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Is Your Team Rowing in Different Directions? Here’s How to Get Everyone Aligned

Team Members Not Aligned with Business Goals? Here’s How HR Can Get Everyone on the Same Page 

When your team isn’t working in alignment, it’s like rowing a boat in circles – you expend a lot of energy but don’t get very far. Misalignment can cause confusion, missed opportunities, and frustration among your employees. 

The Problem: Lack of Goal Alignment 

Without clear goals and alignment, team members can feel disconnected, leading to inefficiency and reduced motivation. And I imagine you’re sitting there right now thinking, but the business goals and where we’re headed is ALL we take about, how can there be this misalignment!? It’s a common issue, but one that can be fixed with the right HR approach. 

The HR Solution: Aligning Goals for Success 

Here’s how to get your team back on track: 

  • Set Clear Business Objectives: Make sure everyone knows the company’s vision and how their role contributes to it. Regular goal-setting sessions can help (McKinsey & Company, 2023) and should be part of an annual HR cycle.
  • Implement Regular Check-Ins: Use one-on-one meetings to ensure everyone’s priorities align with business goals. This keeps communication clear and prevents any misdirection.
  • Reward Goal Achievement: Recognise and reward employees who consistently align their work with company goals. This positive reinforcement helps build a culture of alignment. 
  • Communicate and Communicate again: Communication is one of the leading influencers in whether or not employee and business initiatives are successful, yet only 12% of businesses consider communication as a top three priority.  

Competitive secret; get granular and break down your communication into levels of broadcast groups. Who receives what level of information? Senior leaders are likely privy to a higher level of information and can help debunk the workforce questions, once they have the clear picture. Think about how the information should be shared. What means of communication do we have? How do our team members take in information? If what we are sharing as a business is quite heavy or a lot of people to take in, it might be appropriate to hold some individual sessions, some group sessions, some verbal information dissemination, followed by the information in writing. You make think telling everyone once, and all at once should be enough. But, we’re in a world where what we verbalise to another, only 12% of that lands with the other person on how we intend it to. Meaning, 88% of what we say is generally interpreted incorrectly.  

A client we worked with started using regular check-ins and goal-setting workshops. Within months, their team felt more connected to the company’s vision, leading to a noticeable boost in productivity, and we expect to see their employee turnover decrease with an increased connection to the business vision and mission.