Employee blindsided by manager and HR after demanding "accountability" from their manager over their mishandling of scheduling and workplace accommodations: 'They threatened to fire me if I expressed myself “that way” again'

• So apparently saying the word ‘accountability’ while expressing your frustration to my managers about their own wrongdoing will have HR threatening to fire you.

  
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  via Getty Images For Unsplash+

  An employee puts their hands up in refusal of the documents that their manager is trying to hand them.

   

  _{The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

• From there, it's up to us how we deal with that initial impulse. Do we quicken towards anger? Do we turn toward defensiveness? Excuses? Or do we simply take a moment to unpack our feelings and where our perspective and the “facts” as we see them might not have been accurate. 

  “Accountability” is a hard word to dodge when it's pointed squarely at us, demanding a reflection on both our mistakes and our willingness to own them. In a professional setting, the discomfort experienced when facing something like demands for accountability is accentuated by the power dynamics at play. Managers and HR departments tasked with protecting organizational interests will often view “accountability” as a threat to their power and control, and view it as a challenge from an insubordinate employee rather than an opportunity to address issues that might be somewhat ironically adversely affecting the organization and experience growth.

  The reality is that accountability should be flowing in all directions all of the time. If employees are expected to own their errors, management should also. This creates a positive workplace culture where mistakes aren't seen as embarrassment or failure, but as an attempt to find a way forward. Ultimately, this environment will foster growth and lead to constructive processes and pragmatic attempts at pushing the needle of business development. Instead of the opposite culture of finger-pointing and blaming anytime something goes wrong, leaving employees feeling silenced, gaslit, and questioning whether speaking up is going to be worthwhile. 

  And that's exactly what happened when this employee experienced repeated violations of their medical accommodation by a manager who refused to accept fault, instead consistently blaming the system and dooming the error to be repeated indefinitely. When the employee asked their manager to show some accountability they found themselves blindsided by a 2-on-1 meeting with their manager and HR in which the HR member used their words repeatedly phrase against them in a condescending interrogation tactic which made them feel as if they were on trial and as if the HR member was trying to get them to admit to falsehoods that would cost them their job.

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