When company goals are set, they act as a diplomatic representation of what an organization wants to accomplish and where the business development priorities lie. Company goals give employees a clear path to what needs to be achieved and allows them to establish their own micro-goals along the way that align.
As is business, there is a strategy that goes into creating company goals that are effective and objective. Think of where you want the business to be in 3-5 years and come up with goals that will get the company there.
Set Goals that Motivate Your Company
Just as when you set goals for yourself, it’s important to create goals for a company that will motivate your employees. Whenever someone works for a company, there needs to be a reason they want to help achieve a company goal, it has to be important to them and provide some value when it’s achieved. If goals set are irrelevant to employees, they aren’t going to put the effort into helping to reach the goals.
Set Descriptive Goals
The more specific a goal is, the better it will be understood by everyone within a company. Instead of creating a goal that says grow your client base, make it more specific and action-provoking by saying grow your client base by 15% in the third quarter of the year. These types of declarations give employees a specific number to reach and a better vision for the planning that needs to be done to reach it. It’s never a bad idea to follow the SMART goal method.
Set Goals that Tie Back to Your Mission and Vision
With goals oriented around what your organization stands for and where it’s heading, it will help you avoid setting goals when you are thinking only in the moment. Building a strong brand and keeping a company focused on business development, goals need to represent the organization, which will help create internal champions and employee advocacy.
Set Realistic Goals
There’s no benefit to living in the clouds. If a goal being accomplished isn’t in the realm of possibility, it shouldn’t make your list. Setting unattainable goals can lead to busted morale or burnout for a company. Stretch goals are good to have, but it’s important to know the difference between a goal that’s reachable and not.
Set Goals and Assign Responsibility
Once you’ve reached the point of establishing, or re-establishing, company goals, you’ll need to have a plan in place for how they are going to be completed. This includes assigning a department or a specific leader responsibility to each. Consider what roles are positioned to perform the responsibilities essential to accomplishing each goal and assign the completion of a goal there.
Set Goals, Assign Responsibility, and Get it in Writing
You’re 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. It’s almost like writing them down makes them truly real when you see it in black and white. While you are writing out the goals you want your company to reach, write definitively. Instead of writing, “would like to,” write, “will.” The company will increase new business revenue by 5% this quarter instead of the company would like to increase new business revenue by 5% this quarter. Writing with power allows employees to visualize accomplishing the goal and doesn’t leave wiggle room to come up with an excuse not to.
Have you used any of these strategies to build your company goals, or others you think are worth sharing? Continue the discussion with us on LinkedIn.
