Annual Goals For 2004.

scottorr

I am in the process of developing our departments annual goals for 2004. All of our goals need to be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Appropriate, Realistic and Timely. We have a few that fit this criteria but we are now stuck. I was told by the VP that maintaining regulatory compliance is not an annual goal because it should be on going. I was also told that a goal of keeping employees informed of their benefits was not a goal because it was not measurable. I suggested it could be measured by our turnover rate. I was told that that was not good enough. Does any one have any suggestions for goals that meet these criteria? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-17-03 AT 08:22AM (CST)[/font][p]Cost Reduction. Our corporation has a complex program of every ee being responsible for submitting cost reduction suggestions. From the janitor to the factory employees to management and throughout the organization, each ee is responsible for formal suggestions and implementation. For example: During FY 2004, that we are now in, beginning last July, my department is going to reduce supplies cost, gifting obligations and HR processes that would reduce or eliminate steps and paper and employee time. Time is measured at $25 per hour throughout the corporation. A physical foot step is measured in terms of man hours and so forth. Last FY, our facility alone saved just over one million dollars and it is precisely measured and has great impact.

Another goal I have for FY 04 is assessing and improving cross training the organization in our division. The sole value of that is in reducing down time due to absence and ensuring that we maximize 084 time, direct labor. It is probably becoming more true in all organizations that support functions such as HR are expected to contribute to the bottom line and the further up the line you are evaluated, the less patience and tolerance you find for things that HR folks get immersed in. Nobody wants to hear me talk about day to day HR goals and objectives that do not have an impact on the bottom line. Your value increases in proportion to your understanding of that reality. I gave a rather lengthy report about a month ago on 'community involvement, training capabilities and partnership with the colleges and the value of professional organization membership for our employees'. My report got this comment from one manager pretty high up in the organization, "The stockholders and Board Of Directory of (this company) don't give a S**T about Chamber of Commerce meetings and groundbreaking at the community college or how many of us belong to professional associations!" So, be sure the goals you state are in line with the organizations objectives, not simply HR objectives.

rad

I think training initiatives would meet all this criteria. Do you conduct needs assessments based upon performance concerns? If so you could institute training programs to meet these needs and measure their success with the managers after they have been delivered.

With so many reductions in hiring due to the economy, training is a great way to make sure that the talent you have meets the goals of your organization.

sonny

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-17-03 AT 08:23AM (CST)[/font][p]Personally, I see nothing wrong with having a few goals that are ongoing. Also, couldn't you measure keeping ee informed of benefits by ie number of communications going out, benefit fair,benfits newsletter, improving orientation. If you had a survey at the end of the year.. .Do you understand your benefits better than this time last year?. .to me it would be measurable. I don't get the corelation (SP) with turnover rate tho.