Setting Effective Goals

A goal is:

• a written objective of results,
• to be achieved by a certain date, and
• agreed on by you and your employee.

There are many good reasons for using goals including that they're:

• Strategic. Goals help the employee focus on what is important to his particular job, department, or the organization as a whole. Goals tell you what needs to be done.
• Customizable. Goals can specifically address the unique performance and developmental needs of each individual, taking account of an individual employee's experience, weaknesses, and strengths.
• Adjustable. As job functions, circumstances, and business needs change, goals can be easily changed.
• Flexible. Projects, milestones, and less quantitative actions can be better addressed through goal setting rather than through use of more rigid performance factors.
• Inclusive. The goal setting process provides a great communication opportunity for managers and their employees. It's a great time to gather input and "buy-in" from employees.
• Free. There are few tools as powerful as goals to improve performance, certainly not many which are free and relatively easy to implement.

SMART Goals are an important part of every appraisal. Here are some best practices to assist in making goals smart.

• Is the goal Specific? Have you explained why this goal’s achievement is important to both the individual AND the organization?

  Goals should be well defined as a clear objective that must be accomplished. It should be explained why this achievement of the goal is important to the employee to bring them into alignment with the goal on an individual basis. Then explain why the goal is important to the organization to provide a sense of purpose.

• Is the goal Measurable? Did you describe exactly how progress toward this goal will be measured, or what the final key performance metric will be that constitutes success?

• Goals must be quantifiable. Detail exactly how you will measure the successful completion of the goal.

• Is the goal Achievable? Did you describe why this goal is attainable based on past results, access to new or existing resources, or based on mutual agreement between supervisor and employee?

• Goals should not be impossible to achieve or perceived to be impossible. If you are creating aggressive goals, be sure to outline a clear path toward success. Include action steps in very aggressive goals to better identify the path toward success. You need to have buy-in on aggressive goals in order to have a successful outcome.

• Is the goal Relevant? Does the goal description outline how this goal is relevant to a specific job duty, strategy, or objective?

• Goals should align to relevant performance measures or objectives. The completion of a goal should be a meaningful accomplishment for both the employee and the organization.

• Is the goal Timely? Is there a due date for when this goal should be achieved?

  Goals should have an agreed-upon time for completion. Setting due dates helps to focus on completion of duties and tasks associated with the accomplishment of the goal. The date should have the recipient’s buy-in so that it doesn’t have a de-motivating affect.