It’s that time of year again when our minds are starting to turn to the changing of the calendar year. A new year brings new goals and the feelings of a “reset” for many of us. As you prepare for Q1 to begin, it’s important to think about what you’re doing to get buy-in from your employees on the new company goals.
If you’re like most organizations, goals are established at the top and handed down to managers and employees. But getting buy-in from your employees isn’t as simple as telling them what goals they need to focus on. It’s something you need to be proactive about and these tips can help.
1. Show employees how company growth benefits them
I hate to break it to you if you haven’t caught on to this already, but employees are never going to care about the growth of a company the same way that the business owner does. In many companies, they aren’t going to care about it the same way that upper management does either. I’ve witnessed it first hand from the jobs I’ve held and watching my employees in my former business.
I believe on average, the further down the organization chart you go, the less the average employee cares about the “company’s success”. Yes, for the most part they want the company to stay open so they can keep their paycheck, but they don’t care that much about hitting the lofty goals set by upper management. Why?
They don’t see the way the growth impacts them. They don’t care if the bottom line increases if it doesn’t impact the work they do or the check they bring home every week. See, if you want your employees to care, you have to show them how hitting the company goals is a benefit for them. Not only that, the goals have to actually impact something that matters to the employee. Share with them what kinds of things are possible if they company hits their goals.
If you don’t know what it is that your employees want that will be motivating to them, then you’re first step is to connect with each team member better so you can learn what those things are. Do they want to move up in the organization and company growth can help make that possible? You won’t know if you don’t ask.
2. Help employees connect the dots between their work and the the company goals
There are way too many employees that go to jobs day in and day out and have no idea why the tasks they’re doing even matter. It’s your job as the leader to help connect the dots.
Years ago I worked at a bank opening new accounts for businesses. There are a lot of boxes that need to be checked off when opening bank accounts. You need to get the right documents, signatures in the right places, and enter everything into the computer in just the right way. After the account was open, my job was done.
But the next day, the operations department was hard at work making sure all the i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed. If I had made a mistake, it created a headache for someone else. If I didn’t know that, I might think it wasn’t that big of a deal if I forgot to do something. But the bank did a good job of cross-training employees to the point that we realized the impact that our work had on the team members in other departments.
That’s just a small example, but hopefully you see the point. If you can show your team how the work they do directly correlates the success of the company as a whole, they begin to care a little more.
3. Invest in the growth of your employees
When you care for people and invest in them, they’re more likely to do the same for you in return. Training employees and helping them to continue growing is as important for your organization as it is for your employees. As your employees grow and their skills develop, they’ll be able to take on new roles as your company grows.
This is something that SPEARity coaches witness repeatedly with clients. When employees receive coaching and training to help them overcome the obstacles they’re facing in their jobs, it helps them to feel more connected with the company. As they start to crush their obstacles and build confidence, they start to look for new areas they can conquer. They’re ready to take on new challenges and want to continue growing their success which in turn helps the company to reach their goals.
4. Be transparent
If you want your employees to buy-in to the company goals and be excited about them, you need to share them with the employees. Too many companies operate on this “need-to-know” basis with their teams. Those at the top levels of the organization are the ones that are included and everyone else is just expected to do their jobs. Buy-in doesn’t work like that.
If you want your employees to buy-in to the company goals than you need to share them with the employees on all levels. Let them know they are all included in the work that’s being done and everyone’s roles matter.
When they know what the goals are and get updates on how the progress is going, it helps them invest more into reaching the goals with you.
Partner with SPEARity
The SPEARity process was designed to help individuals overcome their obstacles to achieve greater success. And the SPEARity app was designed to help leaders and organizations successfully work towards reaching their goals. If you’re interested in learning more about how SPEARity can improve employee buy-in and help your leaders and organizations start crushing their goals, reach out to us for more information today.
