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7 ways to do it

Everyone knows that goal setting is critical for both employee and organizational success. Having clearly defined objectives, along with a means to monitor and report on achieving milestones, is paramount for creating a high performing workforce.

But, the truth is, setting those goals is only one part of the battle. Holding employees accountable for their achievement can be challenging in many organizations. Why?

The Accountability Gap

For some companies, goal-setting is more of an abstract concept: Goals are big picture without a measurable way to track progress and solve challenges or overcome roadblocks in a timely manner. It's tough to hold employees accountable when goals are poorly defined and can sometimes feel like a moving target.

For many, the pace of business moves faster than the goal-setting process. It might take months for goals to be set, approved and logged into a performance management system, by which time business priorities may have already shifted, and sometimes rendering goals misaligned or even irrelevant. Not to mention, any shift in strategic or even operational priorities requires plans to be updated across the organization-a time-consuming, complex and difficult process that interrupts workflow and achievement.

Adding to these challenges, sometimes employees can only see how their efforts contribute to their supervisor's goals, but not how they contribute to organizational success as a whole. Maybe there's confusion as to exactly what or who they are working for today, tomorrow and this quarter. The cascading effect of goal setting can create confusion when it's not completely understood, where employees aren't sure exactly which goals they should be working toward. If employees aren't sure of their priorities and expectations, how can they take personal accountability for meeting them?

Collaboration Closes the Void

The wicked-fast pace of business means traditional goal setting and accountability has to change. Employees and managers must be clear on how their day-to-day work matters in the grand scheme in order to achieve full employee engagement - that perfect alignment of maximum satisfaction for the individual with maximum contribution for the organization, according to the authors behind the book, The Engagement Equation: Leadership Strategies for an Inspired Workforce.

_In order to create and...

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