Earlier I hinted at the value of setting meaningful and measurable goals. Now I want to carry on with the conversation. Hopefully, you find this email helpful as you look ahead to your next planning effort.
When creating goals and objectives for your organization, there are two different categories to consider:
- Annual goals (that can be measured monthly, weekly or even daily)
- A Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG™)
BHAG: A concept first defined by authors Jim Collins and Jerry Porras as “a form of vision statement… an audacious 10-to-30 year goal to progress towards an envision future.”
At CREW, our annual goals provide the benchmark for progress toward achieving our mission, vision and grand schemes, while helping determine the overall health of our business. Annual goals also provide a target for promotional activities moving forward. After all, a solid marketing plan requires a goal to work towards—that’s what annual goals are for.
I’ll start with the big one. Our BHAG™ is to establish 20 offices across North America by 2020. This is a simple goal that scares, and motivates, us each and every day!
For our annual goals, we have three specific areas at CREW that I measure to ensure a healthy business that fulfills our mission and vision long-term:
- Client Satisfaction. Are clients happy with the service and results we provide? We send out a satisfaction survey 3 times/year and ask clients how satisfied are they with us on a scale of 1 – 5. Our goal is absolutely nothing lower than 4.0. 2.
- Client Profitability. Our goal is a 15% profit margin target for all services with clients which is in line with industry standards for professional creative agencies.
- People Development. As a service business, we are only as good as our people. 100% of the crew have a clear development plan and 2 performance reviews to ensure we’re learning and growing professionally and personally.
Use the following principals when setting goals and objectives for your organization:
- Keep the list simple to start—focus on a few key goals.
- Ensure you can easily obtain metrics for the goals you set.
- Goals and objectives are strictly for internal purposes
- Objectives are to act as a guide and encourage the right type of behaviour and projects, helping keep a company unified and on track.
When it comes to setting measurable objectives, consider breaking your goals down into categories that you can actually track with numbers so you can stop relying on your gut (or be exposed to the whim of someone on your team):
Revenue/Profitability:
- Per customer/client
- Per Product or Service
- Per Region or Department
- Per channel (even online)
- Per quarter or month
- Per employee
Other Categories could include:
- Customer Satisfaction
- # of Compliments Received
- Website activity and social media engagement (Klout score?)
- # of Referrals
- # of Requests to Speak
- Number of Applicants for Employment
The reality is that the goal planning effort is only ever as successful as the people behind it and what I’ve found is that people don’t like accountability and may balk at the idea of them, or their work, being measured. You may face resistance if you try and force specific measures onto your staff. It will be more effective to make goal-setting a collaborative process with key employees who recommend objectives for their department that align with your vision and mission and for which your staff can easily be held accountable. The best advice I can give you here is to integrate these objectives into job descriptions to ensure there is structure and accountability during performance reviews.
Thanks for reading!
Have a great day! – Braden