Making The Goal-Setting Process a Partnership

MAKING GOALS: Effective and motivational goals engage employees in work they can realistically perform and complete, and which has been shown to be relevant both to the organization and to the employees' interests.

MAKE THE GOAL-SETTING PROCESS A PARTNERSHIP: There are four kinds of goals you and your employees should discuss and develop together: 1. Routine. This is an extension of what people are already doing. "Last year you produced 20,000 units; this year, you'll turn out 22,000." "Last period you trained 150 people. This time you'll train 180." "You've been making 15 new business calls per week. You'll up that to 18." There's some challenge, of course, to improving performance over that of the last time period, even if the goals are not particularly new or exciting. 2. Problem solving. Departmental errors are too high. Missed deadlines are too many. The work flow is sluggish. In short, you have problems. Set goals with employees that will identify problems and, hopefully, solve them. 3. Innovative. Your employees have the know-how to suggest new and better ways of doing things. Putting some of your best people to work on innovative goals makes good business sense and is motivating for employees. 4. Personal. What are your employees doing for themselves? What kind of training and education, skills building, or behavioral change could benefit an employee? What steps could the employee take to advance his or her ability and to become more valuable to the organization? Nothing is more important to employees than their personal objectives.

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CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.