Hit the Bull’s-eye on Performance Management — Total Goal Alignment From Any Distance

The 2012 Summer Olympics are in full swing, and among the mass of global athletes will be those taking aim in the archery competition. With pinpoint precision and nerves of steel, they train their eye on a 12-centimeter bull’s-eye 70 meters away. With clarity of vision, unrelenting focus and a will to succeed, these athletes demonstrate the ultimate in cool and make winning look like a walk in the park.

As a business leader, how close is your company’s performance to hitting the target? Is your team piercing every critical business goal dead center? Perhaps you can clearly see your strategic priorities in the bull’s-eye; but take 10 steps back — is the target just as clear, or do you start to lose focus?

Hitting the bull’s-eye on performance requires total goal visibility from any distance within the organization. That starts with a clear business strategy and operational plan at the top, alignment of goals down the hierarchy of the company, and ownership and accountability shared by all. Successful goal alignment follows a three-step process:

1.      The organization sets a strategic plan by establishing a reasonable number of business initiatives — ideally no more than half a dozen — designed to move the business forward.

2.      These top-level business initiatives are cascaded down the organization as goals, with specific performance measures identified for each function or business unit.

3.      Managers work closely with their employees to identify team and individual goals that closely align and directly support the company’s strategic initiatives.  

While creating total goal alignment may seem like a reasonably simple and straightforward process, it takes near Olympic-quality focus and commitment to see the process through to a winning result. Business is in a constant state of change, and undertaking a “one and done” approach to goal setting won’t win your company any medals. High-impact performance management organizations review and revise goals regularly and experience better business outcomes. Yet a surprising 54 percent of companies still consider goal setting as a once or twice a year activity.[1] To be effective, goal-setting activities must be exercised on a frequent and consistent basis.

Once the organization’s high-level initiatives have been reinforced with aligned individual performance goals, your people managers become the real champions for keeping performance on track by:

·        Staying informed of changes to the strategic business initiatives

·        Communicating specific expectations with direct reports

·        Providing continuous coaching and feedback

·        Recognizing accomplishments and recording activities for consideration during the annual performance appraisal process 

So while it may seem easy, creating total goal alignment from any distance in the company takes practice, persistence and an unwavering desire to win — attributes that are inherently familiar to every athlete competing in the 2012 Olympic Games. 

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[1] Garr, Stacia. The Performance Management Framework: Evolving Performance Management to Fit the Modern Workplace. May 2011. Bersin & Associates.