Let’s have a bit of a birds-eye look at how job or performance objectives fit into the larger scheme of the organization. Essentially, you are dealing with a delicate interplay between the goals, objectives, and daily activities.
Generally speaking every organization has a strategic pyramid (written or unwritten). Starting at the top of the pyramid is the organization’s vision and mission [statement] that broadly indicates where the organization is going, what they do, and how they will get there.
Then you have the organizational goals that, while are still broad, are statements of where the organization wishes to be at some future point. Organizational goals for all intents are the road map for the organization and employees should be fairly clear about what they state and represent.
Next and the last two items on the pyramid are the employee performance objectives and the activities. This of course is what you the employee are primarily concerned about.
Objectives are short-term outcomes that you are trying to achieve by a designated timeframe (in this case a fiscal year) in an effort to further the goals of the organization. You should draw an important distinction between objectives and activities. Activities of course are what you do and how you do it; they define your daily tasks and the skills used to accomplish the objective.
So here is how they all (Vision, Mission, etc) fit together: You do activities in order to accomplish objectives for the purpose of furthering the goals of the organization, which aids in carrying out the mission to realize the vision.