Goal setting software can help an organization manage goals and track them across the board. But if you are looking for a goal-setting software, other than creating and tracking goals, what else should the software accomplish? And more importantly, how can it become a valuable addition to your organization’s workflow?
Here are 10 things to look for in a goal-setting software. They will help you find a goal-setting software that not only suits all your needs but will also help augment performance management processes at your organization.
Cascade Goals
The ability to cascade goals means sharing goals from one level of the organization to the next. For example, a manager can cascade his goals down to his direct reports. Cascading goals are an important feature because they help employees align their own goals with the organization’s objectives and see how their own work can support an organization’s broader objectives.
Goal Alignment
Goal alignment allows users to not only align their goals with organization goals but it also allows them to see the big picture. For example, if one of the organization’s main goals is breaking into an as yet untapped market, the ability to align goals shows an employee how exactly they are contributing to this specific goal.
Goal Assignment
Goal assignment is a feature that allows users to assign goals to their direct reports and in some cases even other employees. Assignment makes it makes easy for managers to assign goals to their direct reports without having to set up a formal meeting to do so.
Also read: 10 Best Employee Tools To Track Performance
Check-in Notifications
One of the most crucial things about goal setting is that they have to be followed up on. Check-in notifications allow the goal assigner to know when an employee checks-in the progress they have made on their goal. This reduces the need for a meeting or a chat that is set up solely for the purpose of talking about goal progress.
Commenting on Goals
The ability to comment on goals allows both managers and employees to have a discussion about the goal and the progress that is being made. Commenting is an easy way to foster communication without having to formalize it.
Ability to Add Key Results
Goals need key results in order for them to be defined better. Key results break the goal down into more than one measurable area that allows users to achieve a goal, chunk by chunk, part by part.
Integrate with Performance Management system
Goals are an important aspect of performance management since they help employees show what they have accomplished in a period of time. They are also a great way for managers to gauge employee performance. When the goal-setting software is able to integrate with performance management software, it makes the review process a lot easier on both the employee and the manager.
Also read: 6 Tips For Choosing The Right Performance Management Software
View Team Goals
The ability to view team goals allows managers to view all the goals of their direct reports in one go, instead of painstaking going through an excel sheet or calling their direct reports one by one to know which goals they are pursuing.
Drive Goal Creation
A goal setting system is only useful when it is used regularly by employees. Few of the things that can drive goal creation are an easy to use interface, notifications to check in easy, and a system that alerts HR and managers to users who do not have active goals.
Quantity and Percentage Check-ins
A goal setting software should have the ability to handle both quantity and percentage check-ins because this gives users flexibility when they are creating goals for themselves or others. Not all goals are dependent on quantity. In fact, some of them cannot be measured in terms of quantity. For goals like this, the percentage check-in acts as a suitable alternative and does not make it difficult when setting up a goal.
Do you want to know how Engagedly’s Goals module can help you and your organization? Request a demo to find out!
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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.