7 Tips To Make Your Goal Setting Effective

by Srikant Chellappa May 29,2020
Engagedly
PODCAST

The People Strategy Leaders Podcast

with Srikant Chellappa, CEO

Goal setting is a tedious and daunting process, if one is just starting off. But it should be considered as one of the most important tasks of a manager because of its numerous benefits. Having effective goals increases employee productivity, motivates them, improves decision making and time management skills, and promotes teamwork. That’s why it’s important to  set goals for your employees which are effective.

In this article, we will share seven tips to set effective goals for your employees. 

Align Goals

While goal setting, conscious efforts should be made to align organization goals and strategies to employee goals. As a leader or a manager, you must let every employee know how their goal is linked to the organization’s goal. Once the employee understands how they fit in the bigger picture, they will be able to work more effectively. Employees are motivated and focussed, and work towards achieving goals for themselves as well as the organization. 

Engagedly’s goals module allows you to seamlessly align individual employee goals with the department and the organization.

Also Read: 5 Steps to Get Started With Goals In Engagedly!

Involve Employees

According to recent research done by Gallup, only about half of employees understand their job expectations and, even more concerning, managers aren’t even sure of what is expected of them! Especially when you consider that among employees who strongly agree that their manager helps them set performance goals, 67% are engaged.

Managers should involve employees in the goal setting process from start-to-end. They should encourage employees to come up with their short-term and long-term goals. In this way, the goals won’t seem enforced, and there would be better chances of achieving it. Employees feel a sense of commitment to their goals. Involving employees in goal setting will allow for setting job-specific goals, which will help to increase productivity.

Also Read: Are Your Employees Setting Strong And Effective Goals?

Adaptable Goals

Goals should be adaptable and can be changed with time, as per the needs of the organization and the business. As priorities of businesses change, so do the goals. Parameter by which the goal is measured also changes accordingly. If a goal cannot be changed as per needs, it becomes irrelevant and remains no longer important for the employee and the organization.

Set SMART Goals

Managers and employees should work on setting ‘SMART’ goals. The ‘SMART’ way allows a goal to be measured quantitatively as well as qualitatively. The SMART method stands for:

  • Specific – Goals should have a specific purpose. If there is no specific purpose to a goal, then it is bound to fail sooner or later.
  • Measurable – Goals should ideally be measurable, so that it can be tracked in terms of progress and completion. When you can measure a goal, you will also be able to tell if the goal was met successfully or not.
  • Achievable – Goal should be achievable. They shouldn’t be too easy nor too difficult to achieve.
  • Relevant – Goal-setting in itself is not enough – you must make sure that these goals are relevant to the people who will utilize them.
  • Timely – Goals should be time-specific during which it is to be carried out, and the objectives of the goal should be met. Time-specific goals help in keeping employees motivated and engaged.

Measurable goals will help everyone evaluate the results and help them know what is effective.

Also Read: How To Use SMART Goals For Employee Engagement?

Plan Progress

Once goal setting has been completed for the employees, the next step is to create a plan to achieve them. Goal complexity and duration are the two major factors that should be considered in the plan. If the goals are long-term, which involves complex projects, then as a manager you should be able to break them down into smaller goals for your employees. Milestones should be added to long-term goals so that they seem more achievable. Risks associated with each goal should be assessed, and an appropriate contingency plan should be made.

Periodic Check-Ins

As a manager, your work does not stop after the employee has set their goals. Your work begins from the time the goal setting has been done. Don’t wait for the year-end or performance review to track the goals. Review the goals of your employees from time to time throughout the year and ask them to do periodic check-ins for the same. Periodic check-ins on goals can be done through a normal discussion, or any simple performance management tool can be used for the same.

Engagedly’s goal and on-going check-in modules help employees to manage their goals and for the managers to track them easily.

Also Read: Employee Check-Ins Are More Important For Remote Employees

Recognize Achievement 

When an employee achieves or completes their goal, their achievement should be recognized and rewarded. It can be in the form of bonuses, certificates, or simple acknowledgments in meetings or performance reviews. Acknowledging goal completion simply demonstrates that the organization values the hard work and commitment of its employees. This makes the employee feel important and content, which influences employee retention and productivity of the organization positively.

Also Read: 8 Easy Ways To Reward Your Work From Home Employees


Engagedly is offering a suite of products part of its Remote Work Toolkit free to any organisation, until Sept 30th, 2020. 

The Coronavirus has affected the way we work today and for months to come. Unprecedented events require unprecedented measures. We at Engagedly believe it is our responsibility as socially conscious corporate citizens to help equip organisations with additional tools and resources during this time of crisis.


Get in touch with us to know more about the free remote working tool-kit. 

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Author
Srikant Chellappa
CEO & Co-Founder of Engagedly

Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast. He is currently working on his next book, Ikigai at the Workplace, which is slated for release in the fall of 2024.

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