Beware The One-Sided Goal

All too often in business, goals are one-sided which means they have a singular focus. That singular focus creates unforeseen consequences…hence my “beware” caveat.

One-sided goals

Here are a few examples of one-sided goals and the potential consequences they create:

The CFO of the company notices that the average age of the accounts receivable is going up (customers aren’t paying on time). He puts pressure on the collection department to bring the accounts receivable current…but forgets to say “By the way, we want to retain the customers.”

It’s easy to see how aggressive collection efforts could result in some very good customers going elsewhere.

The sales force is given the mandate to add x number of new customers by a certain date. That mandate could result in the sales force ignoring existing customers which could risk retention of those customers. It could also result in salespeople making promises that the company can’t  fulfill. Or they may bring on customers who are are not financially sound which could result in financial losses.

You’ve incentivized your purchasing department to minimize acquisition costs. Suddenly you find that repairs costs are rising and production is slowing because materials the purchasing department is choosing are inferior to your company’s operating needs. You’re also getting an increased number of customer complaints over late delivery.

These aren’t hypothetical examples. These are the kinds of mistakes I’ve seen companies make when they establish one-sided goals.

Takeaways

When establishing goals, allow the first goal that comes to mind become your primary goal. Then ask yourself “What unwanted consequences might this goal create?” Then add to your goal conditions that will avoid the unwanted consequences. You’ll create fewer headaches for yourself and your staff.

The following resources will help leaders in your organization avoid the headaches and heartaches of one-sided goals.

Resources

Making The EXCEPTIONAL Normal program helps you identify and nurture emerging leaders who elevate all around them to higher levels of performance and greater job enjoyment.

Financial Awareness & Strategy program where employees learn to identify opportunities to improve financial results and prioritize these opportunities on the basis of which produces the greatest impact with the least effort. Greater financial awareness = Better decisions.