Establishing Consequences for Failure to Perform Adequately

As the management system is being developed and the employees acquire new skills and start to change behavior patterns, there should be minimal or no consequences for poor performance. In this case, use positive reinforcement during the initial phase of performance evaluation. This will encourage employees natural desire to do what is right and to be recognized [1]. 

Although the goal of any accountability system should be to develop a sense of employee accountability for actions, employees must understand that there are negative consequences for poor performance. Consequences reinforce the importance of meeting stated objectives. Make sure that each manager and supervisor understands when the consequence will occur. There should be no surprises [1]. 

However, it is important that consequences be appropriate to the situation. For example, termination of a supervisor for his first poorly conducted incident investigation is an obvious example of overreacting to a problem. Gradually the consequences of poor performance should be increased to some specified maximum severity [1]. How many times have you heard of this situation Table 9-4 illustrates the difference between responsibility and accountability. 

Most supervisors today know that they are responsible for safety, and they know what they shonld be doing, yet they do not do it. Why Because they usually are not held acconntable. That is, they are not measured in safety [3]. 

Accountability is nothing if you cannot measure what you have established. To hold someone accountable, you must know if they are performing their job functions correctly. To understand these accomplishments, you must measure their performance. Without mea- 

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