Goals, like performance reviews, can often just be part of a required, annual routine for most companies. Serious goal setting requires some internal searching and a lot of thought to complete. These processes are often groaned at. Thought of as busy work. A bother. A waste of time. This could not be further from the truth! When done correctly, goal setting is a critical part in growth and development at an organization.

Goals Provide Guidance and Direction

To quote Fast Company, goals are important because they facilitate planning and motivate employees. They help us as an organization evaluate and control performance—not only at the employee level but at an organizational level, as well. Most importantly, goals are part of an effective and engaging culture.

How do they do all that?

Great question! It all starts from the organizational level. Organizational goals inform employees where the organization is going and how it’s going to get there. You could say organizational goals are the North in our methodology for Kaleidoscope. We can refer to the organization’s goals for guidance when we need to make difficult decisions. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) theorizes that when people feel the goals they set are supporting a bigger need, they tend to be motivated and increase their performance.

A Collaborative Process

Goal setting is a collaborative process between employees and their managers. Having employees design their own goals allows for them to assume the responsibility for their contributions and career development. In turn, it can be a rewarding opportunity. In fact, companies in which employees have a say in how they contribute to the organization benefit from increased job satisfaction. Moreover, it reduces turnover within a company.

Achieving Goals is No Small Task

It’s human nature to set a goal and if we do not reach it, we label it a failure. That is why consistent feedback is so important in the goal setting process. SHRM states that with a feedback loop built-in, you and your manager can review your progress and make adjustments to your goals based on what’s working and what is not. This is the time to modify the goal. Taking small steps to accommodate those blocks and utilize your advantages to make progress and achieve your goals.

Ready to get started?

Your goals need to be SMART(specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and timely). They should PUSHyou further. Think back for a moment to our Golden Rule training as an organization, JB Training suggested your goals be Passionate, you should be excited about working towards them. They should be Urgent, understand why this is a goal and the positive impact for attaining it. Make them Specific. Just like a SMART goal, we want to know precisely what we are measuring. Last but not least, goals are Hairy (and maybe a little bit scary). They are a daunting task that will not be easy. In fact, they will take a lot of difficult conversations, movement, and time. In the end, however, the potential payoff of goal achievement is an effective and engaging culture, motivated employees and a rockin’ organization.