Network Magazine winter 2015 | Page 13

to a minimum. As the old saying goes ‘if everything is important then nothing is important’. Most organisations spend millions of dollars developing and communicating important messages to their potential customers. These millions are spent on branding, imagery and creating one-liners that will excite and grab the attention of potential customers. Yet very few organisations spend much money or effort attempting to develop and communicate their strategy and main goals to the people required to execute them. This is a big mistake. Organisations should continually seek new ways, new techniques, and new communication mediums to spread their main messages internally. The investment will be well worth it. Having set and communicated clear organisation goals, it shouldn’t be too difficult for managers to agree goals for those who report to them and align those Too many organisations have not communicated clear strategies and goals to their employees. goals to those of the organisation. It’s important that the goal setting process for employees be a two-way discussion and not just a demand or direction from the top. Employees who have input into setting their personal goals as well as the goals of their team are far more likely to buy-in to those goals and have a greater desire to achieve or exceed them. Setting clear strategies and goals, and linking them to those of individual employee roles, is one of the main drivers of employee engagement. And increasing employee engagement is crucial to providing a better place to work, reducing employee turnover, and increasing productivity, customer engagement and loyalty. Combined, these result in greatly improved organisation performance. If someone asked you right now what your organisation’s main aims are, what would you say? If you can’t answer immediately, it’s time to put the goal posts back. Nicholas Barnett is a director, business leader and strategist with over 35 years’ experience. He is CEO of insyncsurveys.com.au and author of 7 Business Habits That Drive High Performance (Major Street Publishing, $29.99) which can be purchased at 7businesshabits.com Be a part of Australia’s largest Personal Training Studio network and transform peoples’ lives. Over 400 passionate Personal Trainers delivering 14,000 sessions per week Apply online at visionpersonaltraining.com Nearest Studio 1300 183 727 NETWORK WINTER 2015 | 13