After a business purpose statement is written, how can you ensure that it is actionable and meaningful?
As you work to communicate and operationalize your brand’s purpose, you must craft short- and long-term goals to translate your purpose statement into practice. These goals must be specific, measurable, and achievable.
By setting short-term goals at regular intervals, your organization can divide long-term objectives into manageable tasks. Use project management software or online tools to map out the steps your business needs to take, and to organize and allocate work. These goals must be specific and measurable. Avoid vague benchmarks.
Short-term goals should be meaningful, but not too far out of reach. Think of each accomplishment as a stepping stone toward a long-term goal. Don’t underestimate the importance of these small steps. A regular stream of short-term achievements can boost both employee morale and public opinion, and set your business well on its way to achieving major purpose-driven objectives.
Long-term goals are at the heart of your business purpose. These goals may relate to corporate social responsibility, economic growth or the launch of a new product or service. Many brands have long-term goals in each of these areas and more. When drafting your long-term objectives, make sure that each one proceeds from your stated purpose.
Like short-term goals, long-term targets must be precise. Employees, stakeholders and the public want to see quantifiable progress in line with your purpose. Give your business a concrete goal: how many jobs will you create? How much will you reduce your supply chain’s carbon footprint?
Long-term goals should stretch your organization to accomplish something meaningful, but they should also be within the realm of possibility. Highlight your progress toward these goals in marketing materials such as whitepapers and blog posts. Some goals may even lend themselves to marketing events. For example, the achievement of one of your organization’s major goals around corporate purpose may be an opportunity to host a panel discussion on further progress that can be made by socially conscious companies in your field or others.
Every organization needs to set goals. The specifics of your short- and long-term goals must be unique to your business, and grounded in your purpose. Remember, the short-term achievements are what keep your business moving forward, but the long-term, purpose-driven goals are what bring your employees back day after day.
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