Businesses are facing a dilemma when it comes to achieving goals: According to Gallup, employee productivity increases by 56% when managers are involved in helping with reports so that goals are met. individual goals in line with the needs of the organization. Even so, only 44 percent of those employees felt they could align their goals with the organization’s goals. This means that somewhere, a disconnection is being alarmed.
For organizations to remain agile and meet strategic goals, the entire workforce must be able to understand their role in the big picture of the business. Feeling the meaning of personal goals and their alignment with their individual goals in the “Big Picture” of the organization is a top motivator for employees, and this alignment is essential to keep the workforce focused and maximize profits for the company.
With that in mind, here are three ways business leaders can help employees map personal goals behind organizational goals and ensure the workforce is focused on transformational priorities. necessary.
Tip 1: Cultivate a sense of purpose
When employees can link personal goals to organizational goals, they are 3.5 times more likely to be engaged. This fosters a sense of purpose in the workplace, as it allows employees to link their work to the bigger picture. Doing so unifies and engages managers, employees, and the entire organization and can make a significant positive impact on a company’s bottom line.
Cultivating this sense of purpose at work makes employees feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission and goals. An important step leaders can take is to make corporate goals transparent, allowing individuals and teams to align their goals with the overall direction of the company. . This increases alignment with the top-level goals of the organization, helping employees gain clarity and confidence in knowing their work contributes to the company’s success.
Tip 2: Get employees involved in goal setting
When setting goals at the employee level, a good manager should set expectations candidly and help employees have a say in the process.
Gallup found that employees whose managers care about them in goal setting are 3.6 times more likely to be engaged. Managers should work with employees to define performance expectations based on those individuals’ abilities, aspirations, and developmental needs. An effective way to do this is to set goals FAST, (Often discussed, Ambitious, Specific and Transparent). Regular conversations around goals help ensure individuals understand the impact and value of their work and how to align with the organization. Encouraging employees to set ambitious goals is crucial to their and the company’s success. Goals are often confined to the safe zone, but employees who set and pursue ambitious goals significantly outperform less challenging ones.
Tip 3: Create a culture of constant feedback
Cultivating a sense of purpose in the workplace and involving employees in goal setting creates a “Culture of Performance” that ensures the company’s business goals are met and contributed to. for a long-term competitive advantage. But this can completely fall apart when the feedback is not done regularly. One way to boost performance, ensure goals are aligned, and remind employees that their work matters to the overall strategy of the business is to implement a Continuous Performance Management process.