All you need to know about Goals and Goal Setting

There are generally 3 types of organizational goals that generally align with the organizational level at which they are created:

Strategic Goals

Strategic goals are targets that an organization’s leadership team sets to help the organization grow. These goals might focus on customer service, financial assets, productivity or any other aspect of the business. An organization’s leadership team might develop strategic goals by reflecting on the organization’s mission statement or values. They can set strategic goals to put the organization’s mission or values into practice.
For example, a healthcare network’s board of directors might develop a strategic goal to reduce post-surgery complications by 15% over five years, which can help keep patients healthier and ensure smooth hospital operations.
Few examples of Strategic Goals are given below:

1. Increasing revenue

2. Attaining or maintaining profitability

3. Growing shareholder value

4. Diversifying your revenue streams

5. Becoming a financially sustainable company

6. Reducing production costs

7. Increasing profit margin

8. Setting revenue targets for new products

9. Reducing department-specific budgets

10. Influencing the percentage of local vs. international sales

11. Reducing customer churn

12. Measurably increasing customer satisfaction

13. Increasing the number of new customers

14. Increasing customer retention

15. Offering great customer value

16. Boosting customer outreach

17. Increasing customer conversion rates

18. Breaking into new customer segments

19. Increasing the number of returning customers

20. Decreasing the percentage of returned products

21. Increasing market share

22. Breaking into new markets

23. Developing new products, features, or services

24. Increasing operational reliability and/or compliance

25. Increasing company velocity

26. Opening new locations

27. Building your brand on social media

28. Increasing website traffic

29. Acquiring a new company

Operational or Tactical Goals

Operational goals, or tactical objectives, are the steps that an organization’s staff might take to achieve a strategic goal. Every strategic goal features multiple operational goals that might span several departments. These targets allow an organization’s management team to implement and monitor new processes.
For example, to meet a strategic goal of reducing post-surgery complications by 15% over five years, a hospital network’s management staff might set operational goals in several departments. e.g., the head of nursing in each network hospital might set an operational goal to develop a new post-surgical nursing training program by the end of the year.

Functional Goals

Operational goals are specific, measured goals that are further broken down into specific objectives to be accomplished. These goals and objectives are the domain of the functional employees who deliver the company’s value proposition to customers or clients.
Aside from the organizational level, the type or nature of goals will differ based on the functional areas implicated by the goals (e.g., finance, marketing, accounting, sales, logistics, etc.) and the time frame for completion.

Real Goals vs Stated Goals

Other classifications of goals might include Real Goals or Stated Goals.

• Real Goal – A real goal is the one adopted and actively pursued by the organization.

• Stated Goal – A stated goal is one that is communicated to stakeholders but is not actually pursued by the organization. Stated goals serve more to affect the image or perception of the organization by third parties. These types of goals do little to motivate or guide the activities of employees.

Short and Long-Term Goals

Finally, goals may be Short-Term or Long-Term.

• Short term Goal – Short-term goals tend to be simple, highly-specific, and non-repetitive.

• For example, a short-term goal may be to get new equipment set up and operational.

• Long-Term Goal – A long-term goal may include continuous improvement in the quality of customer service evaluations. Long-term goals tend to be higher-level, less specific, and continuous in nature.