5 Ways to Successfully Set Employee Goals in the New Year

With many employees ranking the relevance of their role in the company as one of their biggest motivators, it’s clear that goal-setting is must-do strategy. And there’s no better time than in the coming weeks, when the new year rolls in.

If it’s your first time implementing annual goal-setting – or if you wish to improve upon the process, here are five helpful pointers on what goals should be so that both you and your employees get the most out of 2016:

• Be Specific. Clearly communicate the tasks or behaviors employees must accomplish or demonstrate to achieve successful results. Performance goals should function to align the employee’s growth and development with that of the employer’s business.

• Be Realistic. Set goals that are challenging, but attainable based on a particular employee’s knowledge, skill, and access to necessary resources. Seek input from employees and be sure to monitor and update goals as circumstances change to sustain and improve performance.

• Be Deadline-Driven. Set firm,  realistic timeframes for achieving goals to increase productivity. For ongoing or long-term goals, regularly monitor progress and provide feedback to keep employees motivated and focused on the desired outcome.

• Be Prioritized. When goals are numerous or complex, it can be easy for employees to lose a sense of priority and simply jump from one thing to another. Ranking is helpful so employees understand the relative importance of each goal.

• Be Measurable. Employees need to clearly understand how their performance will be measured. Some types of performance, such as sales numbers, can be measured quantitatively, while others, such as customer service, are qualitative.