What are goals?

A goal is an important statement informing your employees where the pharmacy practice is going and how it is going to get there. Goals have end results that reflect the future vision of the pharmacy over several years. Examples of goal statements could be: “To enhance quality within the pharmacy practice” or “To enhance opportunities to extend service provision within the local community”.

It is important to challenge any goals that you set by asking the following questions:

• Why do we want to do this? State the purpose clearly
• How does the goal relate to my vision for the business in five years?

If you identify multiple goals, prioritise them and select only those that will help achieve the overall vision. Three to four goals is a reasonable number. To achieve these, you should then ask, “what specific objectives must be undertaken to accomplish this goal?”

Setting objectives

“The basic definition of the business must be translated into objectives, otherwise they remain insights, and good intentions that never become achievement.” Peter Drucker

Goals are certainly simply wishes unless translated into specific objectives. Developing objectives creates priorities for resources and a structure to constantly assess and evaluate performance and helps employees better understand their contribution to the business.Otherwise, how will your employees know your pharmacy’s goals, objectives and targets?

Objectives should build upon your strengths and opportunities and minimise weaknesses and threats. They define ‘how much of what will be achieved by when’ and are specific steps that are critical to effective performance management.