Every organization is a vehicle designed to move toward its destination, its goals. The leader holds the steering wheel, employees make up the engine, culture fuels the journey, and analytics serve as the dashboard that shows how well the vehicle is running.
But what happens when the engine sputters? When the once-steady hum of progress slows to a crawl? The instinct is to press the accelerator harder, push more initiatives, work longer hours, or set higher targets. Yet without diagnosing where the problem truly lies, all that effort risks burning through fuel without gaining speed.
Low productivity isn’t a random breakdown. It’s a sign that something within the organizational vehicle is misaligned, under-maintained, or running on low-quality fuel. To get back on the road, leaders must identify where performance stalls occur and who’s accountable for keeping the system running smoothly.
The Check Engine Light: Where Productivity Falters
In Driving Engagement, Liechty and WIlliams (2022) often compare an organization’s productivity to the performance of a vehicle. When something feels “off,” there’s usually more than one cause; perhaps the alignment is out, the oil hasn’t been changed, or the driver has been pushing too hard without stopping for maintenance.
The same is true for workplace performance. Productivity problems rarely stem from a single issue; they’re usually a blend of disengagement, unclear leadership, poor communication, and neglected systems. To fix them, we need to pop the hood and look at four key systems of the organizational vehicle.
1. The Engine: Employee Motivation and Capability
The heart of any organization is its people, the cylinders, pistons, and gears that generate movement. But even the most powerful engine can’t perform if it’s poorly tuned.
According to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace Report, only 21% of employees worldwide are engaged, marking the second global drop in engagement since 2009. That means nearly four out of five employees are either passively disengaged or actively unmotivated at work. The same report shows that manager engagement dropped from 30% to 27%, a particularly troubling sign since managers account for roughly 70% of the variance in team engagement (Gallup 2025).
Gallup (2025) also estimates that this disengagement costs the global economy $9.6 trillion in lost productivity, equivalent to 9% of global GDP.
When employees feel disconnected from purpose, unclear about expectations, or unsupported in growth, they begin to idle. Engagement isn’t just a “feel-good” measure; it’s the octane of your fuel (Liechty & Williams, 2022).
Accountability: Direct supervisors and team leaders. Managers are the mechanics of motivation, responsible for daily tune-ups through recognition, clarity, and communication. They may not control every factor, but they directly shape the environment in which employees choose to give their best effort.
2. The Steering System: Leadership and Direction
Even the most finely tuned engine can’t perform if the driver doesn’t know where to go. Leadership provides the steering, the clarity of direction that ensures every component moves in unison.
When leaders fail to communicate vision, set priorities, or demonstrate consistency, teams begin to drift. Without alignment, energy scatters, and momentum stalls.
Deloitte’s Driving Business Value with Purpose Strategy report found that organizations with a clearly defined sense of purpose consistently outperform peers in productivity, innovation, and long-term growth (Deloitte, n.d.).
Covey (2006) compares trust to the “lubricant” of all high-functioning systems. When leaders micromanage or fail to delegate, they introduce friction that slows down every process. Trust, conversely, allows teams to pivot quickly and operate smoothly.
Accountability: Senior leadership. Leaders hold the steering wheel. They’re responsible for direction, transparency, and tone. When communication breaks down or teams lose faith in leadership’s guidance, accountability starts at the top.
3. The Fuel System: Culture and Engagement
Even the best vehicle can’t run on empty. Culture is the organization’s fuel, a mix of values, belonging, and trust that powers people’s willingness to contribute.
Shawn Anchor’s The Happiness Advantage demonstrates that employees in positive, trust-rich cultures are 31% more productive, 37% more successful in sales, and three times more creative. Likewise, Gallup’s (2025) data reveals that only 33% of employees worldwide say they’re “thriving” in overall well-being, signaling a concerning dip in the cultural “fuel quality” across organizations.
In Driving Engagement, culture is described as the octane of the organizational fuel. High-octane cultures, those built on recognition, fairness, and autonomy, create sustainable energy. Low-octane cultures clog the system with toxicity, burnout, and turnover (Liechty & Williams, 2022).
Accountability: Everyone. Leadership HR is responsible for ensuring a healthy mix through recognition, fairness, and clarity. But every employee contributes to the fuel supply, positivity, collaboration, and trust are everyone’s responsibility.
4. The Dashboard: Analytics and Visibility
No skilled driver ignores the dashboard. Data reveals what intuition misses: it’s the check engine light, the temperature gauge, and the fuel monitor all in one.
Yet many organizations still operate with outdated or incomplete dashboards. They rely on anecdotal feedback rather than hard data, allowing performance issues to persist unnoticed.
A 2024 MIT Sloan Management Review study found that data-driven companies are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, 6 times more likely to retain them, and 19 times more likely to be profitable (MIT Sloan Management Review, 2024).
When metrics are clear, accountability is, too. Leaders can identify early when engagement dips, when productivity lags, or when systems overheat. Without it, organizations are driving blind, guessing at causes instead of diagnosing them.
Accountability: Analytics team and departmental leaders. They ensure visibility and alignment, translating raw data into actionable insights that guide both strategic and operational decisions.
Accountability: Who’s Behind the Wheel?
Accountability isn’t about blame; it’s about ownership. Every component of a vehicle plays a part, and when one fails, the entire system suffers.
In the organizational vehicle:
- Leaders steer and set the course.
- Managers maintain and tune the engine.
- Employees generate the power and traction.
- Analysts monitor the dashboard and identify inefficiencies.
When accountability is clear, everyone knows their lane. When it isn’t, the organization experiences either micromanagement (overcorrection) or apathy (coasing).
Consider a department that consistently misses deadlines. At first glance, it’s easy to blame the employees. But maybe leadership hasn’t communicated clear priorities, or perhaps workflows are outdated. Accountability means tracing the issue back to its source, not just punishing whoever’s visible when the breakdowns occur (Covey, 2006).
In a high-performing organization, accountability feels like maintenance, not inspection. It’s the routine care that keeps the vehicle in motion, not the repair after it fails (Liechty & Williams, 2022).
The Road to Realignment
Once the causes of underperformance are identified, the next step is to realign the system. Like any well-maintained vehicle, productivity depends on consistent tune-ups.
1. Refuel the Culture
Invest in recognition programs and belonging initiatives that genuinely connect effort to purpose. Avoid “checkbox engagement” and focus on creating authentic relationships that energize performance (Anchor, 2010).
3. Recalibrate the Dashboard
Track engagement, turnover, and productivity trends monthly, not annually. Treat key metrics as early warning lights rather than post-mortem data (MIT SLoan Management Review, 2024).
4. Reinforce Accountability Through Trust
Covey’s (2006) findings show that high-trust teams move faster, communicate better, and adapt more easily. Leaders who model accountability build trust; leaders who avoid it corrode it.
5. Schedule Regular Tune-Ups
Proactive reflection prevents a crisis. Monthly team check-ins, quarterly pulse surveys, and yearly engagement reviews act like oil changes, small maintenance steps that keep the system healthy (Liechty & Williams, 2022).
Keeping the Wheels Turning
Reaching peak productivity isn’t about pressing the pedal harder; it’s about driving smarter. True productivity happens when every part of the organizational vehicle operates in sync:
- The engine (people) is engaged.
- The steering (leadership) is clear.
- The fuel (culture) is healthy.
- The dashboard (analytics) is visible.
When these systems align under shared accountability, organizations don’t just move forward, they accelerate.
The real purpose of accountability isn’t to find fault but to find alignment. When everyone takes ownership of their part, the organization doesn’t just reach its goals; it enjoys the journey.
References
Achor, S. (2010). The happiness advantage: How a positive brain fuels success in work and life. Crown Business.
Covey, S. M. R. (2006). The speed of trust: The one thing that changes everything. Free Press.
Deloitte. (n.d.). Driving business value with purpose strategy. Deloitte. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consulting/articles/driving-business-value-with-corporate-purpose.html
Gallup. (2025). State of the global workplace: 2025 report. Gallup, Inc. State of the Global Workplace Report – Gallup
Liechty, E., & Williams, M. (2022). Driving Engagement: Trust, communication, and action to accelerate your team from 0 to 60. Williams & Co Publishing, LLC.
MIT Sloan Management Review. (2024). The data-driven advantage: How analytics transforms business performance. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Use data to your advantage in 2024: New ideas from MIT Sloan Management Review | MIT Sloan