The Gulf between Organizational Objectives and those of an Employee

In my 31 years of professional life i have worked for six organizations as a full time employee and each time in a different role. The employee strength of these organization varied between 500 hundred to 500000. Each had various business or operational units spread over more then one geographic location. Every organization wanted its workers to work harder for greater organizational goals and objectives. However very few expressed timely, explicitly or candidly as to what were those goals and objectives.

Today all organizations expect workers and employees to set their annual targets SMART-ly.

But most of these organizations forget to declare theirs.

Specially large sized organizations often talk very high of their past achievements and future strategies but do not want to disclose exact strategic plans with their employees and call them business secrets publically and hidden agenda in their hearts.

This is when the real confusion starts.

with mixed and intense layers/tiers of teams, departments, business units, groups, sections, units, committees their is always a mark distance between the organizational think tanks and the front line workers or the employees.

Most organizations try to lock annual objectives by January, February or March. Some try to complete before Fall December of the previous year and few of them remain busy in consolidating organizational objectives throughout the year by asking employees to draft theirs.

Big organizations have big bosses and those too in big numbers so approvals are always a problem and avoiding problems has become a declared tool for staying long in a organizations.

Many managers avoid presenting a case due to the fear of no and not realizing how important that might be. If someone asks me to prepare my annual objectives in March 2021 for the year year 2021 I have all my rights to smile. Laughing can be a problem.

To my horror and communicated by some HR experts even when the date to complete annual objectives is in March 50-60 % employees in a large organization are still unable to craft. They blame section heads who blame their departmental in charges, proclaiming that unless they don't know what would the departmental or organizational objectives be, they cannot make their objective. The focus of the object is on SMART and not capabilities, capacities or realities. As the time passes many CEOs start declaring that organizational objectives will remain unchanged. However employees cannot repeat the previous year's goals and targets as new year's goals and objectives.

Lot of employees write their basic job description in annual objectives and feel very happy that they are doing so much for the organization, without realizing that most organizations are expecting much beyond his job description. If we don't consider every new year as a new opportunity we will lose one more year as a year lost. lot of employees don't realize that organizations don't pay us just for our basic job descriptions. They expect employees to do more. Thinking beyond the box and thinking much beyond immediate can help.

1. In my opinion my Annual Objectives should aim at building departmental image as an immediate outcome and organizational image amongst my social peers.
2. They should boost team morale and also cohesiveness.
3. Yet another outcome should be generation of competitive spirits among other employees.
4. In relation to specific function an employees objective must merge with organizational goals associated with that particular function.

Objective setting should never be done individually and should always be done in form of teams.

Each employee in a team or a department must be explained first about organizational objectives in the first place

followed by Team/departmental objectives

and then open discussion must be held by each team if they expected some more objectives to be added in team or organizational objectives.

Thereafter employees may be asked what role or objectives they would like to plan for themselves and the resources they need encouraging them to be as wild as they can be. Others may suggest keeping in view their assessment of each team member's potential.

even after such discussion and sharing some more time may be given to employees to finalize their objective's and this is how Objective setting activity must be done. I am sure if done in the same manner the gulf between an employee's objective and those of an organization can always be bridged.

DICTATIONs during objective setting must be avoided. They are harmful.

Objectives may be specific but they should not serve as matter of death or life. some flexibility should always be there to modify, improve or even pend achievements of the objectives if circumstances and or opportunities change.

The worst employees or those who ask their bosses or their subordinates to make their objectives. It is proven fact that most achieved objectives were those that were made by the employees themselves. The way TNA is done before good training plans; in the same way ONA - Organizational Need Analysis must be done before rolling out objective setting activities.

Some bosses use objective setting activity as target killing opportunities. If they expect to remove Mr. upfront, Mr. over smart or Mr. successor from the team or the department they would ask him to craft over ambitious, over challenging and over specific objectives so he remains on the run through out the year and end up failing. Actually they cause more damage to organization then good. Yet as a reverse of this some bosses try to promote Mr. relative, Miss pretty, Mr. party or Mr. ex-company freind through very easy to achieve objective. Profesional lives demand much more honesty then our normal lives because by loosing track of merit and performance we harm not only a group of people but an organistion in the long run.

You have to be dead honest.

Good organizations irrespective of their size must lock next years objective of all their employees, departments and teams much ahead of the fall of the previous year so employees can actually start right from the oust to align themselves with the objective and goals they have committed to achieve for greater organization gains.

there is no harm of sharing all employees objective with each other because it would help to generate more competition and also awareness on the quality of objectives. It also helps in generating an opportunity for supporting each other.

Objectives should not be left to computers or emails. Hard copy duly signed by employees for employee objectives and that of departmental objectives duly signed by all members in a department may also be kept.

WILL BE CONTINUED AFTER COMMENTS & REMARKS BY READERS

Zahid Faqir,

MSIR MSPS NEBOSH-UK

DGM HSEQ BQPS-III 900 MW RLNG CCPP & Associated Grids Project Karachi - Pakistan

Cell 0346 8204024 also WhatsApp

Emails [email protected]; [email protected]