Setting Goals, Direction & Objectives

There are few more important aspects to a people manager’s job role than communicating clearly to their team members what is expected of them.

Direction can come in many forms, but essentially we all need to understand the boundaries and accountabilities of our job roles, and the performance levels that are required of us. 

Setting goals and the provision of proper targets, KPIs and other numerical or project-based objectives will be ‘cultural’ in all great businesses.

We also need to know what is expected of us in terms of behaviours, either in values, competency terms, or both.  In recent years this area has become progressively more important to businesses, their customers and employees. 


Driving and Maximising Performance

Fundamentally, clear direction, boundaries and targets are an essential part of performance management.  There are few employers who don’t want to maximise the performance of their people, but there are far fewer who can honestly say they have got this area right.

Performance cannot be maximised if there is a lack of clear goals & direction

Often, line managers and HR teams make the mistake of assuming they know why a person or group are underperforming, or not behaving in a way that is acceptable.

The impact of this is that they will often apply the wrong solution, which usually, therefore, doesn’t work.

There are many situations where the root of the problem is that the line manager and the team member had a different perception of the job boundaries or accountabilities.  This is one of the main reasons why ‘stuff’ doesn’t get done correctly in business, or indeed at all.

It could be that the line manager had not set and agreed tangible and clear targets with the team member; the direction was just too generalised and not specific and clear enough.

Either way, ensuring your business has capable and willing people managers who recognise the importance of setting clear direction and do it effectively will deliver clear performance benefits to your business.

How can PDW help your team to set goals effectively?

We can tailor a training and/or support soluton to suit the exact needs of your organisation.

This can involve a variety of mechanisms and approaches.  It can focus exclusively on the development of capability amongst your people managers, and/or it can focus on aspects of process, systems and tools required to it effectively.

We can help you diagnose where the gaps and issues may lie, and then recommend the action to take.  Or we can simply implement a plan if you already have clarity on what you want to do.

We have a proven methodology with all this type of work which you can see here.

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Our work in this area typically involves one or more of the following components:


  • Training and coaching solutions to build the awareness, capability and confidence of your people managers to set goals, targets and expectations for their team members
  • Creation of job specification documents, values and competency frameworks and other tools that are essential to providing organisational and job role direction

  • Our latest Performance management software which has ready built templates for the whole performance management cycle including setting objectives and development goals
  • Design of ‘offline’ templates to ensure clear objectives, targets and personal development focus.

Testimonial

Here’s what Duncan & Toplis had to say about PDW

“Good balance between thoery and then being able to put this into practice in relevant situations for work. Very positive atmosphere to learn in and very interactive style, which i found great to learn from. Really positive atmosphere and feed back is given really well, allowing you to focus on specfic areas where you could do better, or approach differently.”

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Claire Hulme, Associate Director
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I often hear myself say “Great opportunity to use your PDW skills” – or, in shorthand, just “PDW!” This has been the most effective training I have done in my career – and to call it training downplays it.

Vicky Sandry General Counsel
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Particularly good feedback from the team on all the practise sessions as this really brings the theory to life – and a great team helping to do that.

Steve Howarth CEO
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Good structure, very well facilitated and the combination of project and personal skills training meant that it was easy to see how the personal skills could be practically applied.

Richard Cheatham Project Manager
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I often hear myself say “Great opportunity to use your PDW skills” – or, in shorthand, just “PDW!” This has been the most effective training I have done in my career – and to call it training downplays it.

Vicky Sandry General Counsel
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Particularly good feedback from the team on all the practise sessions as this really brings the theory to life – and a great team helping to do that.

Steve Howarth CEO
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Good structure, very well facilitated and the combination of project and personal skills training meant that it was easy to see how the personal skills could be practically applied.

Richard Cheatham Project Manager
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Noble Events What’s It Really Like ToWork With PDW?

We know that reading about PDW isn’t the same as seeing the impact our training has on your team, or taking part in a session, yourself. To help you get a feel for what’s really involved, and better understand how our approach could benefit your business, we’re talking to Sarah Cox, an MD who’s already taken the positive step of working with PDW.

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Rhys’ Story How PDW Behavioural Training Has Helped My Professional Development

Rhys Davis from Armstrong Watson shares his story of how PDW helped him with his professional development goals, and gives some great tips on how you can start your own journey towards self-improvement!

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Success Story A Prestigious Accountancy Firm Endorses Leadership Development From PDW

PDW Group specialises in developing new behaviours and habits for professionals via unique business training courses that allow them to prepare for new responsibilities, or to perform better in their current role. In this blog post, we look closely at how PDW’s training helped a top accountancy firm to transform the way they work.

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Success Story Endorsement from Richard Bugler - Albert Goodman

At PDW we recently had the honour of receiving this glowing testimonial from Richard of Albert Goodman. He explains below how his partners thoroughly invested in our leadership development training and reaped the numerous rewards. Read on to find out more, in Richard’s own words…

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Success Story What Coaching Did For Me

Coaching can significantly help your day-to-day work and have a positive impact on how you operate.

We talked to Sandra about her journey with PDW Group and her realisation of why coaching was the next step for her.

Coaching enabled Sandra to see some of the specific blockers that were preventing her from being the type of partner she wanted to be how it lead her to be a happier person.

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Testimonial Fisher German

Fisher German’s partner of the future needed a more innovative and robust approach in order to be different. They wanted their partners to be suited for partnership. This means having the right skills and leadership ability, both internally and externally.

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Testimonial Openfield

As a leading agribusiness, Openfield are one of Britain’s most successful and enduring cooperatives, committed to putting their members’ needs first.

Openfield are realising their vision to be an integral part of their farmers’ and customers’ businesses, building unique relationships that create value.

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Testimonial Robson Laidler

Robson Laidler are a leading accountancy firm in Newcastle – upon- Tyne. They approached PDW Group to develop the leadership ability within the senior teams in the firm to improve overall performance and employee engagement.

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Get In Touch

Connect with PDW Group today for expert solutions tailored to your needs. Providing innovative strategies, our team is dedicated to your success.

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