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Ten Goal-setting Tips for You & Your Employees

Goal-setting is what successful people do. People perform much better, both professionally and personally, when they have a clearly defined and time-framed goal to focus on. Researches show repeatedly that goal-setters achieve more, in life and work, than people with no goals and practical action plans. Moreover, people and organisations with extravagant, high-reaching goals have been shown to out-perform significantly those with only modest ones.

So, any business aiming for success needs to set specific goals, both for the business itself and for every employee involved. Here are 10 useful tips for setting employee goals to boost your overall business performance.

1) Look ahead - 5 years, 2 years, 3months - and identify exactly where you and your business wants to be. Consider every aspect : location, premises, products, staff size, sales, profit and loss. Be very specific.

2) Consult all other people involved - the Stakeholders , and also potential customers - through in-house surveys, discussions, and market research. Identify the practicalities of what is possible, in what time-scale, what resources you will need, and how you will get them.

3) Ensure, through honest mutual communications, that your workforce is in agreement. Every employee, ( and every Board Member) should clearly understand, and accept, the Mission Statement of your business, its ethos, and their own role within it.

4) A worthwhile goal will benefit everyone. All employees should realise that there is something in it for them, a reward when their goal is reached. Employees should feel motivated to achieve, and good about what they are doing.

5) The goals should be :
POSITIVE ( what you want, not what you don't want.)
CHALLENGING ( why put effort into thinking small?)
PRECISE (make it feel real, and therefore possible.)
DESIRABLE ( with obvious benefits for both business and staff.)

6) Goals should be S.M.A.R.T.
SPECIFIC Make it as detailed and recognisable as possible, so you will know
exactly what you are aiming at.
MEASURABLE So you will know when it's been achieved.
ACHIEVABLE Be realistic about how much your staff can do, and how quickly.
Challenging is good. Impossible is only discouraging.
RELEVANT Everyone must understand the point of the goal, & its desirability.
Also, goals should not clash, or negatively affect each other.

TIMEBOUND Every goal should have a time limit, to keep work on schedule,
help monitor progress, and eventually tell you when the goal has
been reached. Setting time-frames can be difficult. Research and
consultation is vital, plus the realisation that it always takes longer
than expected.

7) Write the goals down. Then make sure all employees have read and accepted them. Written goals invariably have a higher success rate than vague, verbal Wish-List ones.

8) Construct a detailed, time-framed action plan. Then make it clearly understood by the staff.

9) Review the goals, and progress made, often - at least weekly, preferably daily. If things are not going as planned, identify the reasons and adjust the action plan accordingly.

10) Help your employees to focus on their goal-achieving. Reward all progress, so that every objective achieved has a real Feel-Good Factor. Celebrate together when every specific goal is achieved.

Learn more about this author, Annerleigh Harrison.
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