Aligning Organizational Goals to Employee Goals
Connecting the strategic goals of an organization to each of the employee’s performance goals is critical to the success of an organization. In an effectively aligned organization, everyone is working towards the same goal. Each individual knows exactly how their job tasks contribute to the success of the overall organization.
Cascading Objectives Down to Employees
To support its mission and be successful, an organization needs to set clear goals and objectives. These goals and objectives need to cascade down from the top level of the organization to the lower levels and ultimately to each employee. The ultimate goal is to make sure everything done by each individual is helping to move the company towards its long term objectives.
Process of Organizational Goals Setting
Organizational goals setting can be broadly viewed as a three step process.
- Step 1 – Set Organizational Goals
- Step 2 – Set Departmental Goals
- Step 3 – Set Employee Goals
Step 1 – Set Organizational Goals
Goals and objectives are first set for the overall organization. They are defined by the organization’s strategic plan.
Strategic Plan
A strategic plan is a broadly-defined plan aimed at creating a desired future. An organization’s strategic plan should answer three key questions:
- Where are we now?
- Where are we going?
- How will we get there?
Goals and Objective
An organization’s strategic goals and objectives are derived from their strategic plan. The organization’s goals and objectives answers the question; how will we get there?
Annually, organizations create strategic goals for themselves that target key objectives that they will strive to achieve over the course of the upcoming year. These goals are tied to the company’s mission and vision statements. These goals help management and employees know what is important and what direction the organization is headed.
Step 2 – Set Departmental Goals
After the organizational goals and objectives are set, goals are then are broken down across the organizational hierarchy. These goals cascade down several levels depending on the size of the organization.
Step 3 – Set Employee Goals
Most organizations create goals for each individual employee. Employee goals describe the employee’s top priorities for the upcoming year. Typically, these goals describe important job responsibilities and what key performance outcomes the employees should be attempting to achieve. They are often linked to the company’s key performance indicators (KPI).
These individual goals are designed to help the organization as a whole meet their strategic goals. It is easier to reach the organization’s goals if all the employees’ goals are linked and in sync with what the organization wants to achieve.
Summary
The Importance of Aligning Organizational Goals to Employee Goals
Goal alignment is critical for an organization’s success. It ensures that each person within your organization can see the direction for the company and know how their job fits in with the big picture.
To achieve goal alignment in an organization, the strategic goals and objectives must first clearly communicate across the entire company. With everyone working together toward the same objectives, the company can efficiently execute their strategy.