Cascading goals are those goals that originate from the top and flow throughout an organization and to every employee within that organization. When all employees work toward the same common goals, particularly in a cascading fashion, organizations enjoy greater successes.
As the old saying goes, however, it is easier said than done. When C-level executives develop organizational goals and expect those goals to cascade down to all the various levels of employees, the idea sounds great—in theory. However, leadership can face a real challenge when they put the theory into practice.
Instead, what often happens is this—people within organizations tend to divide up and cling to “silos.” This silo effect commonly refers to a lack of communication between departments, which can end up impeding or thwarting organizational success. Business units within one organization end up behaving independently of one another and actually competing with one another.
In order to stop silos from impeding progress, it all boils down to a well-planned execution. Organizations have common objectives and common goals to achieve, and all employees are needed to make things happen.
So what should organizational leaders do to bust up silos or prevent their negative effects in the first place? At minimum:
- Know how to effectively communicate organizational goals.
- Make sure that every department, every region, every area, etc. understands how employees are expected to contribute to meeting those goals.
- Break down strategic goals into ‘bite-size’ achievable and understandable tactics. In other words, make strategic goals sound more user-friendly.
To help illustrate, I’ll describe a common challenge that many businesses face.
Most businesses today are struggling to hold onto to their customers or clients. So, there is your organizational goal.
Ideally, you want every employee within the organization to understand his or her role in achieving that goal. You want every team within an organization to understand its role in achieving that goal. You want every region to understand, and so on. You get the idea? The goal must be effectively and comprehensively translated down to the different levels for it to be achievable.
For a cascading goals strategy to overcome these oftentimes deeply implanted silos, organizations will want to avoid making mistakes. Among them:
- Allowing employees to create their own individual goals—particularly those which have nothing to do with the bottom line of the entire organization. By contrast, employees should know how their individual goals link to what everyone else is working toward.
- Neglecting a big picture overview and deviating from how and where goals begin, which should be at the top level. In other words, organizational goals must begin with senior management, your C-level executives. Absolutely, do not keep company goals a secret! Believe it or not, I see this happen.
- Failing to communicate regularly and consistently. Top management needs to keep employees informed, and they often need reminders of milestones. Certainly, at minimum, you will want to report updates on a quarterly basis; monthly is even better. For example, you will want to include data or information about the previous quarter and how the present quarter measures up.
- Overlooking managerial training as an important element. Top management needs to stay in close communication with managers and supervisors, because those individuals serve as your direct and daily liaisons to employees. Management should be trained and provided with specific instructions and details, so that cascading goals are effectively transferred in purposeful and meaningful ways.
- Unprepared to emphasize a “what’s in it for me” message to employees. It’s one thing to communicate goals—but employees also need to hear how achieving those goals will benefit them. For cascading goals to work, you need employee buy-in, which is very important. So be very clear and specific with employees. Let them know what you expect of them, and how they will be rewarded by meeting those goals.
All in all, I think you will find that most employees want to understand organizational goals, because they want to come to work and make a difference. They want to affect the bottom line, and they want to see the organization succeed.
So, by executing a carefully thought-through plan for implementing cascading goals, organizations will be well rewarded. Instead, lead your employees toward building bridges, not silos!