How do you link performance goals to your company vision?

1 Understand your company vision

Before you can link performance goals to your company vision, you need to have a clear and compelling vision statement that defines your purpose, values, and direction. Your vision statement should answer questions like: Why does your company exist? What do you want to achieve? How do you want to make a difference? Your vision statement should be concise, inspiring, and memorable, and it should guide your strategic planning and decision making.

2 Break down your vision into strategic goals

Once you have your vision statement, you need to break it down into strategic goals that outline the key outcomes and milestones that you want to accomplish in the short and long term. Your strategic goals should be aligned with your vision, but also specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, if your vision is to be the leader in your industry, your strategic goals might include increasing your market share, improving your customer satisfaction, or launching a new product.

3 Translate your strategic goals into performance goals

After you have your strategic goals, you need to translate them into performance goals that assign roles and responsibilities to your employees and teams. Your performance goals should be derived from your strategic goals, but also tailored to the level, function, and skills of your employees. For example, if your strategic goal is to increase your market share, your performance goals might include generating more leads, closing more sales, or expanding into new markets.

4 Communicate your performance goals clearly and consistently

Once you have your performance goals, you need to communicate them clearly and consistently to your employees and teams. You need to explain how their performance goals are linked to your company vision and strategic goals, and how their contributions matter. You also need to provide feedback, recognition, and support to help them achieve their performance goals. You can use various tools and methods to communicate your performance goals, such as performance reviews, one-on-one meetings, team meetings, dashboards, or newsletters.

5 Review and adjust your performance goals regularly

Finally, you need to review and adjust your performance goals regularly to ensure that they are still aligned with your company vision and strategic goals, and that they are still relevant, realistic, and motivating. You need to monitor and measure your performance results, and celebrate your successes and learn from your failures. You also need to solicit and listen to feedback from your employees and teams, and involve them in the goal-setting process. You can use various tools and methods to review and adjust your performance goals, such as performance appraisals, surveys, focus groups, or SWOT analysis.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?