By Kelly Mayberry, CIO, Turnkey Strategic Relations
You’ve been there. That team meeting where everyone nods along as goals flash across a perfectly polished slide deck. They’re Specific. Measurable. Achievable. All the right buzzwords. But then? Weeks pass, energy fizzles, deadlines shift, and suddenly those once-promising goals feel more like a checklist than a catalyst. So what gives?
Truth is, it’s rarely the goals themselves, it’s the lack of connection. Goals without meaning are just more noise in the daily grind. They’re not anchored in purpose, people, or anything that truly makes them matter.
At Turnkey Strategic Relations, we see this play out across organizations all the time. Traditional goal-setting is often too rigid, too sterile. That’s why we approach it differently, blending the structure of SMART goals with the soul of HARD goals and adding a human-centric twist that’s deeply rooted in our P.A.C.E.™ framework (Performance, Alignment, Clarity, Execution). Because let’s be honest, no one wants to hit a goal that doesn’t feel like it matters.
The Problem with Traditional Goal-Setting
SMART goals, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound, give you the skeleton which provides the framework for clarity and deadlines. They’re the backbone of many strategies. Yet they often miss the emotional spark that drives engagement. Without purpose, goals become tasks, draining motivation and stifling collaboration. Gallup reports that only 30% of employees feel their goals connect meaningfully to their company’s mission, leading to disengagement and lost productivity. The gap is clear, traditional models lack the human element needed for transformation.
SMART + HARD: Structure Meets Soul
Our solution is SMART + HARD, a framework that fuses structure with soul. SMART goals offer a roadmap: clear, trackable objectives that keep teams aligned. HARD goals—Heartfelt, Animated, Required, Difficult—bring the why, sparking passion and purpose. Add the human-centric twist, and every team member, from leadership to frontline, sees how their role fuels the broader vision.
Let’s say your SMART goal is to increase project completion rates by 15% in Q3. Great. Now let’s HARD it up: Deliver projects 15% faster to empower client success, because their trust drives our purpose. See the difference? One is a metric. The other is a mission.
This fusion becomes powerful when you add the human-centric layer, ensuring every team member understands not only what they’re working toward but why it matters and how their unique role fits into the big picture. This approach, powered by P.A.C.E.™, ensures goals don’t just exist. They resonate.
The Human Element is Non-Negotiable
Goals without people are just numbers. The human element transforms strategy into momentum. When teams understand their impact, they engage deeply, collaborate effectively, and take ownership. Harvard Business Review notes that purpose-driven teams are 2.5 times more likely to outperform peers, driven by meaning over metrics.
At Turnkey, we embed the human element through our P.A.C.E.™ framework:
- Performance: SMART + HARD goals create a rhythm of agile progress. Tools like real-time dashboards turn vision into measurable wins.
- Alignment: Goals link to the company’s mission, fostering unity and accountability across teams.
- Clarity: SMART ensures precision. HARD ignites passion. Together, they eliminate confusion and drive focus.
- Execution: Systems like the Turnkey Goal System (TGS) and regular check-ins make follow-through seamless, not forced.
From Concept to Culture: A Real-World Example
One of our client partners, a forward-thinking construction firm, wanted more than just improved timelines, they wanted a stronger, more connected team. Together, we applied our Organizational Performance System (OPS) and TGS to set purpose-driven SMART + HARD goals through the lens of P.A.C.E.™
The result? Projects were completed faster. Teams operated with shared ownership. Client satisfaction soared. And perhaps most importantly, the organization began to feel different, more aligned, more energized, and more united around a common purpose
5 Ways to Make SMART + HARD Goals Work for Your Team
If you’re ready to breathe life back into your goal-setting, here’s how to get started:
- Start with “Why” & Anchor with Purpose: Before setting a goal, start by clarifying the “why” behind each goal. Connect it to your company’s mission to spark empowerment. Why does it matter to the company? Why should it matter to the team?
- Connect the Dots & Align for Impact: Help each team member see how their goals support the broader mission. Show how individual goals fuel organizational success, building pride and accountability.
- Inspire with Stories: Share examples that bring goals to life. A story about client impact will stick far longer than a spreadsheet.
- Deepen Connection & Ask with Intention: Use check-ins to explore how goals feel and their impact, fostering collaboration and engagement. Ask, “How does this goal feel to you?” and “Do you see your impact?” These conversations drive connection.
- Celebrate What Matters: When you hit a goal, go beyond the metric. Celebrate the impact, the people it helped, reinforcing cultural alignment.
The Real Win: A Culture That Delivers with Purpose
This isn’t just about goals. It’s about creating a culture where people feel seen, aligned, and inspired to take action. Where strategy becomes sticky, and purpose drives performance.
At Turnkey, we’ve seen it happen across industries—from construction to healthcare to tech. The SMART + HARD model doesn’t just improve productivity, it cultivates connection, clarity, and momentum that sticks.
And honestly? That’s the kind of goal-setting that actually works.
Let’s Turn Intention Into Impact
Don’t let your goals live and die on a slide deck. With Turnkey’s SMART + HARD approach and our P.A.C.E.™ framework, you can build a culture where goals don’t just
get set, they get lived.
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Ready to bring your goals to life? Visit turnkeysr.com to learn how we can help your team move from intention to impact.
References:
Robert E. Quinn and Anjan V. Thankor. August 2018. Creating a Purpose-Driven Organization. How to get employees to bring their smarts and energy to work. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/07/creating-a-purpose-driven-organization
Gallup. January 7, 2023. The Benefits of Employee Engagement. Retrieved from https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236927/employee-engagement-drives-growth.aspx
