Settings goals and achieving them

How many of us return to work after the festive period full of enthusiasm and determination, convinced that we will stick to our new year resolutions or goals?

Then suddenly, it’s January 31st and the diet has been shelved, the gym membership has been cancelled, and we’ve subsequently fallen back into our old routine to only find ourselves a year later, setting the exact same goals.

Many of us lose focus due to various reasons. Not putting enough thought into our goal setting. No consideration surrounding the consequence if we aren’t to achieve our goals. The goal may have always been out of reach and far too unrealistic. Maybe it was too straightforward allowing us to think it was easy.

Whether you are setting goals or New Year’s resolutions, before doing so we must ask ourselves, what is it that drives us to such success? Are the motivations behind the goal aligned? If they are not, then the chances are they won’t be achieved.

At BPS World, setting goals is key practice as we all need something to aim for. For example, every employee within BPS World has and owns a PDP (Personal Development Plan) which consists of both short and long-term goals which are set under the SMART criteria. These are reviewed on a quarterly basis where goals are crossed off having been achieved, new goals are set and the progress against existing goals are reviewed.

To support the achievement of our goals, we have in place the company’s values and behaviours:

Commitment: Do what you say you’re going to do - be someone who demonstrates their commitment through taking accountability for their actions and outcomes.

Delivery: There is no substitute for the achievement of results - be someone who consistently delivers and creates customer delight through exceeding expectations.

Excellence: Pursuit of continuous improvement - be someone who demonstrates excellence and takes pride in everything they do from the smallest detail to the largest venture.

Passion: Inspire and be inspired - be someone who is passionate creates an inspirational environment.

Through committing to these behaviours on a daily basis,  it sets a benchmark for best practice and high standards in performace both of which are essential to reaching set goals.

In the workplace, research suggests that setting goals has a direct and positive impact on performance by motivating people to inevitably, do more. It leads to a higher productivity rate and improves employee engagement. Taking that into account, why we wouldn’t set goals?

Don’t wait until the last week in December as a reason to start thinking about your ambitions and objectives for the new year. I would encourage everyone to do this regularly and work towards something no matter how big or small.

What are your goals? We would love to hear from you.

To discuss any ideas in this blog please contact Richard Jeffery on richard.jeffery@bps-world.com