Why Many Companies Struggle to Achieve Their Goals

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By Cynthia Wakio

Why do many organizations find it difficult to achieve their goals? This week, I was privileged to have a sit down with Perminus Wainaina, an experienced HR Consultant and CEO at Corporate Staffing Services to find out why this happens.

1. What are organizational goals?

This is what a company seeks to achieve either in the short term or long term. They guide the decision-making of a company and can be set at either the organizational, departmental and even individual levels.

Goals are also very important at an individual level and are best reflected by the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

2. How do you set the goals of a company?

Interview with Perminus Wainaina

First, get the stakeholders present, the people who have an interest in whatever goals and get to understand their views and opinion. Then communicate and allow each person a chance to contribute to what they think and feel to achieve buy-in so as to ensure at the end, you achieve the set goals.

So, when you are setting goals, pay attention to the following;

a. The historical performance – For instance, if the company has been achieving Kshs. 20M annually, then setting a goal of Kshs. 30M is not reasonable unless there is a good reason why this is possible

b. Set a stretch target – For example, if last year’s performance was Kshs. 20M, then if you add 10-15% above the Kshs. 20M, then the set target is achievable. It is something that will require everyone to give their very best without them feeling overwhelmed

c. What are the resources required to achieve these goals? If you don’t give the team the resources required, they may not be able to achieve the goals

 3. When it comes to implementing the company goals, what tips can you give to companies?

 a. Adopt a participative approach by getting the stakeholder’s views

b. Ensure the goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART)

c. Goals should also be reviewed regularly. If you don’t have the internal capacity, then seek the services of an expert. For instance, here at CSS, we have helped many organizations come up with performance systems for their businesses

d. Always tie rewards to good performance. More often than not, companies are quick to punish non-performers without considering an incentive for the ones that do a good job.

4. What challenges do companies face when it comes to implementing their own goals?

a. Lack of skills, especially for SMEs and Medium-sized firms. The owner is too involved in the day-to-day running of a business that they may not have time or skills to develop the goals and strategy of the organization.

b. Not engaging the stakeholders thus, they don’t achieve buy-in and without this, plans fail

c. Not reviewing progress. A lot of time, we come up with targets that are reviewed at the end of the year. However, reviews should be done monthly and even in some departments such as sales should be done weekly.

5.Why do most organizations not follow their goals?

It goes without saying; especially if you are an SME or a medium-sized company, you are so involved with the day-to-day issues. There is so much firefighting as opposed to focusing on the bigger picture. There are no structures meaning, a lot of time is taken up by non-issues.

 6. How best can a company deliver on its goals?

 The key thing is to remain consistent. Goal setting and strategy should be a major part of the organization. Periodically, you should be able to review where you are and if you need to make changes to the goals and strategy then do it. Remember to also engage the stakeholders and also seek assistance from experts such as ourselves.

Perminus Wainaina is a Certified HR Consultant and the Managing Partner at Corporate Staffing Services where he manages a team of 25 staff.  He helps CEOs, executives, and managers solve their HR pains, dysfunctions, and key challenges for business success.