What is Goals ?
Organizational goals refer to the ideal situations to be achieved in undefined time-duration in future. These goals direct the daily activities and decisions. However, goals do not essentially lead to the quantifiable outcomes. These statements are related to the vision and mission statements. Goals can be followed for day-to-day operational activities and decisions, not essentially tied up with quantifiable results.
Organizational goals provide the standards to measure the performances for achieving the wide ranging objectives. These are the targets that convert the vision and mission into reality. Goals help in portraying a positive image of the organisation in the industry. It plays an important role in maintaining public relations and encourages support from various groups. This support helps the organizations in building brand image among general public and various stakeholders.
Definition of Goals
According to King and Cleland :
"Goals is to establish a venereal tone or organizational climate; to serve as a focal point for those who can identify with the organisation purpose and direction and to defer those who cannot, from participating in the organization's activities, to facilitate the translation of the broad purposes and mission into identifiable tasks and their assignment to responsible groups within the organisation and to help in allocating organizational resources".
According to Robey :
"An organisation falling short of its tartest might set up a task force to develop new policies for achieving a higher level of goal attainment. Goals can also provide a rationale for designing the organisation. A goal of rapid growth through introduction of new products may lead and organisation to create a strong R&D department and to create a mechanism for close integration among the engineering, marketing and R&D departments".
Features of Goals
The goals of an organisation are characterized as follows :
1) Specific :
The goals should clearly specify targets to be achieved and the tasks to be fulfilled. This would help the managers in evaluating the performance at regular intervals. An ideal goal should address major issues that are critical for success of the organisation.
2) Realistic and Challenging :
An organizational goal should be realistic as well as challenging. If the goal is unrealistic, the employees may find it unachievable and may get demotivated. But, the goat should also not be too easy. It should be challenging enough so that it can encourage the employees to improve their performances by searching new and creative ways of carrying-out the organizational activities.
3) Time Constraint :
Another important characteristic of an organizational goal is that there should be a time-period associated within which it has to be completed. It provides a deadline to the employees and managers so that they are motivated to improve performance for achieving success within the time constraint. However, it is not necessary that every goal is time bound.
4) Measurable :
The goals should be quantifiable. It implies that the goals should be measurable so that the outcome could be evaluated and the progress can be estimated. Measurable goals act as a yardstick for the managers and their team members to evaluate their performance.
5) Level-Oriented Goals :
A goal should be set to address important issues only. The top and middle level managers are accountable for such long-term goals. On the other hand, the short term goals should be addressed by lower-level managers.
For example, quality control and cost reduction are the goals of upper and middle level managers. Employee motivation and performance evaluation are the goals of lower i level managers.
6) Commitment:
The members of the organisation should be committed for the achievement of set goals. The employees should also get involved into the goal setting process. If the management does not include the employees in setting of goals, then every aspect related to goal-setting should be communicated clearly to them.
Types of Goals
Organizational goals are of three types :
1) Official Goals :
Official goals are the common objectives of the organisation. These goals validate the activities of the organisation and stabilize the organisation in its environment. These goals are mentioned in the documents published in the organisation periodically, such as memorandum of association, performance report, etc. The top level annual management addresses these goals in their public statement.
2) Operative Goals :
Operative goals indicate the actual targets that an organisation wishes to achieve. These can be considered the operating policies. These goals help the managers in reducing the possibilities of uncertainty while remaining attentive. The operating designs for organisation. in selecting the alternative
3) Operational Goals :
These goals are set by the middle level managers for supervising or controlling the subordinates. These goals help in measuring the performance of the employees.