Employee training is supposed to be all about helping employees get better at doing their jobs.
But researchers at Harvard Business School have uncovered a startling fact: a mere 7% of employees today fully understand their company’s business strategies and what’s expected of them in order to help achieve company goals.
This is alarming. Apparently, doing one’s job isn’t good enough: the employee should be aware of the bigger picture, as individual performance can have an enormous impact on the bottom line.
Thus, it stands to reason that employee training needs to go deeper than simply teaching routine administrative tasks, improving day-to-day skills, or demonstrating how to use particular programs or systems.
In addition, a goal alignment program needs to be in place, that helps employees understand the impact of their work and how it affects the performance and even profitability of the entire organization.
Enterprise software provider SuccessFactors, a division of SAP, has found a strong correlation between a company’s financial performance and an effective goal setting process. The more an employee is aware of the impact of his or her performance on results, the stronger the bottom line.
Besides the obvious direct connection — higher output => higher earnings — there are additional collateral outcomes.
One is higher morale and reduced employee turnover. If employees recognize that their work is being valued since it impacts the bottom line, they will have more clarity in their jobs, and are made aware that their work is getting noticed. Too often, employees feel that their work has little to no impact at all. Unsurprisingly, studies continue to show that companies with large numbers of dissatisfied workers experience greater absenteeism and lower productivity.
Another can be innovation. As employees have more lucidity into a larger part of the business’s operations, they will be galvanized to develop additional products or processes that help them and their colleagues do their jobs better.
Is goal alignment part of your corporate training program? It should be. Let Cognota platform help you develop individual goals for your employees, and help you create learning programs that deliver them.
