Organizational Goal Setting

Posted on: February 18, 2012, by :

Management’s ability to establish and monitor goals directly correlates to the level of success realized by the organization. Numerous factors influence management’s ability to successfully manage this responsibility. For maximum effectiveness management must be adequately trained in goal setting and understand the process, extenuating variables, employee motivators, and factors that can serve as supporters or barriers to goal setting and realization. Without such training and foresight, managers can inadvertently hinder progress toward goal realization.

Leadership experience and style, attrition, and organizational culture can also impact management’s effectiveness. Leadership style affects if and when broader organizational goals are communicated to management and whether or not the leader requires the correlation of departmental goals to organizational goals. Additionally, the extent to which leaders hold managers accountable for goal fulfillment also influences managerial effectiveness. If value is not placed on goals through accountability, management will most likely be less inclined to support goal fulfillment. Leadership style, including the ability to communicate effectively, influences the communication of goals from management to employees. Additionally, effective goal setting requires management partner with employees to establish realistic but challenging goals, guiding and supporting employees, communicating consistently throughout the fulfillment process.

Reflect upon how goals are set within your organization. While most organizations connect strategic plans to organizational goals with supporting goals cascading throughout the organization some operational managers struggle with connecting organizational and unit goals to individual employee goals. Such disconnects impacts efficiency, organizational profitability, and employee development and opportunities. It’s in your best interest to understand how broader organizational goals correlate to departmental and individual goals. Consider an employee who passively fulfills goals established by a manager compared with an employee who proactively uses their understanding of the organization’s goals to exploit ways to contribute on a broader scale ultimately influencing their professional development and career progression. By identifying opportunities and communicating with your management you are positioning yourself to ensure your contributions are as value added as possible.

 

2 thoughts on “Organizational Goal Setting

    1. Thank you for your feedback John. I appreciate your sharing the link and your point about identifying the reasons for anxiety and anxiety’s influence on the goal setting process.

      All the best,
      Tuesday

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