn’t happen by chance. Although business owners and
executives agree that employees can create an organization’s competitive
advantage, few know exactly how to inspire employees to be “all in,” fully
invested, and engaged in their work. Creating an accountable organi-
zation requires that an owner, executive, and manager make the right
choices, take the correct actions, and use finely honed skills and strategies.
In Managing for Accountability, you will learn:

• How to recruit employees that give 100 percent effort on

the job.
• The clues that tell you a potential hire is someone who takes
responsibility for results and demonstrates resilience, even
when the going gets tough.
• How to maintain your employee’s enthusiasm and commit-
ment at a high level.
• How to inspire employees to show initiative and collaborate
with peers.
• How you as a leader can create an accountability culture in
your organization.
• How to positively confront and motivate an employee to
develop a results-based approach.
• How to build a high-performing, highly accountable team.
• How to retain highly accountable employees who will power
your organization to continued success.

Each chapter of Managing for Accountability provides you tools,

skills, and solutions, along with actionable strategies for maintaining
your employees’ commitment, excitement, and effort. You will find the
 What Managing for Accountability 3

chapters chockful of useful tips and well organized to enable you to return
to them for a quick reference when you need an immediate tactic.
The net result you will receive from reading and using the strategies
presented in Managing for Accountability—you will manage employees
who are “all in” and do what they say they will—and more. You will gain
100 percent value from your payroll dollars.
Here’s your guided tour through the chapters:
In Chapter 2, you will learn what it means to have a workplace in
which your employees act with accountability, tackle problems, overcome
obstacles, and achieve results. You will understand how accountability
starts with you and how your leadership defines a culture of account-
ability. You will uncover key strategies for assessing and upgrading your
workplace culture.
In Chapter 3, you will learn how to attract quality candidates and
screen them for accountability. If you have ever hired a lion and dis-
covered you instead on-boarded a kitty, you will learn what to do and
what not to do in your future recruitment endeavors when screening and
­interviewing to avoid unwanted surprises.
In Chapter 4, you will learn strategies and tools for creating account-
ability and forward momentum in your employees. You will learn how
to get your employees aligned and moving in the direction you want.
You will learn how to lead your employees to take initiative and to give
100 percent.
In Chapter 5, you will learn how to create an accountability environ-
ment in your business. You will gain actionable strategies and tools for
creating, increasing, and measuring accountability. You will learn how
to use scores, goals, and incentives to incite your employees to win for
themselves and your organization.
In Chapter 6, you will learn how to inspire your employees to work
harder and as one team, united toward a common goal. You will learn
the specific steps that build a high-performance team and how to lead
high-energy team events.
In Chapter 7, you will learn how to press the reset button should an
employee start to slip. You will learn how to effectively address broken
promises, unmet expectations, and other work performance and attitude
issues that get in the way of maximum performance.
4 Managing For Accountability

In Chapter 8, you will learn how to coach your employees, deepening

their personal and professional accountability and commitment. You will
learn concrete strategies for increasing every employee’s commitment, job
satisfaction, and connection to your organization’s mission and goals.
In Chapter 9, you will learn proven strategies for retaining your best
employees and for avoiding the missteps that often lead good employers
to lose their best employees.
Chapter 10 focuses on tailoring your accountability management
strategies for Gen X, Y, and Z employees, who often don’t respond as well
to ­traditional managerial strategies.

How I Can Make These Promises to You?

For 39 years, I ran a nationally respected management consulting com-
pany in which all employees aligned with our company’s mission and
vision. I teach accountability to business owners, executives, managers,
and supervisors.
I have directly worked with more than 4,300 organizations in
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois,
Michigan, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington, Washington D.C.,
China, England, Guam, Japan, and Korea. My clients have included
British Petroleum, Conoco Phillips, the U.S. Department of Defense,
and the World Bank.
I have qualified in court as an expert witness in the areas of Manage-
ment Best Practices, Human Resources, and Workplace Issues.
I commit to you an enjoyable read and a book you can learn from.
Managing for Accountability provides proven strategies and tools you can
immediately apply and includes real-world examples that show how these
tools and strategies have worked for others and can prove successful for
you.1

1
 Throughout Managing for Accountability, “employees” refers to managers and
employees.
 Index
accountability control, 44–45
culture, 7–10 engagement, 73, 82, 86–89, 134
employees lacking, 6 guidelines, 96–99
environment, 59–60 motivation, 57, 66, 99, 124
leaders and, 7–10 opportunity and, 125–127
organization and, 5–7 and organizations, 122
all hands’ meetings, 48 performance, 34, 95, 101, 115,
all in, 2, 3, 6 125, 132, 141
alternative schedules, 130 engagement discussions, 86–89
Equal Employment Opportunity
Baby Boomer, 140 (EEO), 20–21
back three jobs approach, 27–28 expectation, 41–42
balloons, 80–81 and outcome, 100–101
Better Buys analysis, 134 team alignment, 86–88
buy-in, 59–60
feedback, 115–116
career development questions, first-year churn, 40
110–111 flexibility, 128–136
coaching, 105 FlexJobs survey, 128–129, 131
benefits, 106
confidence, 108–109 Gallup study, 132–133, 141
employees and, 108, 109 General Educational Development
feedback, 115–116 (GED), 99
goals, 108, 109 Gen X, 140–142
instill confidence, 108–109 Gen Y, 142–145
proficiency and success, 106–108 Gen Z, 145–146
questioning technique, 110–114 global supply chain, 84
recognition, 116–117 Global Workplace Analytics, 131
relationship, 45–47 goals, 62, 64
360-degree review, 117–119 goal-setting process, 62–64
compensation system, 127–128 guilt-free stepping away, 130
CoSo Cloud, 131
COVID-19 pandemic, 129–130, Harris Poll, 135
136–137 Harvard Business Review, 128–131,
144
discretionary effort, 44, 124 helium, 80
distributorship, 83–84 honesty, 101
hospital, 83
e-mail screening, 18–20 human resource (HR) departments,
employee 36, 39
commitment, 2, 4, 40–42,
107, 141 Indeed.com, 16
154 Index

job review, 56–57 recognition, 116–117

Jobs.shrm.org, 16 strategies for, 133–134, 136–137
recruiting strategy, 15–16
leadership role, 95–96 recruitment, 131–132
legal screening, 20–28 reference checking, 34–37
LinkedIn Jobs, 16 remote work, 129
LinkedIn’s 2020 Workplace Learning results, 6, 13, 116, 125, 133
Report, 135 retention, 6, 122–124, 128–129
low-cost strategy, 135–136 COVID-19 pandemic and,
136–137
Management by Walking Around Reward Gateway survey, 132–133
(MBWA), 47–48 rewards and incentives, 67–68
ManpowerGroup Solutions, 132
meeting itself, 54–56 sample in-person interview
meta-expressions, 27 questions, 30
Millennials, 142–145 scavenger hunt, 74
mystery, removing, 53 scorekeeping, 65–66
scores and wins, 66–68
NAVAIR recruiting ad, 12 screening process, 16–20
newspaper, 82–83 script, 102–104
no-cost strategy, 135–136 self-assessment, 9–10
nonverbal clues, 26–27 self-management, 68, 111–112
notes, 26 skip-level meetings, 52–56
stay interviews, 123–129
onboarding, 39–40 sweet spot, 98–99
first-year churn, 40
new hire expectations, 41–42 talent bank, 73–74
open door, 48 team
open-ended questions, 67 balloons, 80–81
open-ended searching questions, 98 benefit, 70
OUCH test, 21–24 characteristics, 89
outcome-focused, 100–101 defined, 69–70
ownership, 17, 59, 95, 147 engagement discussions, 86–89
evaluation rating chart, 93
partnering questions, 112–113 forming, 72
personal/video interviews, 25–26 helium, 80
phone screening, 24–25 metaphor, 85
pie, 81–84 norming, 84
productivity, 6, 56, 82–84, 124, operating agreements, 89–91
130–131 organizations lacking, 70–72
professional development, 134–136 output, focus, and operations, 92
performing, 89
questioning, 31–32 pie, 81–84
skills, 28–29 scavenger hunt, 74
technique, 110–114 storming, 78–79, 89
question list, 25–26 talent bank, 73–74
question timing strategy, 29–31 toxic popcorn, 74–85
 Index 155

team development wheel, 72 upheavals, 48–52

360-degree review, 117–119
toxic popcorn, 74–85 warm invite, 53–54
Tuckman, B., 72, 91 “why,” 60–62
turnover costs, 121 work/life balance, 128–129
workload, 130
unconventional hours, 129–130
Uniformed Services Employment and XYZ Corporation’s ad, 12
Reemployment Rights Act
(USSERA), 21 ZipRecruiter.com, 16