Time to set company goals? Avoid these 9 missteps this year.

While on a personal level, many of us wait until New Year’s Eve to declare a resolution or goal for the upcoming year, organizations usually don’t wait until December 31st to do so. During the fourth quarter of an organization’s current fiscal year is the right time to set goals for the upcoming year.

While the concept of goals may seem like a simple one, there are steps that can elevate the practice of setting and achieving goals. And when these steps are missed, the goal process can lose its intended power and fall short of results.

Below are 9 common missteps we see when evaluating the goal setting efforts of organizations are:

Misstep #1: Lack of a formal process or structure for goal setting activities. We see lots of emphasis on a budget cycle, but goal setting deserves its own priority and consistent set of activities. Ideally, a great goal setting cycle leads to the outcome of declared organizational goals and work unit-specific goals nicely aligned with the organization’s strategic plan. We see lots of leadership and Board activity related to the budget cycle, and little (or no) activity related to a formal goal setting cycle. We often see that the Board of Trustees has approved the annual budget and the Board’s Finance Committee meets monthly to assess the performance toward the budget, yet there is an absence of an approval and monitoring process for the organizational goals. Call to Action: Develop a Goal Cycle.

Misstep #2: Not setting metric-based goals. A glorious statement of: “Our annual goals are to improve safety, patient satisfaction, and the bottom line” is not going to cut it. This vision for the future should be clearly and objectively articulated in the form of a goal statement, that answers these three questions:

Where are we now (baseline metric)?

Where do we want to be (goal metric/target)?

By when (timeframe)?

Example: To increase the overall inpatient patient satisfaction percentile ranking from the 75th percentile in 4th Quarter 2018, to the 90th percentile by the 4th quarter of 2019.

Call to Action: Set metric-based goals.

Misstep #3: Not engaging key stakeholders in the goal setting (and action planning and execution!) process. Leaders alone are not going to accomplish the goals of the organization. Engage employees and they will amaze you! I witnessed an illiterate housekeeper be the one to recommend a work unit goal that led to her term to achieving great success. Don't buy in to the thinking that this is the job of leadership - setting and achieving goals should be the focus of everyone in the organization. Call to Action: Engage frontline employees and other key stakeholders in setting goals and contributing to the actions that achieve them.

Misstep #4: Setting too many goals. Our work over the last decade to improve the results of healthcare organizations has shown us time and time again that narrowing the focus allows organizations to achieve more. It seems counterintuitive, yet it works. Set only 3-6 organizational goals and at the work unit level set only 2-3 aligned goals. I have witnessed time and time again that one very well set and accomplished goal can lead to three or more key operational metrics also improving greatly. Call to Action: Less is more. Set only 3-6 organizational goals (one for each strategic priority) and at the work unit level set only 2-3 aligned goals.

Misstep #5: Not cascading/aligning organizational goals into work unit goals. Once the organization has set the 3-6 organizational goals, each work unit then sets their 2-3 aligned goals. In doing so, they ask, “What can we do to contribute to the success of the organization’s goals? The concept is that by each work unit achieving their goals, the organization will achieve its goals. Call to Action: Each work unit sets 2-3 goals in alignment with the organization's goals.

Misstep #6: Setting easy goals. Goals need to be on the higher end of difficulty to create a sense of urgency and drive to improve. Organizations that set too many goals often fall in to a habit of setting “soft” or easy goal targets. Striving for a millimeter of improvement on many things, versus going big on the few most important things, is still very prevalent thinking. Call to Action: Set goals that will require an “all in” effort to achieve them, yet not perceived as impossible.

Misstep #7: Not creating alignment of resources to goals. Goals should be set before budgets are. Yet we see this is done in reverse order too often. When considering resources, don't only consider what funds are needed, but what time and talent needs to be aligned to the goals. Again, this is why fewer goals is a best practice as resources are not unlimited. So, align your limited resources to fewer goals in an effort to achieve more. Call to Action: Align the resources necessary to achieve goals.

Misstep #8: Not aligning performance evaluations to the achievement of goals. Moving from a subjective-based to an objective achievement-based evaluation process when there are established metric-based goals. I know that my behavior, performance, and contributions elevated when my performance as a senior healthcare leader was evaluated based on objective, versus subjective, criteria. This certainly leads to a "no surprises" evaluation, as goals are measured continuously throughout the year. I always knew how my performance evaluation was going to go. Call to Action: Integrate goals into an objective, metric-based performance evaluation.

Misstep #9: Not setting a cadence of execution and accountability. I can’t image an organization setting a budget for the year and then never paying attention to finance again until the end of the year. To accomplish goals, there must be a rhythm of activities of execution, measurement, and accountability. Call to Action: Determine what execution and accountability activities are part of your goal cycle, and stick to them all year long.

Simply declaring a New Year's Resolution doesn't lead to its achievement, just as setting a budget doesn’t lead to positive financial results. And, simply setting goals doesn’t lead to organizational success. It is the cycle of assessment, planning, and execution activities, of a resolution, budget, or goal that are necessary to be “Wildly Successful!” Assess your organization’s goal setting cycle and strive to avoid the missteps in the years ahead.

Wishing you much success! Just Start!

About the Author

Sue Tetzlaff, RN, RHIA, MHA, FACHE, devotes her workdays (and some sleepless nights) to transforming small, rural, community healthcare organizations. Rural America is where Sue chooses to work and live. She holds a strong belief that community healthcare organizations are tremendously important community assets to be strengthened.

If you are a CEO or senior leader of a small, rural, community healthcare organization, Sue invites you to schedule a 30-minute complimentary consultation call - to make that simple, here is a link to her calendar: https://calendly.com/sue_capstone/30min