To hold the worker accountable in such circumstances just causes stress. Norma' was a customer services manager for a high-street bank who had to leave the organisation because of stress. In her last year she had been given five targets, of which she succeeded on three and failed on two. Her appraisal meeting focused on the two she had failed. Norma was perplexed for, as well as being unable to explain why she had failed on two targets, she was also unable to account for the three 'successes'.
All performance is subject to variation.
A study of measures used to judge Norma's performance revealed that all had been subject to normal variation. A 'pass' or 'fail' had been just as probable on all five measures. She had, effectively, 'lost the lottery' on two measures. Yet Norma had believed, as her manager did, that she was responsible. Like Norma and her manager, most people have come to accept accountability for their performance.