One of the liveliest discussions I was involved in this week was about setting goals such as ‘0 defects’ or ‘100% satisfaction’. One point of view is that aggressive goals are demotivating for those doing the work, especially if perfection seems a long way off. In my view, when we think this way, we create two problems: first, we forget that all customers expect what they want, when they want it right the first time! Not just 75% or 80%. In their eyes, 100% really isn’t an option. Second, since people tend to rise to our level of expectation, setting a lower goal gives them the message that we don’t respect them enough to ‘expect’ that they ‘can’ find ways to strive towards and reach the goal…no matter how challenging! I believe that setting challenging customer-focused goals is the best way to show our teams we respect their creativity, capability and humanity!
I agree everyone should get their goals high however using numbers, 100%, is confusing and impossible to maintain. It leaves no room for growth, we’re perfect.
Hi Dee,
Think about it from the customer’s point of view…even if your service provider is at 99% accuracy, does the customer in the 1% who receive a defect feel happy and satisfied? And in ‘struggling’ to achieve and maintain 100%, don’t we find creative solutions and stretch and grow?
Karyn