ALIGNED

Establish a goal-driven culture

DONT JUST SET

GOALS. USE
THEM TO GO!

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tm

Winning is fun.
And goals help
you win.
title
the intent of this guide
Gone are the days of storing company goals outside the
view of the workforce, hidden away in old-school HRIS
systems, spreadsheets, or shared docs. Companies are
beginning to realize they must cascade goals from the
top of the company down to each team and individual
contributor.
The name of the game is alignment. The output is
engagement and improved productivity.
But implementing the operational processes required to
succeed with a goal-driven culture can be challenging. This
guide is designed to help you understand and socialize
why goals matter to your business, and how you can turn
your business into a goal-achieving machine.
ABOUT STATUSPATH: StatusPath is an online software platform
that improves transparency and coordination between teams
in the pursuit of business goals and employee objectives.
StatusPath provides a modern enterprise goal management
solution that engages employees while focusing them on what
matters most to the business.
StatusPath 2015
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 StatusPath 2015
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heres what youll find

the
scoop

Why this stuff matters

its a real
big deal

You need a culture change

master
all six
and you
will fly

6 pillars of a goal-driven culture

take the
first step,
jump to
your last

Get started and finish strong

title
why this stuff matters

StatusPath 2015
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only

of employees worldwide are

engaged at work according
to Gallups new State of the
Global Workplace

why this stuff matters: the bad

The truth can be very sobering. And in the truth, we discover
the importance of an aligned, goal-focused team. Take a
look at the reality in the workplace, and think about how it
applies to your business:
40% of employees know about their companys goals

- Mark Fidelman, Forbes.com, Microsofts View of the Future

Workplace is Brilliant, HeresWhy, 05/24/2012

52% of executives say their efforts are related to company goals

- Frankki Bevins and Aaron De Smet, McKinsey Quarterly, Making

time management the organizations priority, January 2013

Over 80% of business owners dont track goals, and 77%

havent achieved their strategic vision

- Ryan Westwood, Forbes.com, How To Set Business Goals That

Yield A PositiveROI, 12/18/2014

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Companies that increase

employee engagement see
improvement in operating
margins. - Towers Perrin, New Realities in Todays Workforce
why this stuff matters: the good
You can make a difference by acting today to engage and
align your business around a shared, common set of goals.
The benefits are numerous:
Increased Performance: understanding across the
organization leads to a more focused approach on what
matters most. This results in higher productivity and thus
greater margin.
Increased productivity: employees only work on the
most important initiatives, and improved visibility within
the organization eliminates duplicate effort and inspires
emloyees to contribute.
Increased employee well-being: employees like being
part of a team and knowing their contributions mean
something to the business. This makes employees less
likely to quit or miss work.

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For the group who used OKRs we saw an increase in their

average sales per hour from $14.44 per hour to $15.67,
or an average increase of 8.5%. This increase is not only
statistically significant, but practically significant.
- Chris Mason - Ben Lamorte, Sears Holding Company Study
Shows OKRs Impact Bottom Line

title
you need a culture change

StatusPath 2015
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Its not just a

conversation, but a
new way of existing.
title need a culture change
you
Employee engagement, alignment, and collaboration are
the major challenges facing company leaders today.
But many companies operate in quarterly windows, running
full-speed from the first day of the quarter to the last. This
pressure for new revenue bookings, product advancement,
talent acquisition and retention, and increased margins
often keeps leaders too busy to address the reality of their
situation.
Collectively working towards goals isnt the result of a
conversation. Leaders need to thoughtfully and holistically
apply a well thought-out culture to truly inspire the
organization to align, engage, and succeed.
Its a top-down shift in how the company operates, defines
success, and recognizes the team.

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title
6 pillars of a goal-driven culture

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pillar 1: transparency
Gone are the days of secretive, closed door meetings and
working in a silo. Todays workforce doesnt want an open
dialogue and transparent workplace, they DEMAND it.
When asked what was holding their company back, 50
percent of these employees pointed the finger at a lack
of company-wide transparency.
- Ilya Pozin, Forbes.com, How Transparent Is Too Transparent In
Business? 04/02/2014

QUICK TIPS
Hire open and transparent people. A culture shift
requires the right people.
Talk openly and often. Dont have an all-hands
meeting once a quarter and think its enough.
Cascade goals and make them public. Everyone
needs a clear view into their peers and management.
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Chime in on social media to reinforce your voice

across the organization. Your employees are listening.

pillar 2: alignment
Imagine a sports team where only a few of the players work
together on the same play. Itd be a disaster, an exercise in
total futility. The same is true for a company. Employees
need to collectively work together to achieve the greater
vision of the company.
65% of organizations have an agreed-upon strategy...
14% of employees understand the organizations
strategy... Less than 10% of all organizations successfully
execute the strategy.
- Larry Myler, Forbes.com, Strategy 101: Its All About Alignment,
10/16/2012

QUICK TIPS
Hire right. Get a team that wants to work together.
Be public and broadcast alignment to everyone.
Approach goal cascading from the top and bottom.

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Focus on senior buy-in and participation - alignment

requires full executive participation.

pillar 3: accountability
Accountability needs to be cultivated within your
organization, grown so that it reaches the far corners
of every desk, team, and department and results in a
workforce with INTEGRITY. Without integrity, goals die
and get pushed the wayside for lesser ambitions.
The right thing to do and the hard thing to do are
usually the same.
- Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

QUICK TIPS
Avoid setting tasks just deliver the expectation.
Reward measurable outcomes to encourage desired
behavior.
Communicate with a cadence - its your responsibility
to be present and accountable too.
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Mutually agree on whats important.

pillar 4: collaboration
Employees thrive with collaboration. Open dialogue
removes confusion, charts clear paths, and accelerates
institutional knowledge sharing. Dont let your people work
in a vacuum - work together!
By adopting collaboration tools, companies increase
knowledge-worker productivity 20-25%. Companies
with highly effective internal communications offer
47% higher returns for shareholders
- McKinsey

QUICK TIPS
Make communication a number one priority.
Senior leaders need to share their voice.
Offer employees a forum to be heard. Then listen.

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Establish clearly defined expectations around

reporting progress.

pillar 5: execution
Defining and sharing a strategy is analogous to crouching
at the starting line. Its just the beginning. Focus the team
on actually doing whats needed to achieve your goals.
Id rather have a first-rate execution and second-rate
strategy any time than a brilliant idea and mediocre
management.
- Jamie Dimon, now CEO of JPMorgan Chase
Transparent In Business? 04/02/2014

QUICK TIPS
Instill trust in your employees so they can make their
own decisions.
Dont distinguish between strategy and execution
they must live together.
Empowerment feeds action.
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There is a high cost to unhappiness dont allow it.

pillar 6: recognition
A pat on the back is a good start, but a predictable, clearly
communicated recognition process will super-charge your
employees with happiness and satisfaction. Dont miss an
opportunity to promote great work.
41% of companies that use peer-to-peer recognition
have seen marked positive increases in customer
satisfaction.
- SHRM/Globoforce Employee Recognition Survey
QUICK TIPS
Recognition belongs where people can see it - out
in the open.
Recognize what matters to your business, not just
to you.
Get social with your recognition. Have it pervade
your culture and message.

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Acknowledge multi items people, objectives, and

individual updates as they all matter.

title
get started and finish strong

StatusPath 2015
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get started and finish strong

Congratulations on deciding to improve your culture,
challenging it to become goal-oriented. The results
will be fantastic. Dont just get started on your journey,
work to maintain your focused, aligned culture with a
few best-practices reminders:
Stay committed to your culture. Everything good in life
takes work. You will need to insist and persist to keep
the company culture, and execution, churning.
Place your goals front and center with the correct
software vendor who understands how to avoid system
fatigue while maximizing overall benefits.
Communicate executive buy-in via participation. Get
everyone involved - especially senior executives.
Iterate quarterly, because you will not always be right!
Tie goal management activities to your recognition
system to encourage repeat behavior where it matters
most.
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Lets just keep

on going...
title
were here to help
Implementing a goal-driven culture is a challenge thats
worth the effort. We know, because weve been sharing in
that journey with our customers for years. We are here to
help:
Goal Management Software. StatusPaths sofware
platform helps you set, align, and track your goals easily
across the entire enterprise, with a focus on all six pillars of
a goal-driven cuture. Your team will benefit from a software
platform and partner that gets everyone ALIGNED,
while offering an experience rich in insights, focus, and
productivity.
Goal Strategy. Dont know exactly where to start or how
to get there? We partner with our customers to help them
apply a pragmatic, best-practices approach to establishing
a goal-driven culture.
Reach out to us and get started on your jouney now. On
your mark, get set, GOAL!

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Get Started Now