What is a Target - and what is it good for?

Goals are ubiquitous. Every person, every team, every party, every government, and every company has goals, aspirations, and targets. Organizations often express their goals in their mission statement. For a for-profit organization, this means tangible results like revenue targets, sales targets, and profit targets by the day, week, month, and year. However, more intangible targets and goals are not measurable by the same means.

Ideally, an individual can identify with some of their employer’s goals - especially because we spend a large portion of our time at work. Studies have shown that employees who can identify with their company’s values are usually more engaged and happier at work. 

I believe that intangible business goals have the innate ability to excite both leadership and employees alike; especially within for-profit organizations. We are looking at two different categories:  Structural, organizational or technical business goals and Mission-focused goals. 

Structural, organizational or technical business goals

Structural, organizational, or technical business goals are often the key focus when restructuring a company. These goals often go hand-in-hand with modifying business models, for example: centralized purchasing, integrating AI technologies, company mergers, outsourcing, acquisitions, etc. It is essential for each affected employee to understand why and how these changes are executed. One way to achieve this is to ensure that these goals are communicated broadly to all team members. Without this transparency, you risk losing your team members' support. A communication plan is a helpful tool in getting ahead of the curve by having a solid roadmap for what and when you should communicate to your team. 

Mission-focused goals

We live in an age of rapid communication and individual empowerment. Company leadership is now facing questions about what they fundamentally stand for. To thrive in this environment it is absolutely crucial for your leadership to clearly communicate their purpose and make decisions based on that expressed purpose. 

While consumer behavior continues to shape a company’s success, employees play a bigger and bigger role in affecting how well a company survives in today’s marketplace. Employee retention not only affects the bottom line, it shapes the company culture from the ground up. 

Increasingly, employees expect their workplace to provide supportive structures for their fundamental needs such as personal wellbeing, health care, protected parental leave, family support, etc. They also want to work at a place that aligns with their core values. They want to feel proud of the positive impact their employer has on the local and global communities. This means a focus on sustainable business decisions and a proactive response to climate change are a must.

Employee motivation traditionally increases when the individual feels aligned with a company's values. This goes beyond monetary decisions; it could be a four-day week that was enabled by AI technology, or planting a tree for each purchase. 

As soon as your business goals start to include elements of environmental, societal, and equity aspirations, it will be easier for your staff to stay engaged and motivated and feel cared for. As a result, more motivated employees will affect your return on investment in the long run, while creating a positive company culture now and in the future.