Question

Define and differentiate between companies’ goals and objectives. List at least three factors that support the long-term attributes of “Goals".

Answer 1

Simply put, a goal is a written statement describing what you want to achieve within a deadline. Company goals include those for the company as a whole, goals for each department and goals for each employee. Ideally, they should all be aligned so that employee and department goals help the entire company reach its goals.

The words goals, objectives and targets are often used interchangeably. Some companies use the word goals to describe overall goals for the company, with objectives set out for departments and targets to describe individual employee goals.

Google posts each employee's goals beside their name, title and contact information in the company's internal employee directory.

Making goals transparent to everyone in your company may seem to be more detrimental than a benefit, especially if a company has always kept goals private and confidential in the past. However, in the vast majority of cases, the benefits outweigh any drawbacks, regardless of the size of the company or the industry it's in.

When the company makes its overall goals available to the employees, they, in turn, can align their goals and objectives to match the company's strategies. Furthermore, when everyone knows what other departments are planning to do, they're less likely to make unrealistic demands of those departments and duplicate the work planned by those other departments.