The one-day contract is an idea that’s used internally — not in the sense of “within an organization” but in the sense of “within the self.” Leaders must hold themselves to a one-day contract, waking up each day with a sense of accountability and desire to give their best effort to every challenge or task that comes their way. And, most importantly, leaders can model and encourage this approach for others in the organization.
While administratively organizations can’t administer one-day contracts, they can administer one-year contracts. These formal agreements require a certain level of performance and provide the organization a way to hold low-performers accountable, either through improvement plans, or eventually, ending the contract.
The truth is that no matter how good people want to be, nothing holds them more accountable than an incentive. And what greater incentive is there than the potential loss of a contract? Of course, there is a lot of debate about the relative managerial value of using sticks over carrots, but in my mind, organizations in as complex as environment as healthcare, facing so many challenges ahead can’t afford to not hold its leaders and employees accountable. High performers will embrace the challenge, and low performers may avoid the organization all together — which is perhaps the greatest advantage highly accountable organizations have.
