Question

What are the differences you see between a culture of accountability, where people are held accountable for the mistakes they make, and the Just Culture approach, where mistakes are not punished, but seen as methods of learning? What are the pros and cons of each?

Answer 1

Explanation:

The culture of accountability is primarily characterized by the accountability that all employees of the organization have with their positions and tasks. In this culture, a mistake made requires accountability of the employee, which can result in negative consequences, so responsibilities for tasks are handled proactively before an error occurs, not reactive after it occurs.

The differences between the culture of accountability and Just culture, are that while accountability promotes responsibility for the non-occurrence of errors, in Just culture errors are perceived as natural and present in any activity, and that any professional competent as it may be, it is liable to make mistakes, as many of the errors are unpredictable occurrences between workers and the systems in which they work. Therefore this culture prioritizes learning through mistakes, organization and prudence.

Each approach to organizational culture has its pros and cons. The culture of accountability promotes work that is done more efficiently due to the sense of responsibility imposed, but can also present the downside of diminishing innovation and collaborating with different ideas, due to the emphasis and fear for negative outcomes, which may diminish. employee performance.

In the just culture, pros may be related to greater employee motivation and collaboration with work innovation, due to flexibility and non-punishment for mistakes and improved learning performance. But as a downside, tasks with less responsibility and higher risk of errors may also occur due to the possibility of errors being justified.