Drive Success by Converging Employee's Goals With the Overall Organization Connecting goals in the workplace, in support of a well-defined company strategy, is essential to driving business success.
By Andre Lavoie Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Goals drive us -- as entrepreneurs, employers and employees. Connecting goals in the workplace, in support of a well-defined company strategy, is essential to driving business success.
Related: 5 Steps to Align Your Reward Process and Reach Your Company Goals
How do you prime employees to meet goals with a level of enthusiasm and motivation that produces results and contributes to the organizational mission? The following steps are designed to help connect employee work goals to the overall organization:
1. Publicize the company mission.
This first step is essential to aligning individual employee work goals to the company strategy. It might seem obvious, but employees must have a clear understanding of the organization's mission in order to properly set relevant work goals.
Unfortunately, research by Gallup revealed that only four out of 10 (41 percent) employees know what their company stands for and what makes its brand different from its competitors.
Employees who understand how their work drives company success are more likely to feel motivated to pursue work goals. In addition to actively communicating company-wide goals to employees, sharing the company's vision and asking goal-related questions during the interview process are great ways to recruit candidates who can help the company in achieving those goals.
2. Boost employee confidence.
The fact of the matter is people want to be noticed for a job well done. While constructive feedback is necessary to employee growth and improvement, don't underestimate the power of positive feedback.
In fact, a study by Harvard Business Review found that 72 percent of employees rank recognition given for high performers as having a significant impact on employee engagement. It might be time to consider being a little more gracious with the compliments.
Unlike constructive criticism, positive feedback lets employees know they're on the right track and motivates them to continue doing what they're doing well. Don't overlook employees' successes -- it could cost the organization top talent.
Related: 6 Surefire Ways to Realize Goals
3. Set employees up for success.
Individual employee goals can contribute greatly to the overall success of an organization, so be sure those goals are attainable. To better suit both the employee and company, goals should be well-defined and realistic. Keep the SMART acronym in mind when setting goals for employees:
- S = Smart
- M = Measurable
- A = Attainable
- R = Realistic
- T = Timely
Set employees up to successfully meet their personal goals, as well as company-wide goals, by offering the tools and resources they need to pursue and achieve those goals. These tools could range from creating an achievement plan to providing specific training or mentoring opportunities throughout the year.
4. Monitor progress on a regular basis.
According to survey results collected by the Society for Human Resource Management, only 2 percent of organizations conduct ongoing reviews.
Rather than waiting until the annual performance review to reflect on employee performance and goal achievement, consider monitoring employee progress on a semi-regular basis. Doing so will give employees an opportunity to identify and solve any challenges that might be hindering their performance, thus eliminating any issues further down the line.
What methods does your organization have in place to ensure the alignment of employee and company goals? Let us know in the comments section below.
Related: Make a New Year's Resolution to Align Employee Success With Company Goals
