Analysis of the Importance of Accountability - Essay Example

? The Importance of Accountability of Learning Accountability refers to a situation where an individual or an organization has an obligation to give an account of their activities in their bid to achieve the set goals. In addition, it can be termed to as a form of liability that binds the employees due to their willingness to engage in duties presented upon them. This leaves them answerable to their actions as they discharge their duties. Due to the fact that the employees and management will be held accountable, it helps to instill a sense of a responsibility in the organization (Caulfield, 2005). This paper will provide an in-depth analysis of the importance of accountability and how it comes into play in a working environment. Health care is one of the most important sectors in any country considering that it affects the peoples living directly and therefore accountability is crucial in its every activity. The industry has a duty to ensure the populace health is safeguarded in all means possible; in addition proper discharge of its duties can helps save many lives. The cost of delivering health care services in most cases is very high due to the high cost of drugs and machines used in this sector. The cost of hiring specialized staff is also a major factor in furthering cost of acquiring these lifesaving services. Unfortunately, whatever costs that are involved somebody has to shoulder the ultimate bill. In this case the victim happens to be the patient whose immediate health is already compromised by the ailments. It is therefore of great importance that everyone who plays a role in the cost allocations be accountable as a form of humane gesture, as this can help reduce unnecessary financial burden on insurance companies and patients. In addition, accountability in the health industry is of great importance in the drugs administration process. Proper drugs administration ensures complete and timely healing of an ailing individual, while improper or careless administration of drugs on the other hand can be life threatening and lethal in some cases. Despite this, this duty is executed by people who sometimes are prone to errors; for example, a health care staff administers some drugs wrongly, he/she should admit to committing such an error so that necessary corrective measures can be undertaken to restore the patient stability and avert any loss of life. In this way, accountability can also help prevent future acts of negligence. Additionally, when it comes to procurement process a high level of accountability is required since procurement department has a duty of ensuring that pharmaceutical products are available, the right quantity and at the right price. Any acts of corruption may cripple the smooth running of the industry/sector. Proper auditing censuring the relevant staffs are held accountable can help to deter such heinous acts. This could ultimately save and safeguard tax payers’ money. To effectively measure the employees’ accountability, a performance management system must be in place and also a well drafted method of performance appraisal (Sirotnik, 2004). The system will ensure that all the relevant data is captured about the employee such as the time he/she gets in for the shift, the activities he/she engage in etc. The other informal way of measuring the employee accountability is through the managers and supervisors. They can also be tasked with the role of ensuring that they provide a continuous feedback for and to the staff they supervise. They can also enhance employee performance through the constant monitoring of their activities in the workplace, as the feeling of being watched can make employees to feel accountable for their deeds. The supervisor can then convey their reports to the top management regarding their findings at the workplace (Sirotnik, 2004). Moreover, the industry can set up standard performance levels to govern the industry across the board, which can be put in the terms of engagement with the employees. Consequently, employees’ accountability can then be measured in line with the industrial stardards. Ethical consideration is the quest to do what is right and shunning the wrongs; therefore, accountability and ethics go hand in hand in every industry including the health care sector. Accountability instills the pillars that govern a successful industry that leads to ethical practices which include honesty and integrity, transparency, social responsibility and environmental responsibility (Caulfield, 2005). Honesty and integrity This is the act of telling the truth and exhibiting professional commitment in the execution of ones duties. Patients may feel confident when dealing with health care employees they can trust. In certain cases when patients have to be put under tranquilizers, it requires honesty and integrity from the medical practitioner especially in this era of organ transplant. Transparency This is the act of disclosing factual and relevant information to the public. The health care industry is not spared being in the spot light especially in accounting and finances. In addition, the activities it deals in should be clear to the public, since transparency could deter acts of medical malpractices such as unlawful termination of life. Social responsibility This denotes to what the industry gives back to the immediate society. This may be through organizing free medical check ups or offering casual employment opportunities to the immediate people in the community Environmental responsibility Health care industry in most cases deals with infectious waste; hence, means of disposal of this waste should be environmental friendly. This would prevent the public from acquiring infectious agents from such waste, and would go a long way in safeguarding the public health which is the major concern for the health care industry. Check and balances also helps in promoting accountability, as they are procedures which are aimed and creating a harmonious decision making process. Furthermore, they create separation of powers where a single person cannot singlehandedly make a major decision that could have a negative impact to the whole organization (Sims, 2009). These also ensures that no single person has too much power and clearly states the duties of each employee under the organization. In a successful organization checks and balances ensures that roles are clearly defined. This impedes the duplication of duties thereby enhancing efficiency. The duties assigned to every employee are clearly stated ensuring they are expeditiously carried out (Harper, 2013). This in turn increases the output from the work force. In addition, checks and balances ensure they are no misuse of powers, as misuse of powers can adversely affect the organization operations. This misuse can also lead to misappropriation of available resources by rogue employees bringing the organization to its knees. Therefore, checks and balances are crucial in enhancing accountability and cooperation which in turn result in the organization becoming successful in the long-run (Harper, 2013). Work culture can also affect accountability as it defines or explains why people behave in a certain manner and creates a set of rules that justifies the acts. In an organization it’s of importance for managers and employees to cooperate and keep their end of bargaining. This promotes accountability as each one of them sticks to the commitment and ensure he fulfils his promises (Hemphill etal, 1989). Accountability creates respect among the employees due to the fact that each employee plays his part to perfection creating a team spirit. Through doing so even the less gifted in talents is appreciated as his contribution is evident; in addition, it leads to creation of a sense of responsibility. This imparts positively to the learning process as an individual refines his skills to meet the standards. The realization of skills improvement in turn attracts more responsibility and the cycle continues, and this helps improve the working culture. Further, it ensures that the available resources are put to good use reducing instances of underuse overuse or misuse. This ensures that they are no interruption of activities in the organization that may be caused by shortage of necessary resources. Finally, accountability ensures that the laid down objectives are met through the creation of priorities that should be put in place to ensure the organizational goals are met in a timely manner enhancing the success of the organization. A positive working culture is a very crucial aspect in every work place. It ensures that morale remains high among the employees. It also motivates employees to work harder even in times when things seem to be working out slowly. Furthermore, it reduces the chances of eruption of internal conflicts which can have a very serious effect on a good working culture. Thus, a positive working culture in order to be successful it should be initiated from the top management downward. Recommendations There are keys issue which if implemented they can help management in the creation of a positive working culture and impede the development of a culture of blame game. These are; Hiring of employees with the right attitude which is in line and ambient to the organization pursuit and attainment of their common objective Initiating and implementation of a code of conduct that every employee should adhere to, failure to which they should face the consequences Communication with the employees should be based on honesty so that they get the message and intentions right Creation of an employee appraisal program whereby those who have done exemplary well upon evaluation should be rewarded accordingly References Caulfield, H. (2005). Accountability. Oxford: Blackwell Pub. Hemphill, D., Pfaffenberger, B., & Hockman, B. (1989). The Working culture. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall Regents. Harper, L. (2013). What are checks and balances?. New York: PowerKids Press. Sims, E. (2009). Checks and balances. Columbus, MS: Genesis Press. Sirotnik, K. A. (2004). Holding accountability accountable: What ought to matter in public education. New York: Teachers College Press. Read More