Helping employees set achievable performance goals delivers substantial
benefits.
Goal setting helps employees prioritize their work and focus
their day-to-day efforts effectively. It lets them know exactly what they’ll be
measured on (in part) during performance reviews. It can facilitate their
communication and interaction with managers. And it shows them how important
their personal contributions are to department, functional and overall company targets.
In short, it’s astounding how much impact goal setting can have on our bottom
line and competitive strength.
Done well, goal setting also is a tremendous tool for
motivating our people and fostering greater levels of engagement—especially
when managers and employees create goals together and work collaboratively to
set expectations.
The Human Resources function at MIT does a great job of
reminding us how this is possible. The Performance
Development page of its website not only instructs readers on the basics of
goal setting but it also shows how to tie goal setting to employee development
plans.
One of the truly insightful things MIT offers is a set of
best practices for bolstering basic goal-setting strategies. These best
practices include (and we’re paraphrasing):
·
Ensure there is alignment among an individual’s
goals, her/his actual job responsibilities and the department’s targets. (You’d
be surprised how easily these components can slip out of alignment without
ongoing attention.)
·
Consider an employee’s needs—not just the
department’s needs—when setting goals.
·
Communicate department
goals to the entire group as a whole, not just individuals. This helps foster
clarity and cohesion among the team.
·
Incorporate special projects, committee
assignments and mentoring relationships into goal setting.
·
Once achieved, use goals as stepping-stones to
new goals and assignments.
While some of these practices might seem rudimentary to more
sophisticated organizations, many small to medium employers will benefit
significantly from these suggestions.
Interestingly, there have been a few studies showing how
poor and/or overblown goal setting can actually be dangerous. A few years ago,
Forbes published an article
featuring a report by Wharton operations and a team of researchers titled,
“Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting.”
Essentially, the bulk of the research showed that “overly ambitious targets”
have profoundly negative consequences. Just goes to show you that too much of anything—even
a good thing—can be bad.
