November 13, 2014

Step 5. Establish your organization’s goals and objectives

Clearly define what your organization realistically hopes to achieve from collaboration. You have already identified your needs, so now is the time to select the areas that will be worked on. Summarize the goals you hope to accomplish. Define what metrics your organization will measure to determine success, and then create objectives that are specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and time-restricted (SMART). For example, “By December 21, 2015, ACME Corporation will reduce the time required to hire employees from ten to five business days.”

Examples from Best Practice Profiles:

Gaylor Electric (Industry to Education):

One of the primary goals of the internship program is to develop an educated, well-trained workforce that will contribute to the city’s economic development.

Gulf Power Company (Industry to Education):

The ultimate goal for Gulf Power Academy is to be a model for how industry can work hand-in-hand with education to make sure that the demand for a well-trained workforce never exceeds the supply.

Questions to Consider:

  1. What meaningful statistics does your organization already measure?
  2. Are there areas of weakness that are too hard to measure? If so, what smaller components can you focus on?
  3. Does your organization have a strategic plan to which you need to align your goals?
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