2020 was anything but predictable. Sudden closures and shelter-in-place orders meant many companies had to shutter their workplaces and send people home. Even some essential businesses floundered, as demand fluctuations were hard to anticipate.
The uncertainty of the current situation makes goal-setting challenging. However, even in this unconventional climate, it is possible to achieve your objectives. If you want to make sure you can set and accomplish your 2021 business goals, here’s what you need to know.
Focus on Maximizing Productivity and Reducing Costs
Today, expansion may not be in the cards for some companies. Uncertainty is often the enemy of growth, which can be disheartening.
Luckily, that doesn’t mean you can’t boost your bottom line. By focusing on maximizing productivity and reducing costs, you can experience higher profitability.
Spend some time reviewing any lessons learned from 2020 and the pandemic. Seek out inefficiencies that couldn’t be avoided during initial transitions to work from home models, social distancing requirements, and similar changes. Then, work to eliminate those inefficiencies, ensuring your workforce can accomplish more with greater ease and less waste.
Embrace Flexibility with Your Goals
When people think of strategic planning (and New Year’s resolutions), they usually focus on the entire year. While you can certainly set annual goals, it’s also wise to acknowledge that you may need to adjust them as the year unfolds.
As you choose longer-term goals, identify KPIs that you can use to monitor your progress. Additionally, be vigilant about how forces outside of your control are impacting your ability to move toward your objectives. If a situation arises that makes your current goal unrealistic, change it.
Taking those circumstances into consideration gives your agility. You don’t have to abandon your goals. Instead, you can alter them to fit the current paradigm. That can be empowering, as it gives you targets that are reasonable and achievable, ensuring your whole workforce is motivated to keep pushing during these uncertain times.
Set Your Workforce Up for Success
Achieving company goals requires more than focusing on what the business needs; you also need to set your workforce up for success. At times, this means investing in the right tools and technologies. For example, if you will have employees working from home due to COVID, make sure they have the equipment, communication platforms, asset access, and everything else they require to thrive.
However, setting your workforce up for success also means maintaining suitable staffing levels. If a team is shorthanded, it isn’t going to be able to reach or sustain full productivity due to the increased individual burden.
Luckily, right-sizing your team can be easy. By partnering with a recruitment agency, you can snag the top talent you need fast. Plus, you can bring in permanent or short-term hires, giving you the flexibility you need during uncertain times.
If you need more people to achieve your company goals this year, the team at GSG Talent Solutions can help. Contact us to learn more about our services today.