Why employees do not have goals
The late Zig Ziglar spoke about many different subjects that were designed for motivation and being a better sales professional. One of the subjects that Mr. Ziglar spoke about was the reason that people don’t have goals. Mr. Ziglar outlined the four reasons that people don’t have goals. There are four basic reasons people don’t have goals: Fear, self-image, never been sold and they don’t know how. When thinking about goals, there are two distinct categories of people in every company that are a main driver of goals, managers and employees. Sadly, at a lot of companies it is easy to find lots of goals that the managers have, but what about the employees. Like it or not, companies do not operate without employees. Given the fact that 80 to 90 percent of companies are made up of employees, it makes sense that employees have and achieve goals.
Fear
In the business world, there are many things of which to be afraid. Having a fear of goals means that you are either afraid to document that you failed or that you are afraid to admit you don’t know how to write goals. Employees are eager to prove to their managers that they are good at their job and can achieve goals and for some failure is not an option; however, for some the fear of failure is great. In today’s job market, finding your dream job can be a challenge and as an employee you want to be successful. It is natural to be afraid of something you don’t know how to do, the key it to overcome this fear. As an employee, you are going to miss goals and you going to fail. Start by learning the basics of writing goals and SMART goals is a very simple way to create goals.
Self-image
The definition of self-image: self-image is related to what you see when you look in a mirror—however, it goes much deeper than that. Self-image refers to how we see ourselves on a more global level, both internally and externally. When referring to goals, employees want to be able to look at themselves in the mirror as being successful and not a failure or someone who has not accomplished their goals. Some employees may feel like it’s not cool to have goals or that other people will make fun of them, but the truth is that employees must have goals both personal and professional to be successful. Self-image can also refer to the fear of goals. Can you look at yourself if you fail. Or, what will others think if you fail? Truth is, you are going to fail and so will your coworkers. Having goals and working toward achieving those goals and working through the reasons why you did not reach the goal(s), will help you be more successful and will improve your self-image.
Never been sold
Although it is impossible to get through life without having basic goals, in the business world it is easy for employees to go through their daily work task and not have goals. Often, employees are hired and trained on how to do their job and are never given goals or understanding of what it takes to be successful in their job. Unfortunately for some, the first time employees are confronted with goals is at their annual review and maybe they could have performed better if they had only known what was expected of them. Employees may feel like goals are not needed to get the job done because a manager has never explained the value of goals.
Don’t know how
Although there is an abundance of information on the internet to help one create goals, employees may have never been trained or exposed to SMART goals or OKR’s. Most employees do not come to work to not work or to do a bad job, they simply do what they are taught. It is important for employees to not only know how to write goals but to understand why the goal is important to the organization. Once employees know what is expected of them, they will be more engaged and more productive in the workforce.
By overcoming these barriers to goals, employees will be more successful, not only at work but at home as well. Although goals can be daunting and the commitment to goals can be scary, employees need goals for companies to flourish. Employees don’t want to see themselves as failures, once employees are sold on the importance of goals, teaching the basics of goal planning and letting them run with it will make employees and companies successful.