While the terms "goals" and "objectives" are often used interchangeably, they are different concepts. A football team's main goal may be to win the game, but they can have many objectives to reach the goal. One objective may be to sack the quarterback as often as possible. Another objective could be to average 15 yards with every running play. These objectives support the singular goal of winning the game. When organizations mistake the role of goals and objectives, they may have a difficult time achieving profitability, employee and customer satisfaction, and continued growth.
In order to stay in business, companies must be profitable. A company may set a goal to increase gross sales by $5 million in the next 12 months. Without specific objectives, that goal may never be met. For a car dealership, objectives to support that goal could include selling 25 cars per day, billing $50,000 worth of service maintenance per day and writing an extended warranty on every car sold. The objectives have daily measurements that are easy to track against the final goal.
A company could measure its employee satisfaction rate by a goal to maintain a 5-percent annual turnover rate. To achieve that goal, the company objectives could include adopting a comprehensive employee orientation; instituting a new-employee mentor program; reviewing all new employees after three months of employment; and providing an on-site daycare program.
Many companies set an ambitious goal of 100-percent customer satisfaction. Such an aggressive goal requires specific objectives for all levels of the organization. Answering a phone call within the first three rings, restricting telephone hold time to less than 30 seconds and sending a letter of apology to every unhappy customer within 24 hours are examples of customer service objectives. If these objectives are achieved, the company may achieve the overall goal of 100-percent customer satisfaction.
A company's growth can be measured by an expanded customer base, an increase in the number of offices or services areas, plant or facilities expansion, or an increase in the number of new hires. A goal to open five new offices in a new market by the end of the year may be supported by objectives to hire a new office manager in the target area; locate and lease suitable office space; and source vendors or suppliers who meet quality and pricing specifications by a certain time period.