Strategic Goals for Your Company in the New Year

Most of us have already chosen our New Year’s resolutions, whether it’s eating healthier, becoming fit, or saving more money for your retirement. But for those in the world of business, resolutions are more like goals. Has your company set strategic goals for your company in 2014?

From setting goals and providing clear directions for achievement, Cedar Creek would like to offer four strategies to help make 2014 the best year for your business.

Strategy 1: Select Impactful Goals for Overall Business Focus

A lot of us get stuck in the same trap year after year – we make personal resolutions that we have trouble fulfilling. If you’re not careful, the same can happen for owners and managers trying to set goals for their business.

Take time to select goals for your business that really matter, and more importantly, make sure they can be accomplished. Often times, company leaders set goals that are either shallow or won’t have any real effect on your long-term vision. You can avoid these problems by identifying your company’s challenges. If you’re trying to increase sales, set smaller goals that will directly impact growth to the bottom line. If you’re struggling to retain employees, you may want to set smaller goals that will make them stick around longer.

Goals shouldn’t just be meaningful. They should align with other parts of your business, like your vision, mission, and values. Goals that don’t align with these principals will most likely fall by the wayside or distract you from other opportunities. Corporate retreats and business meetings can help you get away from everyday distractions and keep your team focused. Feel free to give Cedar Creek a call to see how our meeting rooms can provide you with the flexibility needed for meetings of any kind.

Strategy #2: Create Daily Processes to Help Reach Fulfillment

Process is something that makes a lot of businesses flourish, whether it’s workflow, employee onboarding, or billing. Stay simple in your goal setting by ensuring that they’re easy to memorize and integrate into processes. The best goals are memorable and measurable.

Broad goals are the worst goals. Think about the goals we’ve made in our pasts, like “graduate college” or “make the varsity team.” The problem with these is that the bar is set too low. What kind of college are we talking about? Is it a community, private, or state college? And do you want to graduate with a 3.5 or 4.0 GPA?

A better goal format would be something like: “grow our client list by 50” or “build team morale to retain 85% of our current employees.” These are simple goals that use numbers, helping you remember and measure outcomes.

Strategy #3: Be Transparent with Your Employees

Speaking of increasing your employee-retention rate, you might want to consider sharing your goals with your team. Even better, ask them for some constructive criticism to help you decide on your goals. This gives employees a clear understanding of what you’re seeking to accomplish and how they can help you along the way. Plus, employees like to have a say in where they think their leaders should aim. It’s been found that transparency correlates with employee happiness.

Sharing your goals gives employees accountability and added support. Also, once you let everyone in on your goal, then you are committed to that goal and are more likely to remain consistent with that commitment. There’s no better way to get employees in on the conversation than to schedule some time for group activity planning. Cedar Creek offers a wide variety of recreational activities, whether it’s our low ropes confidence or the 9-hole golf course.

Strategy #4: Identify Distractions Before They Cost You

We briefly mentioned how distractions can derail you from the task at hand, but we didn’t bring up how powerful it can be to say “no” to something that will get in the way. This is most important for new entrepreneurs that are often easily pulled from their mission and vision. Even the most positive of distractions can make you stray from your primary goals; it’s important to recognize these before it’s too late.

So, what’s the bottom line?

The best goals are specific, measurable, and attainable. With these three attributes, you’re just that much closer to achieving what you decide to set for 2014. If you determine that you need to take your meeting out of the office, give us a call. For over 10 years she has been assisting Cedar Creek clients put together successful meetings to help them achieve their goals!

As always, feel free to share your goals with us in the below comments. Oh, and good luck in the New Year!