When we get busy at work, it’s easy to spend all of our time, energy, and focus on those short-term items that need to be done in a day or in a week. It can often seem like there isn’t enough time left over to think about, let alone work toward, anything further out.
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However, failing to plan for the future is a critical mistake in any situation, particularly in a business setting.
For this reason, many companies set long-term corporate goals for the organization to help focus long-term strategies and energies. Here are a few of the advantages of setting corporate goals.
1. Objective Metrics
According to one expert, setting goals creates an environment within which corporate success can be measured—and not just in the near term. “When you are looking at your company from a three- or five-year perspective, you are looking beyond the tactical side of your business and instead taking a much more macro view, which allows you to see the company from a competitive, business vertical or economic perspective.”
It’s easy to say you want to improve customer service or improve quality, but setting a goal forces you to come up with clear metrics for how to achieve those objectives. Furthermore, it sets the stage for everyone to be able to determine whether you’ve achieved what you set out to achieve.
2. Leadership Team Cohesion
Goals are longer term and more strategic initiatives than day-to-day activities. A corporate goal will likely need support from multiple business units. Setting and communicating these goals to the organization helps make sure everyone in the leadership team is on the same page—and that he or she can adequately communicate goals to his or her direct reports.
Doing this effectively ensures that all employees in the organization have a line of sight between what they do and how the organization benefits.
3. Putting Smaller Decisions into Perspective
When goals are clearly defined, employees can develop a deeper and better sense of how the tactical things they do on a day-to-day basis impact the organization as a whole. “For example, when you have a budget that considers revenue to expenses, you will better understand the implications of a major purchase or winning a large new client,” says one expert.
Planning for the future often requires putting some infrastructure in place to help determine the best path forward, and goals are a great way to do this. In a follow-up post, we’ll suggest some basic tips for making your goals effective.