Workers need goal education

Nearly all top managers at the nation’s major corporations can clearly define their company’s business goals and discuss in detail the strategic initiatives they believe are necessary to achieve financial success.

By Steven Oberbeck
The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Mar/03162004/business/148274.asp

Yet a new study by West Valley City-based FranklinCovey Co. suggests a huge information gap exists between managers and their employees when it comes to understanding those same critical corporate objectives.

"Most corporate leaders who believe their organizations have clearly communicated their top priorities should be stunned at how low understanding actually is among their employees," said Bob Whitman, FranklinCovey’s chairman and chief executive. "The majority of workers don’t know their organization’s most important goals."

FranklinCovey, which provides productivity training for businesses and individuals, commissioned Harris Interactive to survey 12,182 U.S. workers.

The survey found only 48 percent of workers believe their organizations have a clear strategic direction. Only 54 percent indicated they clearly understand what they must accomplish to help the company they work for achieve its goals.

In short, according to FranklinCovey’s survey, there frequently is a serious misalignment between the daily activities of front-line workers and their organization’s crucial objectives.

Whitman said for managers to be successful, they need to be able to translate their goals into clearly definable objectives so that employees know what they need to do to help move their companies forward.

Yet Whitman also noted that FranklinCovey’s survey found just 26 percent of workers say they meet monthly with their managers to review their work performance and the progress they have made toward meeting the milestones set for them.

Kathleen Gage, owner of the Draper-based business consulting firm Turning Point Inc., said managers often become so busy putting out fires and dealing with the daily demands of their own jobs that they forget the importance of spending time with their staffs.

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