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Managing employees can be one of the most difficult aspects to master for a new manager. It’s also one of the most critical.
Goal setting for employees is essential to the success of any organization. Employees are more productive when they have something to work toward. By setting goals for your employees, you’re giving them a reason to strive for excellence instead of just doing their jobs.
There are many methods to help teams and individuals arrive at their personal goals and targets. Employee goals help judge how well team members are doing their job, they inspire them to strive for more and ensure team objectives are met.
We now understand why goals are so important. Now let’s figure out how to implement them.
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The SMART Path To Employee Goals
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Examples Of Performance Goals For Employees
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Monitoring Employee Goals
The SMART Path To Employee Goals
Goal setting for employees is easier if you have specific objectives to be met. Goal setting for the company and the team are important steps to consider before getting down to the level of the individual employee performance goal.
A commonly used tool for employee goal setting is the SMART framework. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, result-oriented and time-bound goals. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these means:
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Specific
With a specific goal, you have a clear idea of what needs to be done. It won’t be open-ended.
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Measurable
You should be able to measure progress over time to determine whether it’s successful. Whatever the task, output and outcome indicators must be in place at the outset.
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Attainable
By setting an attainable goal, you’ll make sure your employees can achieve it with the tools and resources at their disposal.
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Result-oriented
Setting a result-oriented goal will help your employees focus on what they need to do to get the outcome you’re looking for. It also gives them something specific to look forward to on completion.
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Time-bound
By making sure your goal has a clear deadline, you’ll give your employee an endpoint for the goal.
Performance goals for employees should tick all these boxes. If your goal isn’t specific and measurable, then how can you tell whether an employee has hit it or not?
Examples Of Performance Goals For Employees
There are three ways to set performance goals:
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Individual Goal
This is where you set individual goals for each employee. If you want your employees to hit their targets, you might ask them to first define them. Then you can work together to see that they’re achievable and align with larger team objectives. Examples of performance goals for employees on an individual level could include sales targets for a member of the sales team.
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Group Goal
This is where you set a target for your employees to achieve a task individually, the success of which also depends on a team working together successfully. Examples of performance goals for employees on a group level can be seen on a large project, such as a construction site. Each individual builder is constrained by their own productivity. The only way an employee can exceed the target is if they work efficiently with other colleagues to complete the project.
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Combined Goal
You can set individual goals for your employees but encourage them to work together to achieve the group’s goal. Examples of performance goals for employees that combine team and individual goals are when teachers are asked to improve student exam scores across several subjects. In such a situation, each teacher might have their own subject of expertise, but they may need to work with other teachers to ensure the collective goal is met.
The kind of goal setting for employees will depend on the situation and the sphere of work.
Monitoring Employee Goals
Setting performance goals on its own is not very meaningful unless we also monitor these goals. In most cases, you’ll need to set up a system in which the employee’s performance, progress and output can be measured. Have a system in place that records employee goals and performance. This will make it easier to track progress, evaluate the outcome and provide timely feedback.
Goal setting for employees is one of those skills that a new manager needs when they’re starting out in a leadership role. With the Harappa First Time Manager Program, early leaders will learn how to work with a team and keep all members motivated. Frameworks such as SMART will teach them how to manage their own workflow as well as create a driven team. Building trust and earning respect are crucial to getting the most out of your employees. Help your managers unleash their best selves today!
Explore Harappa Diaries to learn more about topics such as Goal Setting, How To Achieve Goals, Steps In Goal Setting and Ways To Improve Employee Experience At Work that will help organizations tap into their employee’s potential.
