Accountability: Closing the Performance Gap

Source: CPA Practice Management Forum

In this article, Bryan Shelton outlines a systematic approach for identifying performance issues in CPA firms. Often, Shelton explains, accountability problems arise because people “misdiagnose why performance gaps exist and therefore come up with the wrong solutions.” Shelton recommends that firms apply the Behavior Engineering Model to analyze and improve performance. According to the model, performance is affected by two sets of factors. One set relates to the environment and one to the individual:

• Environmental factors: Information, resources, and incentives
• Individual factors: Knowledge, capacity, and motives

By separating external behavioral influences from individual behavioral drivers and analyzing each of the six factors, a firm can identify performance issues and improve accountability.

Shelton provides details on each factor, explains how applying the model makes analyzing performance issues more manageable, and shows how firms can increase accountability by “creating an environment that supports and rewards the behaviors and results the firm needs to grow and develop.”

Often, the best factor to address first is information. In many firms, there's an “information gap” between individuals' understanding of their roles and the firm's expectations regarding their performance. Typically, information-based solutions have the biggest impact on performance and can be implemented at low or no cost. For example, closing the performance gap may just be a matter of ensuring that employees “know exactly what is expected of them and receive regular feedback on their performance.”

For the complete article, read “A Model for Improving Performance and Increasing Accountability.”

From CPA Practice Management Forum, Vol. 9, No. 3, March 2013, p. 11.