What if Every Employee Could Tie Their Goals Back to Company Strategy?

Traditionally, the goal performance feedback provided by your organization’s HR department specifically spoke to individual employees. Being able to tie employee performance directly into the organization’s strategy could help to make fully informed strategic decisions. Additionally, when employees are able to tie their performance goals back to the company’s strategy, they are better able to see how their work directly impacts the company’s performance.

Employee Goal Alignment

In many organizations, employees are simply unaware of their company’s strategic goals. A study in 2001 indicated that less than 10 percent of employees were fully aware of their company’s strategic goals. Employees are more productive, more engaged and are more successful when they understand how their goals directly impact the organization. Therefore, it is important to set performance goals that employees can directly tie into the organization’s performance.

Cloud based HRIS systems, such as SuccessFactors, have the ability to create performance management systems that are directly tied into the organization’s strategic vision. These types of programs are able to put the focus on your company’s greatest asset, the employees. By aligning goals with the company’s strategic focus, and reporting on those goals, the organization can have a clear line of sight into how each employee is impacting the organization. This can be accomplished through:

• Monitoring and Managing Goals – Goal setting is not a one step process. In order to be successful, employees must be aware of all of their goals and how they impact the organization.
• Performance Management – Additionally, employees must receive regular updates on their progress in order to stay focused on their objectives and the company’s success. Feedback and coaching must be continual and a normal part of your organization’s operations.
• Performance Reviews – Performance reviews must be able to both accurately measure an employee’s performance and also indicate how their productivity impacts the business as a whole.

Setting and Aligning Goals

Performance management should begin with the organization’s strategic goals. Employee goals should be “SMART” and directly tied to one of the organization’s goals. SMART goals are:

• Specific – This details exactly what is expected from the employee and in what time frame.
• Measurable – The goal must be able to be measured in a concrete way in order to provide a target for employee performance.
• Attainable – The goals designed must be reasonable; goals that are too high or too low will not motivate employees.
• Relevant – Employees must be able to see how the goal is important to their position and the organization.
• Timely – There must be a sense of urgency around the goal and a specific time frame for attaining the goal.

The performance management system utilized in a HRIS system is specifically designed to do this, providing feedback and visibility in a number of ways, including across departments, within reporting levels, and by strategic goal. This ability ultimately impacts the organization's performance and bottom line.