Linking Company Goals to Employee Performance

In business, companies that figure out how to take products or services to market in the most efficient, profitable way will win. The road of business is populated with companies that, somewhere along the way, lost sight of these basic principles. Aligning employee performance to company goals is key to outperforming the competition. Given all the other matters for daily consideration, how do you do this effectively and consistently?

While the steps to link performance to the achievement of your company goals may be the same, no two companies are alike. You must take the principles of performance and craft a system with complementary programs for each employee level. A performance system describes the general policies and parameters for the administration of the company's performance programs. Before business owners and managers can set specific, measurable performance goals, they first must decide the company's overall objectives. Once this is determined, a performance system can be developed.

The core components of a performance system include:

• Vision - What is the company's vision for delivering its product or service?
• Strategy/Plan to Achieve the Vision - What is the plan for the company and individuals to help achieve the vision?
• Organization - What is each person's role within the organization and what accountabilities are involved?
• Expectation of Performance - What is the perceived level of performance for each employee?
• Individual Goals - What individual goals need to be met to achieve company goals?
• Training/Development Programs - What training/ development programs will help individuals accomplish their goals?
• Reward/Incentives - Which rewards/incentives will be most effective and when will these rewards be given to employees after goals are met?
• Measurement - Which metrics will be used to measure performance, and are those measurements tied back to goals?
• Continuing Improvement - In which areas can the company and/or individuals make improvements or reductions to further company goals?