by Diane Stacey

Created on: September 02, 2007

Employees benefit from setting annual goals to define the contributions necessary for the overall success of the business. Goal setting allows individuals to share their opinions and experience, evaluate the needs of the business and ensure the inclusion of appropriate professional development to meet their specific needs.

As performance is assessed at the completion of an evaluation period, it offers a good opportunity to plan for the coming year. Goals provide direction about the areas of importance to the company and individual careers. They offer an opportunity to examine the current state of affairs and reflect on the possibilities for the future.

It is important that each employee feels ownership for defined goals and objectives. They may desire opportunities to work toward promotions or progress in their chosen field. The more ownership they have for establishing goals, the better the chances for success in accomplishing their objectives. Managers can use the goal setting process to motivate employees to contribute to the larger good of the overall team.

Many companies try to tie annual goals into their company's core values. They create corporate objectives which are shared throughout the organization. As executives define the direction the business should take, these opportunities can filter down through all levels of the business. Each function can then decide how their efforts can assist with meeting the corporate goals.

Goals can differ in length. Some require long term commitments, while others can be accomplished quickly to move the business ahead. As you assist employees with setting goals, you can have the team work together to define common objectives that need to be met and then identify ways to combine personal goals into the mix. Employees may be critical of projects or change if they do not understand the value and benefits which can result from their contributions. You'll want to try to keep the conversation positive in nature, and discourage any negative feedback from contaminating your environment.

The goal setting process typically includes establishing reasonable measures to evaluate overall success. Employees should be involved in this process and may have valuable input on creative ways to determine what success means. Many processes today exclude the basics and day-to-day responsibilities in evaluating performance. They look for contributions outside the scope of their job requirements to determine the success of the individual. Goals

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