The management article entitled “Goal Setting needs to be partnership” by Ken Blanchard published on January 23, 2013, speaks about the significant value that both managers and employees make when they work together towards achieving the organization goals. When setting goals in an organization, managers and their subordinates are equally responsible.Goal setting is a useful method of measuring employees’ performance, as employees who apply their strengths to their work increase the company’s success, however, one of the main points highlighted is that both managers and employees of the organization need to work together to set goals that are aligned with organizational objectives.
If managers do not allow their subordinates to be involved or to take part in the process of setting organizational goals, employees will often feel left out, they will not have the drive, the fire or the passion to accomplish these set goals, resentment sets in and they will be demotivated towards achieving these goals. On the other hand, if managers allow their employees to set the organization goals on their own, this leads to misalignment with overall organization goals, or can create targets that are focused more on existing skills which does not create any growth for the organization.Goals cannot be set until the entire team that is individuals; subordinates; departments, and organization on a whole, believes in their necessity and achievability. Once goals are set, it must be clearly defined and understood by all employees so that the organizations objectives are met. Introduction Goals provide organizations with a blueprint that determines a course of action and aids them in meeting the organizations objectives. A goal can be defined as a future state that an organization or individual strives to achieve.
For each goal that an organization sets, it also sets objectives.An objective is a short-term target with measurable results. Without clearly-defined goals and objectives, organizations will have trouble coordinating activities and forecasting future events. There is no way for an organization to measure its progress, develop a path for reaching its objectives, allocate its resources effectively and manage its time wisely without setting goals. Goal-setting also allows businesses to identify their weaknesses and strengths, to develop effective strategies and to evaluate performance of employees.
However, it is impossible to proceed to goal setting unless an organization has identified its fundamental objective. According to Barney and Griffin, organizational goals serve four basic functions; they provide guidance and direction, facilitate planning, motivate and inspire employees, and help organizations evaluate and control performance. Organizational goals inform employees where the organization is going and how it plans to get there. When employees need to make difficult decisions, they can refer to the organization's goals for guidance.Goals promote planning to determine how goals will be achieved.
Managers often set goals in order to meet the company’s objective, to be able to analyze and measure employee’s performance; thus, goals can be motivational and increase performance. Evaluation and control allows an organization to compare its actual performance to its goals and then make any necessary adjustments. Setting and achieving goals is one of the ways an employee can gauge his development within a company. Goal-setting can be a good motivator, but there are advantages and disadvantages.Without proper planning, setting goals can be as destructive as it can be motivating.
Setting a goal is designed to motivate an employee and help increase performance. When the employee is involved in the goal setting process, they take a personal interest in achieving that goal. The emotional involvement becomes a strong motivator and can help the employee reach his goals and realize greater success within the organization. Setting goals helps an employee to better focus on the elements that create success. To achieve these goals, employees must first state their desire to reach the accomplishment.
Once the goal is stated, a process can be created that the employee will follow to reach it. With a list of goals and the procedures necessary to reach them, an employee can better focus their efforts on achieving the things that will bring success to their career and to the company as well. A clearly defined set of goals can be used during an employee evaluation to determine how well the employee performed against those goals, and what changes need to be made to improve reaching goals in the future. This will not only help employee chart her progress, it also helps management measure development.The development of an enterprise’s overall strategy helps to set organizational goals.
Goals can be long-term (in distant future) as well as short-term (in nearest future). It is management’s fundamental responsibility to make sure that organizational goals are not contradictory! Since sometimes it is difficult to integrate the work of the various departments so that the overall organizational objectives are met. It is important that each department can see and analyze how their role fit in the organization meeting its objective or overall goals.
