By Mike Cieri
Goals are vital for motivating employees and monitoring their performance
- Establish DIRECTION for on-going activities
- Identify EXPECTED
- Improved TEAMWORK through a common sense of PURPOSE.
- Heighten performance levels by setting TARGETS to be achieved.
Goals provide the MOTIVATION and DIRECTION necessary for growth and success in important areas of almost every business.
An important aspect of developing goals is the relationship between the difficulty of the task (goal) and performance. If the goal is too easy to achieve, the effort that the employee/team dedicates to the task will be low, and actually un-motivating. Yet if the goal seems impossible, you will have the same effect. When a goal is difficult and both parties believe it’s achievable, you will maximize intensity and persistence, creating engagement. Once you have identified a worthy goal, use the SMART goal format.
Specific – the goal is distinct and defines as much as possible with no ambiguous language
Measurable – a measurement gives feedback and lets you know once the goal is achieved
Assignable – the goal can be assigned to an individual or group
Realistic – challenging/relevant and attainable within the given timeframe
Time conscious – timeframe must be aggressive and realistic. For large goals, you will need to set milestones along the way
The last step is to employ strategies to develop a commitment to the goal(s).
- Rewards – Offer monetary or nonmonetary rewards .
- Publicity – Publicize the goals to others in order to create social pressure to attain it.
- Support – Provide supervisory support if the employees struggle to attain the goal.
- Participation – Collaborate with the employee in setting some of the proficiency levels so the employee has a sense of ownership.
- Resources – Provide the resources need to attain the goal and remove constraining factors if necessary.
Follow the above format and see how much more successful the goal attainment is at your organization.
About the Author
Mike Cieri, MSIR, is Vice President of Mardac Consultants and been in the Human Resource Management field for over 20 years. During this time he has held a variety of management positions, including several years on the executive management team of a large corporation as Vice President of Human Resources and Safety, as well as Vice President of Operations.
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