Business Objectives and Targets

Description

Business objectives are key in any company but how will these objectives relate to all company employees and are they meaningful to individuals? Business objectives need to stack up like Russian dolls.

A company may have a key business objective and key performance indicator (KPI) but it then needs to be broken down into its constituent parts and applied to all individuals working in the company.

Starting at the top with the annual business planning workshop we define the vision and mission and then identify key top level business objectives. These objectives should then become the personal objectives of the directors and senior managers and then those managers need to set objectives for the direct reports and so on.

Put this together with an annual appraisal system which looks at individuals performance in relation to their objectives and we create a very powerful operation focused on delivering their own personal objectives and therefore helping to achieve the company objectives.

Let’s apply this to an F1 racing team: the team’s high level objective is to win the F1 Constructors Championship. The objective of the two drivers is to score as many points as possible by finishing in the top 6 places of each Grand Prix. The objective of the pit crew will be to change a set of wheels in under 5 seconds. The objective of the mechanics will be to have the car in good condition ready for each race.

Benefits

• All employees have relevant job objectives.
• Employees have a clear focus.
• Employees have a clear standard to achieve.
• Training can be provided for those employees not meeting their objectives.

Experience

I have been exposed to individual objectives all my working life, for example I spent years working in the call center environment. A  key performance indicator (KPI) was the percentage of calls answered in 15 seconds (PCA15). 90% was the target which cascaded down though the levels of management. So this was an objective for the National Manager, sector managers, center managers and team managers. For the operators taking the calls, their contribution to 90% PCA15 was adherence to work patterns and call handling time. 

How can I help you?

If you want help to implement a similar but suitable structure in your company then I can help you. So get in touch.