Goal setting is an essential practice for any business professional. Traditionally, these practices form part of an established company policy. However, by the very fact that companies are promoting these practices, this may have the opposite effect than desired. Nobody likes to have someone looking over their shoulder, telling them what they need to do. While competition breeds new ideas, these new ideas can never be forced upon individuals to the extent to which they are obliged to produce.

So goal setting is not really a management tool at all. Goal setting is actually a tool for personal development. Setting goals for employees is not technically management. Goal setting is actually an afterthought. Would you be surprised to hear that goal setting normally appears on the scene when someone has failed to do the work that was expected of them? The idea of goal setting is to establish a common objective. However, the common objective can not substitute the individual goals each one has set for themselves.

Take for instance, Jorge or Ana, your normal everyday employees. They understand that they are expected to reach a certain amount of production by the end of the month, but they have their own way of reaching their objective. Some have already planted the necessary seeds for future sales, through phone calls, visits, verbal contracts, etc. Others may need to get with the program and make a last ditch effort to reach their deadline. But in any case, the goal is established to obtain the objective, not viceversa.

Many professionals confuse goal setting with reaching objectives. Reaching objectives is an arduous process that requires preparation, providing necesssary tools and technology, personnel to cover all the bases, and ultimately, taking on new clients or new business.

What most employees ignore is their own responsibility to set goals. Goals are a necessary ingredient of the recipe for business success. If these goals are already set out for you, this may produce a kind of repelling effect. In order for you to accomplish important things or complete projects, the employee needs to take the initiative on a personal level to dedicate the time, energy and resources necessary to get the job done.

The end result? Employees that set their own personal business goals, (personal and professional) are most likely to achieve their objective. While companies that set objectives without encouraging employees to create their own goals, may run the risk of extinction.

In the end, corporations are not responsible for personal failure. When responsible professionals work to achieve a common goal, both companies and employees enjoy the fruits of their labour. If either of them fails to commit themselves towards the common objective, their ship may not make it to port, forever to be lost at sea, among the other startup businesses that could have been, but will never be.

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