Goals: Set Targets to Achieve

I just need to make it through boot camp. That was my goal. Just make it through boot camp. Two weeks at Naval Station Great Lakes. We’ve all seen movies and heard stories about what boot camp was like. I had enlisted in the Non-Prior Service Accession Corps in the United States Navy. The recruiter told me it was a pilot program to increase recruitment and didn’t need prior military service as Reservists were formerly required to have. I could enlist and start training right away. One weekend a month, two weeks a year. My two-week training program that year was to go to Great Lakes for boot camp. Boot camp. Drill sergeants yelling inches from your face. People dropping on the floor to do pushups when they weren’t straight. Having to run five miles. And then run five miles again because you didn’t listen to instructions. 

My experience was nothing like the movies. My goal was to learn all I could learn, to make it through the tough spots (yes, there were tough spots), and be a better sailor because of the training. All of the new sailors attended an orientation program and I learned about what the next two weeks would be like. I also learned that we would be training on pistols and rifles and I had a new goal. I wanted a Sharpshooter designation. I had something to work towards. I was pumped. To become a sharpshooter, I needed to take action. 

During the next two weeks, when I was at target practice, I took in all of the training I could from the instructors. I listened to their coaching and put those corrections into action. I spent the time reviewing my stance, where I held my hands, where I looked, and everything else around me. I asked a lot of questions. I wanted that designation. 

I was thinking about these memories this week as I wrote this post. Goals. It takes grit, perseverance, and a large support team to accomplish great things. So, let’s talk about goals and how they relate to increasing Employee Retention. Because another one of my goals is to work with small businesses to increase employee retention. 

Creating a great work environment is necessary for any successful organization and should be a top priority. If employees don’t have a good work environment, they are more likely to leave. High turnover is costly to organizations. It costs companies money, reputation, productivity, and ultimately customers. Creating a great work environment can be motivating for employees. Being a part of a high-achieving team can be motivating for employees. Setting goals helps create high-achieving teams. When individuals or teams achieve their goals, they see great productivity, more success, and that can be motivating to strive for even greater success. Which can lead to greater customer retention. Creating a culture of goal setting can be the key to creating a company with lower turnover. Edwin Locke, renowned psychologist, developed the Goal Setting Theory. He states that individuals who set specific, difficult goals performed better than those who set general, easy goals. Locke proposed five basic principles of goal-setting: clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback, and task complexity. 

Think about a goal you’ve set for yourself. What was your goal? As I headed out to boot camp, I put a plan in place so I could succeed and I did what I could to achieve it. I rewarded myself when I hit important milestones. But I didn’t berate myself when I faltered. When I face a setback, I should accept it and learn from it. Sometimes, my plan for achieving the goal changed, but I never lost sight of the original goal. 

I didn’t achieve that goal on my own. I needed help. From mentors, leaders, my shipmates, and my friends and family. I needed help to set my plan, learn new skills, and face new challenges. I needed people to lean on when things weren’t going according to plan. Working with people who were important to me helped boost my confidence and my dedication to success. Collaborating with different people was teamwork in disguise. Working with people also helped me be accountable to myself for reaching my goal. According to Bramework, people have a 65 percent chance of reaching a goal if they have an accountability partner. Merely setting goals is not enough. You need people in your corner to challenge you, support you, and teach you.

Your employees probably have professional development goals that they want to reach. Talk to them about those goals. Work with them to determine what skills they’ll need to develop to reach those goals. Check-in with them regularly to see how they are doing and what progress they are making. When you invest in an employee’s professional development, you are investing in their commitment to success. 

As an organization, you may want to set team goals to increase employee retention. Setting team goals helps create a positive work environment and builds better communication. When your team meets a milestone, recognize the effort. Strong teams build better employees who are more likely to stick around. 

Goals can be personal or professional, for individuals or teams. Goals can be short-term or long-term. But goals should be guidelines, not fixed. When you are setting your goals, think of Locke’s Goal Setting Theory. Are your goals challenging? Are you committed to reaching them? What feedback mechanisms are in place to help keep you on track? If these attributes are in place, you are well on your way to achieving your goals.

I qualified as a sharpshooter on the pistol.