Making Accountability Their Mojo

For some companies, being democratic is part of their mojo, and that’s the case for Mojo Interactive.

The company’s chief imaginaut and CEO Glen Lubbert gave a recent presentation on how Mojo Interactive practises accountability at WorldBlu LIVE, a conference focused on the democratic workplaces movement.

“For accountability to work at any organization there has to be a culture that supports it,” said Lubbert, noting accountability is based on trust, freedom, transparency and merit.

“The success of any company lies squarely on the shoulders of the people that compose it, people who are passionate about being part of something special.”

Orlando, Florida-based Mojo Interactive won a spot on this year’s WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces, which measures the level of democracy in a company using 10 democratic design principles, including accountability.

Practising freedom in the workplace takes discipline on personal and organizational levels, said WorldBlu founder and CEO Traci Fenton. Accountability is liberating when people know who and for what they are accountable to, she said.

“If you just feel like a cog in the machine you are less likely to want to be accountable, but the promise of accountability applied to a democratic organization is that it creates clarity when you know what’s going on, and this helps eliminate fear and brings a greater sense of freedom,” she said.

Accountability helps eliminate “that blame culture or the victim culture,” Fenton noted.

“As a democratic citizen in an organization we have an obligation to use our voice,” she said, adding this means you “can’t sit back and say, ‘well, the CEO never asked me.’”

Mojo Interactive, an Internet company that provides innovative marketing solutions, started by hiring people that shares the company’s core values and that wanted to be part of a collaborative, democratic workplace.

“We nurture and learn inclusion and transparency where everyone has the opportunity to express their own desires, everyone’s in involved in the decision-making process,” said Lubbert.

Team members at Mojo have a level of understanding of everyone’s responsibility, allowing for a culture of understanding and sympathy for fellow colleagues.

Lubbert shared that the company weathered the economic downturn by turning to its team for help. Team members started calling themselves imaginauts and strategized what to do, with all departments committed to cost-cutting measures.

A primary focus was client retention, and an advisory group was created to better serve the clients. Since the team was created, client retention grew by approximately 50 per cent, said Lubbert.

Other things started happening, too. The social media tool Yammer started being used as a support system to help people through stress and anxiety. Flex-time programs were born, giving people more control over their schedules.

The result included streamlined production, cost cuts, and innovation started blooming.

“Today, Mojo is healthier and we are investing our profits back into our product,” said Lubbert.

“What was most extraordinary was the appearance of empathy, which is the most virtuous by-product of accountability as far as I’m concerned.”

To learn more, visit http://mojointeractive.com/ and www.worldblu.com.

If you have feedback on this story contact jennifer(at)axiomnews.ca or 705-741-4421 ext. 26.