EMPLOYER MYTH #3: We're all marching toward the same goals.

FACT: Employees are not aware of the larger corporate goals and how their own performance goals align with them.

The truth is that many employees are not clued in to corporate objectives and strategies. They either don't know how their individual goals are aligned with corporate goals, or don't believe that they are. Many employees are focused on their immediate tasks, and need to see how they contribute to overall corporate strategy in order to understand company priorities. Most employees want to be able to make a measurable impact on the business, but don't know how to do so.

Organizations receive from their performance management program what they invest in it. Performance is a two way street where the value to the employee must be as clear as the value to the employer. Superior performance is achievable when both work together.

By improving how employees understand organizational priorities and their role in contributing to success, employees begin to perceive their performance from a more similar perspective as managers. In doing so, employees feel empowered and start to see the direct linkages that their role has with other parts of the organization. This helps to build better teamwork and can be a very motivating force for employees, particularly at lower levels of the organization.

BEST PRACTICE #3: Demonstrate how employee goals align with organizational goals and over-communicate if necessary.

Having clear goals is not sufficient. To maximize the power of everyone pulling together, managers need to communicate the power of goal alignment. Find a compelling way to illustrate why employee alignment and contribution matters, what is the larger upside of meeting organizational goals, what is the risk of underperforming. How does your team's performance affect the group?

Until employees understand the goals of the organization and how their goals align with those goals, employees will not understand how they can improve their performance from the same perspective as their manager. Individual contributors are less likely to view their goals as unimportant if they see how meeting those goals can help the company meet its objectives.