How To Set Employee Goals To Help Everyone Grow

With companies astir nan globe transitioning to in-office aliases hybrid workplaces, labor are bracing themselves for caller (and possibly immoderate familiar) challenges. During these times of transition, buoying worker information is captious for an organization’s continued growth. So, really do we guarantee our employees’ good of information runs deep? It originates pinch worker goals.

But earlier we dive into strategies for mounting them effectively, let’s return a person look astatine why regularly mounting worker goals is indispensable.

The Importance of Establishing Employee Goals

It’s well-settled that penning down your goals increases nan likelihood of achieving them. The elemental enactment of committing an nonsubjective to insubstantial helps to encode that nonsubjective successful your brain. As a result, you’re much apt to actively activity toward accomplishing it.

In nan workplace, clear goals springiness labor a intends of objectively measuring their progress. That way, if a task aliases task isn’t advancing accelerated enough, nan worker tin measurement backmost to find really to get backmost connected way and, if request be, guidance tin intervene.

But you mightiness beryllium wondering: why is employee motivation truthful captious correct now?

The twelvemonth 2020 was a turbulent year, to opportunity nan least. More recently, galore group are experiencing what bestselling writer Adam Grant calls “languishing”—a consciousness of stagnation aliases emptiness. You’re not wholly burned out, but you’re not precisely thriving either.

As Grant, an organizational scientist astatine Wharton, explained successful nan Times,

“Languishing dulls your motivation, disrupts your expertise to focus, and triples nan likelihood that you’ll trim backmost connected work.”

The consequence of debased information astatine nan workplace looms larger than ever. For your company, that tin mean higher turnover, debased engagement, and a drop-off successful productivity.

With those considerations successful mind, present are immoderate expert-backed strategies for mounting worker goals and recharging motivation.

1. Connect Them to nan Larger Mission

You cognize nan phrase: can’t spot nan wood for nan trees. This notion—that we go truthful focused connected our ain tasks that we hide to region and see nan bigger picture—is not uncommon, particularly successful fast-paced, increasing organizations. In fact, earlier I launched my webform company, JotForm, I knowledgeable it firsthand. Working arsenic a fledgling developer, guidance seldom stepped successful to punctual america really our activity contributed to nan larger mission.

Employees siloed successful their ain individual missions tally nan consequence of losing a consciousness of purpose—and erstwhile that happens, information is bound to return a nosedive.

On nan different hand, erstwhile labor understand really their day-to-day contributes to an organization’s larger mission, their information to thief execute that ngo is continually replenished. This, successful turn, helps nan full statement to turn and deed caller benchmarks.

So, really tin managers link nan dots?

Routinely talk your organization’s goals and elaborate really your employees’ objectives lend to those goals. As Amy Gallo writes for Harvard Business Review, “No matter what level nan worker is at, he should beryllium capable to articulate precisely really his efforts provender into nan broader institution strategy.”

The keyword is “routinely” because arsenic your institution grows and business needs change, your company’s goals will inevitably germinate successful tandem.

2. Be More and Less Specific

You’ll often perceive leaders talk astir taking a hands-off approach—that is, giving labor nan autonomy to fig retired really to execute their objectives. And while that is true—research has shown that autonomy increases engagement—there is simply a caveat to making this strategy moreover much effective.

Specify less, but also, specify more. What does that mean? Go up and springiness employees autonomy but first, spell retired explicitly (i.e., specify more) their targets.

Harvard Business Review authors elaborate:

“This intends we request to beryllium very definitive pinch labor astir really we measurement occurrence and nan metrics that thrust it.”

That’s what we purpose for astatine JotForm—being highly circumstantial astir our targets and past getting retired of our employees’ measurement truthful they tin fig retired really to get there. More times than not labor wow america pinch their innovative thinking.

How to Specify More and Less?

To win astatine this paradoxical authorities of more/less, nan HBR authors urge encouraging exploration—experimenting and risk-taking—and connection. Create a beingness and societal workplace wherever labor are regularly interacting and exchanging ideas.

For example, to promote exploration, a leader mightiness applaud failures and underline nan teachable moments. That’s not to opportunity that mediocre aliases lazy activity is acceptable but sometimes, well-meaning failures clasp valuable lessons.

At JotForm, we clasp play demo days—similar to nan thought of hack weeks, demo days are imaginative sprints during which our worker teams are welcomed to research their boldest ideas without needfully churning retired a activity product.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg famously said,

“Okay, is this going to destruct nan company? Because if not, past fto them trial it.”

To promote connection, you tin reimagine nan agency to make it much conducive to casual interactions—an unfastened agency layout aliases an onsite cafeteria pinch communal tables.

By exploring and connecting, labor are much apt to find imaginative solutions to execute their goals.

3. Enforce Accountability

Speaking of failures, erstwhile labor autumn short of their objectives, it’s important to peel backmost nan adjacent furniture of nan bulb and find wherever they went awry.

Linda Hill, nan Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration astatine nan Harvard Business School and co-author of Being nan Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader, tells Harvard Business Review:

“Hold group accountable. You can’t opportunity ‘Gee, that’s excessively bad.’ You request to fig retired what went incorrect and why.”

It’s important that labor understand that location are stakes progressive successful goal-setting. Otherwise, nan full believe will beryllium going done nan motions pinch small aliases nary impact.

4. Consider Reframing Objectives

It mightiness look surprising, but subtle changes successful nan measurement we spell retired a extremity tin person a large impact. According to caller research, really you framework a extremity tin impact nan likelihood of whether you scope that goal. Specifically, framing a extremity successful a measurement that seems inconsistent pinch that extremity tin lead to mounting much eager targets.

What does that look for illustration successful practice?

Let’s opportunity an worker wants to trim their distractions astatine work. Framing nan extremity arsenic “I will not web browse aliases usage societal media,” will beryllium much effective than “I will activity undistracted for 6 afloat hours today.” It turns retired that nan antagonistic feelings for illustration guilt and shame associated pinch failing to unrecorded up to nan goal-inconsistent framing are moreover much powerful than nan aforesaid for nan accordant framing. This will yet lead nan worker to group higher goals.

What’s more: we cognize that labor are responsible for creating their ain goals. But managers tin beryllium proactive astir helping them successful nan extremity statement stage.

A small connection tweak tin lead to important results, pushing labor to spell nan other mile, and connected an organizational level, nan effect tin beryllium exponential.

5. Recognize Significant Goals Achieved

While it would beryllium intolerable for leaders to connection a pat connected nan backmost for each nonsubjective met, accomplishments that move nan needle for your company—breaking into a caller market, reaching a caller income target, etc.—merit recognition.

According to Hiver laminitis Niraj Ranjan Rout, leaders should dispersed worker feedback and nickname democratically, alternatively than showering it connected prime “star” employees. Rout writes:

“Reward performers modestly and reward them all! People who are recognized and appreciated execute better.”

That intends rewarding everyone from nan intern to elder leaders. And recognizing labor doesn’t require a general banquet either. Even informal recognition, for illustration congratulating an worker via a institution newsletter aliases offering a “job good done” astatine nan h2o cooler, tin springiness a workfellow a much-needed motivational push.

Final Thoughts

Setting worker goals helps not only nan labor but nan full institution arsenic well. Employee information is simply a driving unit toward a company’s success, and that’s precisely nan purpose of mounting worker goals. Hopefully, arsenic your institution navigates nan coming months, these strategies will thief your labor to group and execute goals that boost momentum for nan full organization.

More Tips connected How to Motivate Your Employees

• 7 Strategies to Keep Employee Motivation High

Featured photograph credit: Austin Distel via unsplash.com