Jargon Buster - Stretch objectives

What does it mean?

A stretch objective is a target set by an organisation despite the fact that it is generally considered to be completely unattainable within the available time and resources. The intention of the stretch objective is to encourage people to take innovative approaches in a bid to achieve the unachievable, thus enabling them to far exceed their more realistic targets.

This was most recently illustrated through the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) programme, run jointly by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health. The programme sees nurses visit parents from early pregnancy until the child is two years old, encouraging healthy lifestyles and improved parenting skills. Last month's evaluation of FNP's second year was littered with stretch objectives based on the real objectives of the US government, which is a few years ahead of us in delivering the programme. The good news is the UK has built on a successful first year and is very close to hitting many of its objectives, despite how stretched they are.