People have a lot on their plate.

But here’s the question:

What’s the most important thing on the plate?

The more employees who show up to work everyday knowing the answer to that question, the better off a business will be.

When businesses help employees establish specific goals, people gain focus and become more productive. More important, they produce better results.

That message was the theme of a two-part goal-setting workshop the Studer Community Institute hosted at New World Landing in downtown Pensacola on Feb. 4.

Kelly Dickey, an accountability specialist at the Studer Group, led the workshop. It also featured Miller Caldwell III, who presented a case study of how he applied a goal-setting system at his family’s architectural firm.

More than 100 people attended the training. Here are three key points Dickey said she hoped people took away from the workshop:

— “I wanted to make sure everyone understood that refining their focus is critical for an employee and company’s long-term success.”

— “It’s also important to have objective measures because that helps us to know whether we’re being successful or not. It takes away the ‘I think’ and the ‘I hope’ I’m doing a good job into ‘I know’ and ‘I’m confident’ I’m doing a good job, which then helps us become more purposeful and mission-focused.”

— “The other piece of this is understanding the weighted values of goals and being able to truly prioritize our plates in order to make the right decisions about what to focus on.”

Kelly Dickey spoke at the Feb. 4 goal-setting session for businesses and organizations hosted by Studer Community Institute. Photo credit: Ron Stallcup

Dickey also emphasized that for a business to have good goals, a company first needs to have a good mission.

“It all comes back to mission,” said Dickey, “and why should the community trust you to do business with you. I’m coming to you to sell my house. I’m coming to shop with you rather than somebody else. Why should I come to you? Why should I trust you’re going to take care of me? Any business that wants to be successful has to have good answers to these questions.”

Kacee Bidnick, who works at A Door Properties, said her company paid for her to attend the training. “But it was so good, I would have paid for it out of my own pocket,” she said. “Our community is so lucky to have these resources available to us, and I would encourage everyone I know to take advantage of it.”

A key segment of Dickey’s workshop centered on identifying the “big rocks” on your plate.

“You want to focus on the big rocks — the most important issues for your business — and then build goals around them,” said Dickey.

Bidnick said that part of the training particularly resonated with her.

“It’s not about how much you can do, but getting the big things done right,” she said. “I can’t wait for the follow-up course in two weeks so we can learn how to put it all together.”

The second part of the workshop will be held on Feb. 18 at New World Landing.