Challenges at various levels within a company for successful goal management

Succeeding in goal management within a company’s strategy is not easy. It is inherent to goals to be set high. The challenges you face in achieving your goals vary depending on the level at which you work within an organization. The challenges a CEO faces when it comes to goal management differ from those of an employee, even though the challenges are equally frustrating for the individual. Howwe is a goal management tool developed to meet the needs of CEOs, leaders, and employees, helping the entire organization achieve its most important goals. In this article, we map out the most common challenges and describe how Howwe solves them.

Arvid Cullborg is Vice President at Howwe Technologies. He meets hundreds of CEOs and senior executives every year. Although everyone is different as individuals, runs different types of businesses, and operates in different industries with different conditions, they all have some things in common. These things affect their ability to increase their competitiveness and achieve their goals.

“As a CEO, you have the overall responsibility for ensuring that the company succeeds with the plans you have promised to the board, owners, and actually your employees. There are a number of things that many of the leaders I meet find difficult. The advantage is that these difficulties can easily be overcome with a modern and adapted tool like Howwe,” says Arvid Cullborg.

 

Arvid Cullborg on challenges when it comes to goal management Arvid Cullborg, Vice President at Howwe Technologies.

Arvid Cullborg lists the CEO’s most common challenges when it comes to goal management:

• Clear communication of the plan and how it will be realized
  It is difficult to convey how the plan fits together, especially in large organizations where it is difficult to visualize and create an overview.
• It is difficult to get an accurate picture of how the plans are actually progressing
  The CEOs I often meet have a fairly narrow picture of how the company is doing. They often need to ask functional managers to spend quite a bit of time creating reports for the management team. Monthly management meetings are devoted to understanding the status rather than looking ahead at the activities that actually drive the goals. “The frustration I often hear is that CEOs do not know how the plans of the various departments are progressing. Therefore, they cannot help the organization prioritize initiatives or allocate resources before it is too late,” explains Arvid.
• Involve, motivate, and confirm employees
  Finally, many testify to the challenge of being able to explain to their employees how incredibly important the work they do actually is and what role they play in the company’s goal management and future.

 

Employees, on the other hand, have other challenges when it comes to goal management that prevent them from fully utilizing their own and the company’s potential. Helena Feldmann is a Customer Success Manager at Howwe Technologies and meets employees and users in Howwe daily. There are a number of things that are important to them to feel engaged, such as understanding and seeing their part in or having the opportunity to influence.

Helena Feldmann, Customer Success Manager at Howwe Technologies.

Helena Feldmann on employees’ most common challenges when it comes to goal management:

• First and foremost, they want to understand what expectations exist, both in the coming week and in the long term, in order to be able to grow within the company.
• Many also want to feel that they are involved in and can influence what the company or department focuses on and how they will collectively succeed with the goals. They want to feel involved and included in results and progress towards achieving the goals.
• Many people have busy and stressful lives, which is why there is a desire to take a step back and be reminded of what is important and what is not, to plan and focus on what really matters.

“There is great value in knowing where the company and the team are going, a sense of security in knowing what is important for the company’s success right now and how one can influence it,” explains Helena.

• It is also important to feel that individual contributions matter, and that both the employee, team, and management recognize all the great work that is being done.

“With Howwe, both the employee and the CEO can easily and clearly see how the underlying teams are progressing in relation to the agreed plan. They can also compare progress to the previous year to see that development is going in the right direction. Instead of constantly having to ask for status updates and nagging all functional managers to update their various reporting templates in different formats month after month, you get a total overview of the actual situation in just 5 seconds, and can proactively act accordingly. We are proud to support hundreds of CEOs and thousands of organizations and employees with a proactive approach that gives them the opportunity to achieve their most important goals on time,” concludes Arvid.