Strategy development: from setting goals to action plans. Employee’s own goals What goals the company sets for the year examples

21.11.2009 09:27

Strategy development is the cornerstone of a company's successful and efficient operations. Until the company's management understands the goals and direction of movement, the enterprise will not be able to fully develop.

We are starting to publish case studies on strategy development and implementation. This material invites you to get acquainted with the real experience of Russian companies: the Atemi holding, the Mosmart hypermarket chain and the Arte manufacturing enterprise. You will learn how they developed strategies, what difficulties arose, who was and is responsible for planning and coordinating their strategic activities.

Companies placed different emphasis when developing strategy: the leadership of one was based on a hierarchy of goals, another - on personnel, and a third - on innovation.

Practice experience

Achieving strategic goals - from the bottom up

Ilya Smirnov | Head of Strategic Development Service, Atemi Management Company, Moscow

We can say that strategic planning in the Atemi holding is one of the main business processes. Over the years, considerable experience has been gained in the development and implementation of strategy. Responsibility for the strategic planning of each enterprise of our holding lies with the management company, or rather, with the service of strategic development.

The activities of each of the links (from the individual employee to the services of the management company) are aimed at achieving the general goals of the holding and realizing the vision of the founders (see. Hierarchy of strategic goals). In other words, achieving goals by employees should lead to achieving the goals of their department, achieving goals by departments should lead to achieving the goals of the enterprise, and achieving goals by enterprises should lead to achieving the goals of the holding as a whole and, ultimately, to bringing closer the vision outlined by the founders in the strategic planning process .

Hierarchy of strategic goals

Setting goals

At the initial stage, we discuss with the owners what they expect from the development of the holding, that is, what indicators it should achieve within a certain time. As a rule, we consider a period from one to three years. When describing the future state, you can indicate:

• financial parameters (such as expected turnover or profitability);
• change in structure (for example, a certain number of new stores in a retail network that are planned to open);
• new product or geographic markets or new consumer segments.

As a result of the discussion, the expected state of each of the holding’s enterprises, the management company and the entire holding as a whole is born - we call it "vision of the company's development." Individual vision parameters are for us strategic goals.

Then, for each enterprise, we develop a financial model in which we determine the parameters of assets, liabilities and performance indicators. In accordance with this model, each enterprise draws up its own financial plan for its activities.

The next step is to predict what each department should do to achieve the strategic goals of the enterprise. At this stage, the strategic development service works closely with the heads of individual departments. As a result, each department has its own management goals. Possible parameters of these goals are improving the terms of contracts with suppliers, the number of attracted customers or turnover (see case study: Management goals of the sales and purchasing department).

Often, having defined management goals for divisions, we identify resource or time constraints that were not taken into account when strategically planning the goals of the holding or enterprise. In this case, it is necessary to adjust the initially established goals. For example, management planned a radical increase in the range, but when planning financial indicators it turned out that the holding did not have the resources for this. Therefore, you need to either find additional resources or change the strategy taking into account the opportunities - for example, increase the assortment not for all groups, but only for key products that generate the greatest turnover.

Management goals of the sales and purchasing department

Sales department goals:

• ensure the implementation of the sales turnover plan by increasing the efficiency of work with clients;
• expand the range of Atemi products in each client’s purchases;
• together with the warehouse, increase customer satisfaction with the processes of completing a transaction and shipping goods.

Purchasing Department Goals:

• ensure the fulfillment of obligations undertaken jointly with suppliers (namely, to improve working conditions and meet delivery deadlines);
• ensure the constant presence of key product items in the warehouse in the required volumes (within the range);
• ensure the development of new products within the range;
• ensure constant competitive prices in the market.

Developing strategies to achieve your goals

Once strategic goals have been defined for all levels of the holding, we formulate ways to achieve them.

The strategy of each enterprise is developed by its director in collaboration with the strategic development service. We define the division strategy as follows: the department head formulates proposals, and the strategic development service coordinates the proposed strategy for achieving the division's goals with the overall strategy of the enterprise.

The executives responsible for developing and implementing the strategies then present (and defend) them to the board of directors. Typically we develop:

• assortment strategy (purchasing department);
• pricing strategy (purchasing department);
• supplier strategy (purchasing department);
• customer strategy (sales department);
• financial strategy (financial function);
• personnel strategy (HR service);
• promotion strategy (sales department together with advertising service).

All of them must be connected and logically complement each other (see. Interrelation of strategies).

Developing goals and a strategy to achieve them is not enough. It is necessary that each employee acts in accordance with the approved strategy. To do this, department heads draw up management plans, usually for a period of six months. They indicate specific activities, deadlines for their implementation (dates), and those responsible.

Having approved management plans, departments begin to implement them. Every month we hold general meetings: we monitor the implementation of plans, adjust them in accordance with changed conditions. The implementation of plans is monitored by the head of the development service, and they are adjusted by the head of the relevant department.

Once every six months we hold a meeting at which we summarize the results of the past six months, analyze the degree to which strategic goals have been achieved and the reasons for non-fulfillment of plans. Based on the results of the meeting, we draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the chosen strategy, and make adjustments if necessary.

Interrelation of strategies

The pricing strategy can be formulated, for example, as follows: prices for key product groups should be 5-10% lower than the lowest price on the market (the “best price” strategy), and for other products - the market average. The connection between this strategy and personnel strategy will be as follows: since the “best price” strategy provides that the buyer is attracted by the price, then in this case active sales are not required (the product sells itself), therefore, highly qualified personnel are not required. That is, the personnel strategy in this case is to attract sociable, friendly, smiling sellers without experience in active sales and deep knowledge of the product. Next, you can build a promotion strategy: the form of trade is self-service with elements of consultative trade in some departments.

Practice experience

Strategy according to the formula “goal - mission - policy”

Eric Blondeau | General Director of the Russian hypermarket chain “Mosmart”, Moscow

We build our strategy with the help and on the basis of corporate resources. We adhere to the formula “goal - mission - policy”.

Target the company must be clearly formulated and known to every employee. Our goal is to increase the company's capitalization. Purpose is based on mission. We base our mission on four postulates that are important to us:

1. The multi-format retail chain Mosmart offers customers a level of service that meets the most demanding requirements.
2. All activities of our company are aimed at the fullest satisfaction of customer needs.
3. We are innovators in retail, introducing, using and improving technology and ways of working.
4. Our company creates all conditions for the professional and creative growth of employees.

The mission is the foundation for us, but it must be supported by politics. Politics at Mosmart are the priorities of management. Management focuses its efforts around people, assets, finances and products (see Mosmart policy). We explain our company policy to every employee during training. And in the future, management’s actions are based precisely on the company’s policy. We can say that at Mosmart, politics shapes the company's architecture and initiates numerous decisions.

Mosmart policy

Strategy development

For a company to achieve good results, its strategy must be clear, coherent, capable, and goal-oriented. There are several approaches to strategy formation. For example, a strategy can come from one - the most senior - leader and be taken into action by management and then by all employees. But in this case, staff involvement will not be strong, and the risks of failure to achieve strategic objectives increase.

The approach that has been adopted in our company is based on the bottom up 2 technique. Strategy development took place in the mode of coordination of tasks between management, middle management and employees. This technology is interesting from the point of view of developing initiative, firstly, of employees, and secondly, of company management. Next, the tasks were communicated to management and employees (top down 1).

In this way, each level of employee contributes to the successful formation of strategy by defining his ambitions, initiatives, role and degree of participation. The following rules must be observed:

• when developing a strategy, the cause-and-effect relationships should be clearly defined, that is, select those factors that really influence the achievement of higher goals;
• in the future, planning and evaluation of results should be carried out only for these factors (see. Strategy planning at Mosmart).

Strategy planning at Mosmart

Supply chain ( English) - movement of goods along the chain of operations from production to shipment to the consumer. — Note editors.

Strategy implementation plan

Focusing on strategic objectives, the management of our company proposed the actions necessary to complete the assigned tasks. The task will be considered completed if the value of the factor reaches a certain quantitative indicator. These proposals have grown into strategic projects. For the period from 2005 to 2006, Mosmart carried out thirty-nine such projects. More than 100 people were involved in the implementation process.

Thus, we achieved another (most important) goal - employee engagement and concentration on strategy.

The process of translating strategic objectives into operational ones occurs in four stages:

1. Based on cause-and-effect relationships, we determine the factors that influence the achievement of strategic goals.
2. For each factor, we set a long-term specific goal (strategic objective).
3. We find out what factors influence the implementation of strategic tasks in the short term and determine target values.
4. We translate our company's strategy into specific operational tasks.

Staff motivation

We consider the motivation of the company’s employees to be a prerequisite for the success of implementing strategic projects (see. Correlating employee goals with the overall company strategy). We developed a bonus payment system that was based on clearly defined criteria associated with quantitative indicators (KPI).

Correlating employee goals with the overall company strategy

ROCE ( English return on capital employed) - profit on capital employed, or return on capital, as well as profit (income) on assets used. — Note editors.

EBIT ( English earnings before interest and tax) - profit remaining before taxation, payment of interest and dividends. — Note editors.

In addition, we introduced a unified management information system, which took into account all factors and goals. Thus, the bonus program, focused on strategic goals, covered everyone - from the worker to the director. An “on-board display” has been put in place to constantly inform personnel of the actual status of tasks.

In conclusion, a piece of advice. Once you have implemented a corporate strategy, monitor the team's actions. Help make the best decisions. Be a coach for employees. Then the process of building a strategy will proceed not only efficiently, but also quickly. After that, satisfaction with what was achieved will bring joy to clients, team and investors.

Practice experience

The strategy is based on innovation, flexibility and activity

Alexander Golovkin| Deputy General Director of Arte CJSC, Moscow

Reference

Alexander Golovkin- professional top manager. He has two higher educations - technical (Moscow State Academy of Water Transport) and MBA (strategic management). In the field of commercial activity - since 1997, in JSC Arte - since the creation of the company.

Company "Arte" is a production and commercial company that sells clothing and footwear for everyday life, work and outdoor activities (a large percentage of the assortment is economy class shoes). Sales are carried out through two sales channels: through hypernetworks (Auchan, Metro, Pyaterochka, Seventh Continent) and through large wholesale companies (Vostok-Service, Trakt, etc.), which supply labor clothing, footwear, personal protective equipment and tools for large enterprises (Gazprom, Norilsk Nickel, etc.).

Many of the stages our company went through when developing its strategy were standard, but some conclusions and decisions were unexpected. For example, one of the solutions is to radically change product sales channels (in the minds of the consumer, economy class shoes need to be bought at the clothing market, where our company originally presented them).

Medium-term goals

Initially, we asked ourselves what position our company should occupy in the market in three or four years and what it should be like by that time. Here we should note some trends in modern planning. If twenty years ago long-term plans were drawn up for 5-10 years, medium-term plans for a period of 3 to 5 years, and short-term plans for a period of up to a year, today the terms have been reduced to three years, a year and one month, respectively.

We are engaged in production and commercial activities, selling casual clothing and footwear for outdoor activities and work. Observing how small firms and “uncivilized” markets stagnated, we chose for ourselves the position of supplier of Russian retail and large wholesale players.

At the first stage, our goal was to conclude contracts and ensure the presence of products in hypernets. In other words, there was a struggle for space on retail shelves and warehouse space. It was also necessary to test work shoes, get feedback from enterprises and, of course, establish joint activities to promote products with our dealers. The strategic goal for the first three years was as follows: to achieve fame, recognition and market presence of Arte products, to take a leading position in terms of price-quality ratio, and to expand the range.

Path to achieving goals

Having defined the goal, we began searching for the optimal way to achieve it. As one of the options for solving the problem, we considered contacting a consulting company. But in the end, they decided to do everything themselves - with the help of the company’s management, shareholders, partners, clients, staff, since they relied on a good knowledge of market conditions and the target audience. Naturally, I had to start collecting and analyzing information. The following parameters were assessed:

• Market volume. According to various estimates, the capacity of the casual clothing and footwear market is 1.2-1.5 billion US dollars per year.
• Market Trends: active growth of the segment amid stagnation of small firms and “unorganized” markets.
• Leading players (competitors) and their competitive strategies. We looked at foreign companies operating in our segment (by the way, their presence on the Russian market is not very large). It was not possible to come to clear conclusions regarding domestic players and their competitive strategies, since their main trump card is low price. Since a price war is futile, we fundamentally did not go down this path.

In addition, we conducted an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities (SWOT analysis). Analyzed:

• personnel (do they know the market and effective methods of working in it);
• cost and brand awareness;
• risks when changing product promotion channels;
• growth in purchasing power, development of retail.

The analysis was carried out by the General Director and myself, and it took about a month. Information was drawn from several sources at once: we ordered statistics on the footwear market from the Mosvneshinform company, used InoLine’s periodic industry review “Retail Networks,” and used the expert assessment of manufacturers who have been working in our market for a long time.

As a result, we understood what we have and what we need:

• We have: narrow range, underutilized production capacity, knowledge of the market and effective methods of working in it, a close-knit team, a promising growing market.
• Need to: identify risks, resolve the issue of optimal allocation of resources (or, if insufficient, find them, including through lending) and begin moving along the intended path.

Specific actions to develop a strategy

Next, we assessed the company's structure. As a result, we reoriented the sales department from sales by telephone and catalogs to active sales, structured the purchasing and supply department in order to use resources more efficiently (including effectively managing the production process, inventory balances and quality control), and optimized business processes. Some of the business processes have been changed. In particular:

• production and warehousing were moved from the city to the region, which made it possible to significantly reduce costs, save on rental costs and labor;
• began to use benchmarking - comparison with the most successful examples of the activities of other companies;
• when introducing new products into the range, in addition to testing them in focus groups, test sales methods were used;
• increased budget items for training and staff development (these investments paid off and brought profit in the short term).

As a result, our strategy includes three words:

• Innovation(in products - expanding the range, improving the price-quality ratio; in production processes - the use of modern advanced developments in materials and components; in processes - end-to-end logistics from the purchase of raw materials to after-sales service).
• Flexibility(prompt response to changes in the external environment).
• Activity(in sales - systematically conducting joint promotions with clients, collecting information about product balances from clients and finding out the reasons, supporting sales with clients, proposals and recommendations for new products, presentations; in working with suppliers - transparent end-to-end logistics, joint planning).

The correctness of the strategy development is confirmed by the results. Over the past six months, the company’s assortment has grown by 100%; the planned turnover growth this year is 250%.

Over ten years of managing large and medium-sized companies from various industries, I clearly realized that it is possible to achieve serious revenue growth and fundamental cost reduction only if the goals of employees are as close as possible to the goals of the owners. A difficult task, but without solving it, no result can be achieved: the employees of an enterprise are the main carriers of a huge amount of knowledge about this particular business and the main driving force in the implementation of any strategy.

Working at half strength

Before entering into asset management, we conduct a company diagnostic to determine the “as is” situation. Part of this diagnosis is an anonymous survey of employees of all categories regarding their knowledge of the company’s goals and strategy, determining the degree of loyalty to the enterprise, management, etc. Not everyone answers the questions, about 60-70%, but this is enough to draw conclusions. One of the questions: “In your opinion, to what percentage do you realize your professional knowledge and skills in this company?” On average, only 11% (data for six companies from different industries) choose the answer that they implement over 50% of their knowledge and skills in the company. What does this mean? And the fact that in enterprises 100% spend 8 hours at work every day and receive a salary, and only 11% work in the full sense of the word. The reason is that the own goals of 89% of “employees” have nothing in common with the goals of those who hired them.

CEO's mistake

What steps can be taken in this case? The owner of a large business producing concrete products told how he tried to solve this problem. We hired a business analytics company for 1 million rubles to develop a strategy. A month later, we received a business development strategy based on industry analytics for 2007, purchased on the Internet, only with the figures halved. Next, the general director sent the strategy electronically to all deputies and heads of services so that they could study it in detail. Then he held two meetings and at them announced the goals that the company should achieve when implementing the strategy (“by 2013 to become the most profitable company in the industry”, “in 2011 to significantly increase labor efficiency through the introduction of innovative developments”, etc.) . The General set strict deadlines for the implementation of planned activities and personally controlled their implementation at all levels. Why personally? Because even for deputies these tasks are not important, but are perceived as “another trick of our general director” (one of the few quotes with normative vocabulary from the dialogue between deputy general directors for sales and production). Three months later, the situation became even worse (sales volumes dropped even more, delays in salary payments began, and delays in loan repayments began). The general manager fires the sales director, then cuts staff, then the owner fires the general manager, but the situation does not fundamentally change.

The cognitive dissonance

Psychology experts are well aware of the “theory of cognitive dissonance.” Its essence is this: if for some reason a person commits actions that he does not consider important for himself, he begins to experience painful sensations of a mental nature (each of us has experienced them in one situation or another). These feelings can be removed in two ways: stop performing an action that the person himself considers unimportant for himself, or start doing something that is valuable for a particular person and has a certain meaning for him.

Even if you force an employee to do the work necessary for the company, his actions will not be effective, since all his thoughts and efforts will be aimed not at achieving a high result, but at eliminating the internal discomfort that has arisen.

Six steps to success

How to create an environment in which it will be beneficial for the employee to achieve the owner’s goals? Here are a few rules that we used in the operational management of a large chemical enterprise.

1. Each employee wants to know what his company should achieve in a year, two, three. Therefore, we, together with the owners We formulate specific goals - with numbers and deadlines.

2. An employee will do at least something to achieve goals only if I am confident that it is possible to achieve these goals.

3. We create so-called cross-functional working groups from representatives of related departments of the enterprise, headed by a specialized director. Each group must develop proposals for the production of new goods and services, changes in the sales mechanism, ways to reduce costs, etc. Based on these suggestions from the employees themselves, the company's strategy is formed. This solves two problems at once. Firstly, employees see that the strategy is “live”, that is, realistic. Secondly, since the strategy is formed on the basis of proposals from the company’s management (middle and senior), we delegate responsibility for its implementation to them.

4. We draw up a map of indicators that need to be achieved. These indicators are divided into four groups: finance, clients and markets, infrastructure, personnel. For each indicator, the deadlines and actions of specific units required to achieve it are outlined. Heads of departments draw up the same map for specific performers.

5. Every employee wants to know what tasks they personally face. And he also wants the criteria for evaluating his work were simple and fair. Each employee, together with the head of the department, selects 3-4 indicators by which it is advisable to evaluate his work. It is also necessary to develop 3-4 indicators common to the entire company.

6. The indicators should be such that everyone can calculate them themselves, and each employee should have no more than seven of them (three common for the entire company and no more than four personal). For example, general ones: the rate of markup on sales; fulfillment of the revenue plan; specific overhead costs. For each indicator, two values ​​were set: base level - the number from which the motivational component is paid; planned level - indicator values ​​in accordance with the strategic development plan. Each general indicator had its own weighting coefficient: the first indicator - 30%, the second - 50%, the third -20%. Based on them, the size of the motivation fund was formed. Each division also had its own coefficient - a share in this fund (the highest coefficient was, naturally, for the sales service). What could be the individual indicators? For example, for a sales manager these were: percentage of sales plan fulfillment; average percentage of discount from price prices; percentage of business expenses. For the head of the sales department, the third indicator was the percentage change in balances compared to the previous month.

As a result of applying all these measures, over 1.5 years, revenue increased by 2 times, EBITDA by 3 times, and business value by 3.5 times.

It's no secret that it is the owner who bears most of the risks associated with running a business. That's why the result is so important to him. But without coordinated and hard work of the team, it is difficult to achieve anything. Especially in unfavorable economic conditions.

The author is Chairman of the Board of Cost Management Group

Setting goals as the first stage of assessment. Filling out the assessment form (sample document). Algorithm for personnel assessment procedures, rating system. Adjusting the employee’s goals during the assessment of his performance. Options for employee career development after assessment

For the company to operate successfully, the manager must have accurate information about the professional merits of his subordinates. And also about which of them you can rely on (who will not let you down and will show good results), who needs additional control and, if necessary, assistance, and who, perhaps, will have to part with in the near future. To obtain this information, you need a harmonious assessment system, for example, such as in the Whirlpool CIS company, the Russian division of Whirpool Corporation.

Top down

In our company, the assessment process begins with setting personal goals for the company's employees at the beginning of each year. First of all, the goals are related to the direct activities of specialists. For example, for sales managers - this is the sale of goods, for logisticians - the opening of a new warehouse, for accountants - the introduction of a new financial accounting system, for a personnel manager - reducing current personnel costs, searching for a new suitable office for the company and organizing relocation .

In addition, other aspects that in one way or another affect the employee’s effectiveness in the organization can be considered as goals: compliance with labor discipline, providing assistance and support to his colleagues, and much more.

The specification of goals occurs as follows. The CEO receives from the headquarters, which is located in Italy, a global development plan for our company for the year. Based on this plan, he outlines the tasks that he will have to solve during this period. Then the general director transmits the list of goals to his subordinates - heads of departments, who, based on them, draw up their own annual plans. Then the process continues within departments: goals are broken down, for example, for the division for sales of built-in equipment, free-standing equipment, etc. And ultimately, goals are broken down into individual goals - personally for each employee of the company.

Fill out the evaluation form

Having decided on his business goals with the help of his immediate supervisor, the employee enters them into a special assessment form (see sample on page 66).

The “Development Plan” section in the evaluation form is also filled out by the employee himself. He indicates the direction in which he would like to develop over the next year, the area of ​​activity that interests him, the knowledge, and skills that he would like to acquire to successfully achieve his goals. The employee lists the trainings and courses he needs, in his opinion, for professional growth.

The specialist’s immediate supervisor decides which development plans to approve and which not. The criterion in this matter is how necessary the requested training is for the employee to perform his or her job. For example, a specialist would like to improve his level of English, however, the manager may consider his level of knowledge sufficient for the daily performance of immediate tasks and will not approve the training.

Conversely, an employee may “forget” to indicate any skill he needs in the development plan. Or he simply does not know that he has this or that gap. But the manager will definitely supplement the list of trainings with the course required for a successful business. The last word in approving the development goals of a specialist belongs to the general director of the Russian company.

Rating system

In the middle of the year, our company carries out a preliminary reconciliation of the results achieved so far. They are rated on a five-point scale with a countdown.

So, a rating of five is the lowest. Fortunately, we had to play it very rarely. Such an assessment can be received, for example, by an employee who makes absolutely no effort to complete the assigned tasks.

Four gets the one who works carelessly, sluggishly, takes a passive position, and does not take initiative. Even if this specialist fulfilled the plan, but shows negligence in relation to the company and work, he will receive not three, but four. The score may also be reduced for an attempt to deceive the company: for example, if an employee was caught forging reporting documents. The attitude towards the company and the moral qualities of a specialist are very important to us, since honesty is one of our core values.

A rating of three means that the employee fully meets management's expectations. He completed the tasks assigned to him and showed activity and enthusiasm for his work.

The one who does more than the company management expects from him gets two. For example, a specialist was given a goal to sell a certain volume of household appliances, but he significantly exceeded this volume, was supposed to work with three client companies, but signed contracts and worked with ten. In addition, the employee shows himself as a leader, leads the team, sets a positive example, and is oriented towards him.

One is the highest score. It is quite rare. For example, a strong sales manager holding the position of sales representative can receive it for significantly (two to three times) exceeding the sales plan. In addition, this employee must be able to independently negotiate at the highest level and resolve the most difficult situations without the intervention of company management.

Adjusting goals

The interim six-month staff assessment is organized in the form of a dialogue between the employee and his immediate supervisor. They meet in July so that the manager monitors the specialist’s work in achieving annual goals and finds out which of the identified areas need to be strengthened.

An employee can convincingly justify the reasons why he is unable to fulfill a particular obligation. If the circumstances preventing the achievement of the goal are recognized as truly objective, the goal will be adjusted. Accordingly, according to this criterion, a person’s score will not be underestimated, since it is not his fault that achieving the goal is not possible. By the way, not only the individual goals of an employee can change, but also the goals of a department or group. The initiative for adjustments can come both from above - from the headquarters, and sometimes from below - from the employees themselves.

The six-month assessment is usually not communicated to specialists. Department heads take note of this so that in the time remaining before summing up the final results, they pay attention to managers who, based on preliminary results, may receive a rating of four or five. They will have to work more closely with such employees.

What does the result affect?

The final assessment of staff performance takes place in December. The specialist and his immediate superior meet again and now discuss the final results of the work for the past year. The manager then grades the achievement of each goal. The overall assessment is derived almost using the arithmetic average method and primarily affects the employee’s career growth. If, for example, he received a grade of two for two years in a row, the company’s management considers him as a candidate for promotion. He is appointed head of a department or subdepartment or some direction.

Naturally, such results also affect the specialist’s salary. The one with the higher score gets a bigger salary increase. Another option for rewarding a distinguished employee is to expand his powers, sphere of influence, and responsibility. For example, he remains in his previous position, but receives “a new country under his control” - Kazakhstan, Belarus or Ukraine. This means that he will be responsible for promoting household appliances in a different direction. Not only a sales manager can get “a country under control”. Thus, the company’s management also encourages other distinguished specialists: a marketer will be responsible for the company’s marketing policy in this region, a logistician will be responsible for the supply of goods to the country.

Those who receive a grade of two, as an incentive and for the purpose of further development, we can send for training to the corporate university at the headquarters in Italy.

The company also tries to support those who received a four rating at the end of the year. If it is clear that a person is really trying, making every effort to work better, but something is not working out for him, we can, for example, assign him a supervisor or send him to training that will promote the development of skills necessary for work (for example , negotiation skills). Such an employee is “kept” under control and is helped. It often happens that these people, thanks to the assistance provided, achieve the results that the company expects from them and become quite successful specialists.

Every company, regardless of size, must set business goals to increase profits, grow and move forward. SMART Setting goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely is recognized as good management practice. SMART philosophy in setting goals is clarity and precision of the task, the basis for discussion and cooperation between departments of the enterprise, and a powerful motivational tool.

Setting tasks according to the SMART principle is one of the most effective and frequently used tools in business.

“The tragedy in life is not that the goal is not achieved. It’s a tragedy if there is no goal to achieve,” Benjamin Mays.

Why do you need to set SMART goals?

In Lewis Carroll's book Alice in the Wonderland"There is a wonderful dialogue between Alice and the Cheshire Cat:

- Tell me, which path can I take to get out of here?
-Where are you going? – the Cat answered with a question.
“I don’t know,” answered Alice.
- Well, then you will come there along any path.

« Go there, I don’t know where"- only happens in fairy tales. You must know where you are going and clearly see the paths leading to your goal. Setting SMART goals provides direction for managers and employees; determines the path along which to move.

Setting goals is vital to running a business effectively. Thus, 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years of operation - many owners turn around like " squirrel in a wheel", barely coping with current problems, and do not pay attention to the strategy, planning and goals of the enterprise.

Task setting system SMART structures information, helps achieve financial goals, track progress and – survive.

What are SMART goals and how do they work?

The term SMART first appeared in 1981 in the article George Doran There’s a SMART Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives(“This is a clever way of writing management goals and objectives”). The word “smart” translated into Russian means “ smart", and in this case it is an acronym for English words. Explanation of SMART:

• S specific
• M easurable
• A chievable
• R elevant
• T ime-bound

Since nothing stands still, the acronym SMART currently has several reading options. Practical breakdown classical setting goals and objectives for SMART we tabulated:

Rules for setting SMART goals

SMART analysis provides a simple and clear structure for defining goals and objectives. Ease of use is another reason for the popularity of the system. It can be used by anyone, anywhere and does not require any special SMART goal setting skills.

“When schemes are thought out in advance, it is surprising how often circumstances will fit into them,” William Osler.

Specific task

What exactly do you want to achieve?

The more accurate your description, the more likely you are to get what you want. You could tell employees that the company's goal is to "increase sales" and that's all. The problem is that such wording is vague and will not push anyone to action.

To set a SMART goal, you must answer six questions " W»:

W questions for SMART goals

Who	Who	Who is participating?
What	What	What exactly do I want to achieve?
Where	Where	Determine location
When	When	Set time frames
Which	Which	Defining Constraints
Why	Why	What will you get when you reach your goal? Is this good for business?

For practical understanding, let’s take an example of setting a SMART task:

This goal is specific enough to help keep your sales team moving in the desired direction.

Measurable Goal

• Imagine that you sat down to play preference with your friends and decided not to write a bullet. You don't know who wins, how much, or when it will end. There is no motivation, why do we need such a game?

Formulate a task according to SMART- means giving yourself and your employees the opportunity to evaluate how successfully you are moving towards your goal. A vague formulation of the question leaves room for misinterpretation and will only end in irritation.

In the example above, the goal is to increase sales. If managers sell one additional unit of product in a quarter, does that mean the task is completed? The format for setting SMART goals involves the use of exact numbers: X% or Y thousand rubles.

Achievable goal

The goal must be within the available resources, knowledge and time. If you set any personal goal, it should be reasonable and safe. For example, “lose 10 kg in 3 days” is almost impossible, even using radical methods.

If you decide to send the sales department a figure of 100% for the next quarter, and turnover growth in the current period is only 5%, then such a goal is unlikely to be achievable. An unrealistic goal not only fails to motivate employees, but has the opposite effect – “ if it is impossible to catch up, then there is no point in running».

Relevant goal

A relevant goal means appropriate, appropriate, adequate. This step involves making sure the goal is meaningful to you and aligned with other goals. Questions to ask:

• Is this task worth the resources and effort it will require?
• Is it a good time to realize your goal?
• Does it fit into the overall company strategy?

You can, of course, set a goal to “cut costs” and fire sales staff, but how do these actions relate to the goal of increasing turnover?

Another example from the retail trade: January traditionally sees a decline in customer activity; approving a plan to increase clothing sales by 20% relative to December is both unrealistic and inappropriate.

Limited time

A business goal without defined boundaries is doomed to fail from the start. Creating accurate time frames motivates, serves as a reminder to employees, and helps maintain the set pace.

You can increase sales by 50% in the next quarter, year or five years, right? The deadline for completing a goal helps the team develop an action plan to achieve the desired result.

So, let’s put together our example of setting SMART goals:

Cascading SMART tasks

The annual alignment of strategic and global SMART goals begins with the creation of a plan using cascading communications between company departments. This approach ensures that all stakeholders ( investors, owners, employees) understand the needs of customers, the capabilities of the organization, and can draw conclusions about the necessary actions to move forward and develop.

How to write cascading SMART goals

1. At the board of directors level, decide on 4–6 strategic goals for the year.
2. Make them SMART visible to the level below.
3. The company's divisions develop their SMART objectives in accordance with the development plan.
4. Company employees are given individual goals.

Cascading SMART tasks is a process that involves all employees of the organization. Its premise is to empower employees. Each person in the company sets their own smart goals and sees how their achievements affect overall success. This crystallizes vertical and horizontal connections between company departments and employees.

Management by SMART goals

Developing and setting goals is half the battle; it is important to regularly monitor indicators and, if necessary, adjust goals. Here we deviate a little from the topic of SMART tasks and touch upon MBO – management system by objectives. A clear vector, designated using SMART goal setting, requires control points.

The final stage - reward. Since the goals have been defined in a specific, measurable and time-based manner, the evaluation system is relatively simple. When you reward staff for completing tasks, you send a clear message that their efforts are valued.

1. Establish a performance monitoring plan - once a month or quarterly.
2. Evaluate and reward team efforts and performance. Rewarding success is the strongest motivator for employees.

The final scheme of SMART tasks looks like this:

SMART tasks in examples

“Setting goals is the first step to making the invisible visible,” Anthony Robbins.

University Research Dominican of Illinois found that people who only “thought” about their goals were 43% more successful in achieving what they wanted. Another group of subjects set and wrote down goals using the SMART formulation, with success for 78% of participants.

Example No. 1: solving a problem by setting a SMART goal

Target: increase in sales volumes. We discussed this example in detail above and derived a suitable SMART setting:

“The sales team should increase sales of product line X this year in the central region by 50%.”

A detailed SMART goal would sound something like this: “To increase sales of product X by 50% this year, two additional managers will be hired. Planned sales growth: 10% in the first quarter, 15% in the second, 5% in the third and 20% in the fourth.”

A SMART goal is extremely specific, measurable and realistic. Seasonal fluctuations in demand for product X are taken into account and measures that need to be taken to complete the task are named.

Example No. 2 of solving a problem by setting a SMART task

If everything is more or less clear with financial indicators, then the goal “ provide good customer service” baffles many managers. The first thing to recognize is that “providing service” is not a goal, but an action. A goal is a result and an achievement, not a process that leads to it. What do you really need?

Relationships with clients come down to two key points:

• the client must be satisfied;
• it is necessary to retain regular customers.

It would be possible to set the task “increase our customer base by 10% this year.” This is better, but the company does not always have enough influence on potential clients.

In this case, reformulate it in SMART: “increase customer satisfaction levels to 90% this year.”

• Specific: increasing customer loyalty and retention.
• Measurable: surveying people who have used the company’s product or services.
• Achievable: the previous period showed a figure of 70%, increasing satisfaction by 20% is a real goal.
• Relevant: Regular clientele brings clear benefits to the business.
• Time-limited: a time threshold has been specified.

The SMART statement combines the original objective of providing good customer service with a specific and measurable outcome that is achievable. A designated target date keeps staff motivated, and subtotals can be monitored once in a certain period.

Cascading SMART tasks will deepen and detail specific goals directly for employees. This could be the work of the HR department with staff to increase motivation, testing and training programs, development of a questionnaire for customer feedback, etc.

10 Steps to Setting SMART Goals

1. Define your goals. What do you want to achieve, what do you need to focus on, what to improve?
2. Write using the SMART principle. Whether with pen on paper or in a word processor, writing words separates desires from goals.
3. Analyze what needs to be done to achieve the written objectives.
4. Make a list of the benefits that come from successfully achieving your goals. Separately write down possible obstacles that may occur along the way.
5. If you set personal growth goals, break them down into smaller tasks. In business, use the SMART cascading method.
6. Develop an action plan like the examples above: hire employees, increase sales by 10% per quarter, and so on. Set deadlines.
7. Periodically monitor the stages of task completion.
8. Review or update short-term objectives as necessary.
9. Reward employees (and yourself) for successful promotions.
10. Reassess your goals - they are not sculptures set in stone. Over the course of life, under the influence of external and internal circumstances, they can change.

Taking a SMART approach to focusing your business development efforts can be the catalyst your team needs. Once goals have been set and an action plan has been created, you need to continue to look for points of improvement and opportunities for feedback. The SMART approach is closely related to the motivational goals of employees who contribute to the company, contributing to the success and prosperity of the business.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Can you imagine an orbital station that is launched simply to fly into space? What about an ocean liner that is sent on a voyage just to float? This is hardly possible. Both the space station and the ship have clear goals, and they are known long before they launch into space or release the mooring ropes. If we talk about business, then, unfortunately, quite often companies either do not formulate goals at all, or operate with such non-specific things as “increase profits”, “work faster than competitors”, “improve production”, etc. As a result, If we return to the analogy with a ship, the liner is moving at full speed into the open ocean, while trying to move faster and faster than someone else. You need to build a planning system in your company “smartly,” and this article will tell you how to do it.

What should the goals be?

In order to achieve a goal, it is important to clearly understand where, at what speed and in what way you need to move. If shooters were asked to shoot “in that direction” instead of the so-called ten, it would hardly be possible to accurately hit the target. That is why any goal must be clear, specific and measurable. During trainings and seminars, I usually use a target icon to indicate goals. As I have seen over several years of practice, such a graphic symbol allows people to create a visual anchor that reminds them that the goal must be clear and specific.

Rice. 1
Graphic image of a target in the form of a shooting target

A lot of books and articles have been written about how to correctly formulate goals and objectives. In addition, both corporate and open seminars, trainings and webinars on effective goal setting are held daily in different parts of Russia. Despite all this, the problem of competent goal setting in business still remains relevant.

While people are reading an article or attending a training session, they remember that each goal should be clear, specific, measurable, etc., however, when immersed in the hustle and bustle of daily affairs, they very often forget about this.

Communicating on this topic with employees and managers of various companies, I heard many times that remembering all the SMART criteria (the goal must be Specific, Measurable, Attractive, Realistic, Time framed), CHIRKORYA (i.e. Clear, Measurable, Realistic, Specific, Defined in time and space, formulated in terms of Result, in the Language of the performer) and the like are quite difficult.

This can be overcome by using the Russian analogue of these goal setting technologies – the “VODKA” principle. Its name has an alcoholic connotation and may initially cause some negativity, but it is the popularity of the drink that is in tune with the principle that allows people to quickly and effectively remember what the goal should be. During trainings, seminars and consulting, I have been convinced of this more than once.

According to the mentioned principle, the goal should be:

• Inspiring;
• Determined in time;
• Achievable;
• Specific;
• Measurable.

By applying the listed principles, any amorphous goal can be formulated correctly. So, for example, a very vague goal “find a warehouse” can be given the following form using the above principles: “Before February 23, 2013, find a warehouse space (with an area of ​​500 to 550 m2), located in the Central district of the city of Ensk, and conclude a rental agreement for this space with a rent of no more than 100,000 rubles. per month excluding VAT".

Planning horizon

All company goals can be divided into long-term (three to five years), medium-term (one to three years), and short-term (from a month to a year). Sometimes they are called strategic, tactical and operational, respectively. It is good when planning is carried out in each of the specified time ranges, however, in my opinion, strategic goals are especially important.

If the company's planning horizon contains guidelines for several years in advance, then the accumulation and use of resources is carried out based on the long-term goals of the organization. If there are no long-term goals, then the company's resources are spent chaotically and arbitrarily - in favor of today's fashion or the interests of individuals. The results in the first and second cases will differ greatly - just as the achievements of two young people usually differ, one of whom is confident in the importance of planning and has goals (enter a university, learn a foreign language, pass an exam for a driver’s license, etc.). etc.), and the second is convinced that you need to live for today, “hang out” and not “bother” with anything.

The presence of strategic goals creates the opportunity to competently set tactical and then operational goals. Just as all state legislation develops and regulates in more detail the key points enshrined in the Constitution, with the help of tactical and operational goals, intermediate bridges are created between the current and future (by the time long-term goals are achieved) position of the company.

In addition to increasing the efficiency of resource use, having long-term goals and strategic planning allows for greater stability and sustainability of the organization. This is due to the fact that long-term planning involves assessing the company’s possible risks on the way to achieving strategic goals and developing appropriate measures to avoid risks or reduce the likelihood of their occurrence.

Areas of Goal Setting and Planning

Very often, a company’s goals relate only to sales: increase the number of transactions, develop a neighboring regional market, attract new customers, outbid competitors, etc. Of course, sales are one of the most important aspects of business, but it is probably wrong to limit ourselves only to them . In any business, there are other areas that need to be paid attention to, that is, goals should be set not only in the field of sales, but also in the field of finance, production, service, personnel management, etc.

Setting diverse goals allows you to create a multidimensional picture of the result that the company strives for. Most owners have their own vision regarding not only how much money they need to make from the business, but also how their company should be perceived by clients and partners, what principles should guide its staff, what the company's usefulness is for clients and society, and etc. In order to bring the vision of the company owner to life, you need to set goals both in sales and in other aspects of the business. In some cases, focusing only on sales and ignoring other areas creates a threat to the normal functioning of the company.

Practical example. One company involved in the trade of building materials has set a goal to organize sales of its products for a certain (very ambitious) amount per month. The head of the commercial department was appointed responsible for achieving the goal. He put in a lot of effort, and the number of supply contracts concluded by his employees increased several times. But as an addition, the company was faced with the fact that the employees of the warehouse and delivery department were overwhelmed with work, since the number of obligations assumed by the company to clients under supply contracts did not correspond to its capabilities in terms of logistics, finance, etc. As a result, conflicts began with suppliers, customers and transport companies. In addition, the company's receivables (including overdue and doubtful for collection) increased several times.

In addition, setting goals relating to several areas of business allows you not only to achieve a certain financial result, but also to form a business system in which each element has a clear development vector that helps the company move. If formalized goals are set by the owners and management only in the field of sales, then all other areas of the business are actually handed over to the staff, who can set goals that contradict each other, or not set them at all and simply create an imitation of vigorous activity, without a focus on achieving any goals. or real and useful results for the company.

Common mistakes when setting goals

If the owners and management have realized the importance and necessity of setting clear, measurable, etc. goals, as well as implementing a planning system, then the company begins the process of setting goals.

Quite often, organizations just starting to formalize their goals make several common mistakes. Among the most common (in addition to setting vague, immeasurable, etc. goals), three can be identified.

Error one: The company sets goals that have almost already been achieved. The value of such planning is only that you can put a tick - the goals have been achieved. However, it doesn’t really help business in any way. One of the most significant reasons for this approach to goal setting is management’s lack of faith in achieving them, that is, lack of faith in both their own strengths and the capabilities of the staff.

Error two: the company sets goals that conflict with each other (either require a large amount of resources, and they are not enough to achieve several goals at once, or set multidirectional vectors of the company’s movement). The reason for this situation, as a rule, is either the desire to achieve everything at once, or the inability to prioritize. If a company formulates a sufficiently large number of goals for itself, the need to prioritize (that is, determine the most important goals) becomes vital. Otherwise, the organization may achieve a dozen minor goals, but at the same time miss two or three main ones, on which the normal functioning and development of the company depends.

Error three: setting goals that no one is working to achieve. All company goals must be transformed into subgoals and objectives, and it is important that the corresponding structural unit or company official works to achieve each of them. If the goal is formalized, but there is no person responsible for its implementation, then in 99% of cases it is not achieved. When “the whole team”, “the whole company”, “all employees”, etc. are responsible for this process, a situation arises, as in the well-known proverb: “Seven nannies have a child without an eye.” In addition, it is important to adjust the company’s existing motivation system to introduce a system of goal setting and regular planning. It is necessary to use both monetary (payment of bonuses) and moral forms of stimulating staff to achieve goals (awarding certificates and diplomas to distinguished employees; publishing data on the company’s successful achievement of its goals and distinguished employees in a corporate publication; posting information about employees who regularly achieve their goals , on the honor board, etc.).

Setting goals is not the end of the planning process, but its beginning

Having ensured that goals have been set, many managers and owners breathe a sigh of relief: they say, finally, “the revolution that the Bolsheviks talked so much about has come true.” However, in fact, the company’s formalization of its goals is not the end of the planning process, but only its beginning, for at least two reasons.

Firstly, the process of achieving a goal is not simultaneous, therefore, the company needs to periodically allocate resources, monitor the implementation of planned actions, monitor the pace of progress towards the desired result, etc. In addition, depending on the internal and external changes that occur, it is necessary to make changes to this process adjustments that may concern the characteristics of the goal itself (quantitative and/or qualitative indicators, deadlines for achievement, etc.) or the method of achieving it. In addition, as a result of some events, the need to achieve a particular goal may no longer be necessary at all, and it is important to cancel planned activities in a timely manner so as not to waste the company’s resources. One of the markers indicating such a situation is the endless postponement of the deadline for achieving a particular goal.

Practical example. One company periodically held small meetings dedicated to optimizing organizational issues, improving the supply of resources, etc. Based on the results of each meeting, a protocol was drawn up indicating the decisions made and the intended goals. At the next meeting, the goal was set to buy a personal computer of a certain configuration for an archivist, whose position had recently been added to the company’s staffing table. The deadline for achieving this goal was clearly established. However, at the next meeting it turned out that all the goals set at the previous meeting had been achieved, except for the purchase of a computer for the archivist. Due to the fact that the deadline for achieving this goal had come, but the computer was not purchased due to a lack of funds in the company’s budget, we decided to move the deadline for its purchase to the next quarter. As a result, a year later, the computer was not purchased, but management drew attention to the fact that deadlines were endlessly postponed, and a decision was made to abandon achieving this goal.

Secondly, it is important to understand that the consequence of achieving the planned result according to the intended goals is the need to set further goals. This is the only way to ensure the constant movement and development of the company.

According to the concept of successful activities laid down in the ISO family of standards, as well as in a number of other management systems, all work should follow the PDCA algorithm, which is a cycle of four steps: Plan - Do - Check - Act (React). With that being said, this means that if Step 3, Check, finds that everything is fine and the goal has been achieved, then Step 4, Act, would be to move on to Step 1, Plan, and set new goals. . If at the third step, Check, it is discovered that circumstances have changed, then, accordingly, the fourth step, Act, will consist of going to step 1 Plan and making adjustments, that is, clarifying the previously set goal and plan to achieve it.

Below on rice. 2 a graphical diagram depicting the PDCA algorithm is presented.

Rice. 2
Graphical diagram of the cyclic algorithm of successful PDCA activity

A step-by-step mechanism for implementing a goal setting and planning system

It is important not only to prepare any innovations in the company, but also to implement them correctly. The process of goal setting and regular planning is no exception.

In every team there will be employees who support innovation and those who resist change with all their might. In this regard, it is important to think through and implement the process of formalizing goals and implementing a regular planning system in advance, carefully observing the course of events occurring at that time in the company.

Quite often, employees who are opposed to innovation behave this way not because of their own conservatism, but because they are afraid of the unknown or losing their job (due to the fact that they will not be able to achieve the goals set by the company). Often such concerns are associated not so much with the low competence of specialists, but with the low level of self-esteem of individual employees. In this regard, competent work with staff in order to eliminate the situation of uncertainty, as well as create and maintain the necessary moral and psychological climate in the team, can help to more effectively carry out the necessary changes in the company.

Practical example. In one company, the owners of which decided to bring order to it by introducing a system of regular planning and setting goals, rumors spread among the staff that since the founders of the company attracted consultants and began to actively study which of the employees was doing what and how the company's resources were spent, its affairs were bad. . The most active wave of anxiety was raised and supported in the team by those who were engaged not in work, but in imitation of vigorous activity. This led to the fact that one part of the staff began to look for a new job, while the other reduced the intensity of their work, waiting to see what would happen next in the company. Only thanks to the competent actions of the management, owners and the hired consultant, aimed at explaining the procedure and reasons for introducing changes, as well as emphasizing the positive aspects for the team, it was possible to establish a normal atmosphere in the company and carry out the planned changes. As a result, only imitators of vigorous activity left the company, and all the rest were able to make sure that the introduction of regular planning and goal setting into the company’s practice would generally have a positive impact on the work and they had enough qualifications and experience to continue to work successfully.

In order to ensure the successful formalization of goals and implementation of the planning system, the following is required:

1) develop a clear and consistent plan for implementing changes in the company (it must include deadlines for the implementation of relevant actions, indicating responsible persons, etc.);

2) notify all personnel about what will happen in the company in the near future, why the planned changes are needed, when and in what order they will be carried out. Notification methods can be different, it all depends on the size and characteristics of the team, the geography of the company’s activities, as well as corporate culture. In one case, it is convenient and effective to organize a general meeting of employees, in another, publication in a corporate publication, in a third, sending letters to employees’ email addresses, in the fourth, it is optimal to use several methods of notifying personnel. Whatever internal communication channel is chosen, it is important to colorfully present to the staff the positive aspects of the innovations and provide answers to the questions that most concern employees;

3) monitor the process of introducing innovations and, if necessary, adjust it. There is nothing worse than when a company has carefully prepared and started the process of some kind of organizational change, and then everything is left to chance. Almost always, what is left to chance does not happen as expected. In addition, the process of introducing a regular planning system into a company is, in fact, a test for competent goal setting and achievement.

And in the end I will tell…

To conclude the article, instead of the standard dry summary of the key theses described in it, I would like to quote a small fragment from the book “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll:

“Cheshire Cat,” she turned to the Cat very carefully, because she did not know how he would react to her words. The cat only smiled even wider.
- Phew! I’m happy for now,” Alice thought and continued more confidently. -Can you tell me how to get out of here?
“It depends where you want to get,” the Cat answered with a smile.
“I don’t care,” Alice sighed.
“Then it doesn’t matter where you go,” the Cat purred.

If the owner and/or manager does not set goals, then he either does not know where to lead the company, or he does not care what will happen to it. I believe that in your case everything is completely different: you value the company, and you want a decent future for it. If so, then be sure to set goals and do it wisely.

May the force be with you, as well as a successful business!