Archived Publications Ebook: Using Goal Setting and Performance Manageme | Page 6

? GOAL SETTING: THE MISSING LINK TO ACHIEVING DESIRED PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES The topic of organizational goal setting is not new, however, that does not mean most organizations do it effectively. The ideal behind goal setting is to identify what you want the organization to accomplish and to identify specific behaviors and tactics needed to achieve those goals. This ideal also trickles down to departments, teams, and individuals. Why do organizational goals rarely translate into individual performance effectiveness? Why do many employees find themselves unable to articulate what is important to their organization and how they can individually influence organizational success? LAY THE FOUNDATION: VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT The Society for Human Resources Management states that “A well-developed, legally compliant performance management system is an essential talent management tool for high-performing organizations.” Performance management drives employee behavior to align with organizational goals and objectives. This alignment is critical as job responsibilities become clearer and are specifically tied to the outcome you are seeking to achieve. This alignment is referred to as vertical alignment, and it ensures goals are everyone’s personal plan for getting the organization to their desired destination. Many organizations fail in this type of vertical alignment leaving employees confused as to what is expected of them, resulting in a lack of engagement in organization goals and lack of positive outcomes. At the individual or group level, this makes sense: If you tell someone to proceed toward a destination but provide no map or guideposts to help them get there, they will probably get lost. Getting lost disengages the person or group from that journey, and their likelihood of reaching the destination is substantially decreased. Goals should provide that clear pathway or map across the organization to engage employees and help them reach the intended destination. As employees develop their own roadmap, there is potential for employees to cross each other’s paths and conflict to evolve. It is also important that goals are aligned horizontally to ensure consistency, build momentum, and to reduce conflict between departments. Without alignment, each department could be focused on their specific goals to improve organizational performance, but could inadvertently be working against the efforts of another department. For example, if the ICU has a goal focused on ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and the respiratory department does also, they can work together for a common cause and ensure that their decisions have positive implications for both departments. A clear performance ma