Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
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Enterprise objectives
Programmatic objectives
Personal objectives
Enterprise objectives include a desired state of operations, e.g., more cost effec-
tive, higher revenue generation, increase in customer service levels, or to reduce risk.
From an IA perspective, the path to achieve this desired state includes overcoming
that people do not know they do not know (IA awareness campaign), creating a
level of understanding (IA training), creating a level of skill and fluency (IA train-
ing), and for some people a level of theoretical knowledge (IA education).
People generally have a natural resistance to change for fear of the unknown.
Often, people must be persuaded to change. Persuasion may be negative or positive.
Negative persuasion is purely for the benefit of the persuader and generally does
not consider the interests of the person being persuaded. Examples include a con
artist or even many marketing campaigns, advertisements, and commercials. Posi-
tive persuasion is win-win; the persuader (e.g., the organization) gets what it wants
and the person (e.g., employee) gets what he or she wants. Organizational benefits
may be greater profits, increased market share, or reduced risk exposure. Employee
benefits may be a salary raise, recognition, promotion, or continued employment.
The goal of persuasion is to overcome inertia. It is not that people do not want
to change; it is that people are not aware that change is necessary, or how to change,
or why to change. Many people want to show up at work, do their assigned tasks,
and go home to live their lives; it is not that they do not care, they just have other
priorities. Executives and management have the responsibility to define and articu-
late why to change, the need for change, what to change, and how to change, and
offer awareness, training, and education to facilitate change. A framework that cap-
tures
objective-centered outcomes
provides a guideline on how to address change. You
may use this framework to discern and capture details of how to mitigate business
risk by facilitating change via awareness, training, and education.
Employee objectives primarily include the
WIFM factor
(what's in it for me).
Employees have vastly different personal goals, and the objective-based outcome
details recognize and address these differences, e.g., in-house day care, new parent
support, opportunity for leave without pay, and other personal benefits. Professional
objectives for employees include those areas that benefit both the employee and the
organization, e.g., increased productivity, salary increase, bonus, promotion, new
assignment, higher visibility, opportunity to directly affect the bottom line.
12.8.1 Objective-Centered Framework
Table 12.1 provides a method to capture the details of the above objectives. The
organization provides objectives where possible as a starting point. The employee
is engaged in the process to complete his or her own objectives; this may be part of
the annual employee review and planning process.
