How Setting Goals for Employees Can Strengthen Your Business Now and in the Future

Everybody has goals. Whether in our personal or professional lives, goals help us stay focused and motivated to achieve our dreams and reach our full potential. For business success, goals are a powerful tool at every level: from the personal goals of the individual employee to company-wide objectives.

Setting goals for employees can be a powerful catalyst in strengthening your business's foundation and paving the way for sustained success.

Without proper goals, effort is squandered. As rightfully observed by American author, salesman, and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, "A goal properly set is halfway reached."

But how do you ensure that your goals are the right fit for each employee?

How do you set goals that motivate but not overwhelm?

How do you get your most reluctant teams with your goals?

And how do you ensure goals contribute to the bigger picture of your business's success?

We address all of these questions (and more) in our article. Plus, we share 9 actionable best practices for setting employee goals and 3 concrete examples. 

💼 The role of managers when setting goals for employees: 8 Common challenges for managers

Many think of management as reactive, responding to issues and putting out fires. Anyone who has been a manager will probably agree some days feel like this. 

But, the true power of good management lies in their proactive capabilities rather than reactive ones.

Managers can empower their teams to be their best through coaching, constructive feedback, and recognition. However, balancing responsibilities and connecting with any number of individuals in a meaningful way is a tall order. 

Managing a group of people with different jobs and personalities poses diverse challenges to maintain, let alone improve upon, through personalized goals.

Effective goal setting requires knowledge, a pinch of talent, and strong leadership skills.

Below are some common challenges faced by managers and tips for overcoming them.

Progress tracking

A major component of setting measurable goals and performance management is the ability to track progress in real-time. 

For example, setting sales goals for employees is generally much easier to track than improving soft skills like communication. 

Manual progress tracking is inefficient unless the goal is simple, such as completing a project by a deadline. 

In almost all cases, software is the key to recording accurate, real-time data that can be used to measure progress and key performance indicators (KPIs).

Attainable challenges

There is a fine line between professional goals that push an employee's abilities and unrealistic expectations that lead to crunch and burnout. The trick is to set goals that are challenging yet attainable. 

Setting attainable employee goals requires intimate knowledge of individual roles, skill mastery, and workloads. 

Having historical data will be a big help. Make sure you document employee goal progress and relevant data from past performance reviews, especially if you use an OKR performance management system.

Reluctant teams

Especially when implementing a new goal-setting process within an organization, there is liable to be some reluctance or even resistance from team members. This can stem from diverse feelings, such as a lack of confidence or concern about higher workloads. 

The important thing here is to be clear about the purpose of goal setting and transparent about expectations. 

Employee input is vital to setting effective goals, and these conversations should be framed as a way to support their personal growth, not make their life harder. 

Effective communication can quash anxiety and build a foundation of trust and support. Use one-on-one meetings to discuss expectations and goal progress. 

➡️ Download our one-on-one meeting templates to jump start meaningful conversations.

Lack of engagement

Employee goals aren't a "set it and forget it" management tactic. In fact, the goals themselves aren't even really what's important. 

Goal setting aims to engage and motivate employees to push their limits and unlock their full potential. But this doesn't always go smoothly. 

Arbitrary goals, a lack of incentive, and disinterested management can get objectives swept under the rug and forgotten. 

Managers and HR must be themselves engaged in the process and involve subjects in goal-setting to build accountability.

Ask your people to share feedback on their manager's support when setting goals and when progressing towards reaching them. 

➡️ Check out our manager feedback survey inspired by Google's best practices. 

Employee motivation

There are several reasons why employees may not be motivated by their goals: 

• Goals that seem unachievable can leave subjects thinking, "What's the point in trying?" 
• Some employees won't feel driven to go the extra mile without appropriate incentives and accountability.

Tangible incentives like performance bonuses are one way to motivate workers, but with strong leadership skills, that often isn't necessary. Taking on new challenges or sharpening one's skills lead to professional growth. Those new skills look great on a resume, creating new opportunities like promotions. 

Open communication

Anxiety isn't reserved just for employees, either. Managers often feel pressure to set fair and realistic goals that achieve results.

One of the easiest ways to solve this dilemma is with open communication. Conversations about goals are a great way to build relationships between managers and employees, leading to a more understanding and unified workforce. 

In many cases, letting the employee lead the conversation is simply more practical. They know what they can achieve since they know most about their role and abilities. 

Goals alignment

Connecting the dots between an individual's role and the large-scale goals of an organization isn't always easy. Understanding an individual's role and responsibilities is an excellent place to start.

This information might be available from HR, but usually, your best bet is to talk to the subject about what they do. From there, try collaborating about a relevant goal and look for connections to overall business objectives.

Coaching skills

One of the most important talents for managers is coaching. Coaching skills aren't something you can learn from a textbook, making it daunting for those without experience. 

The only way to learn coaching skills is by working with others, so don't be nervous about getting your feet wet! Approach this challenge with an open mind, be ready to listen to diverse challenges, and think on your feet to help solve them.

It's okay to not know everything. Coaching isn't about always having the answers but knowing where to find the resources to get them. Your job is to support employees on their journey of self-improvement, which may look very different from person to person. 

➡️ Learn the dos and don'ts of coaching skills training.

🧩 The fundamentals of effective goal-setting

Setting goals for employees sounds deceptively simple, but there is a lot to the art of crafting objectives that motivate workers. In most cases, it is not as easy as setting sales goals for employees and seeing who sinks or swims. 

An effective goal should be challenging enough to bring out the best in an employee but not so difficult that it sets unfair expectations. Finding the balance requires intimate knowledge of the subject, their role, and their current workload. 

The purpose of a good goal isn't just to demand more of a worker but to inspire them to unlock their full potential. 

Setting a high but achievable bar will give hard workers a sense of accomplishment, leaving them ready to chase the next objective. 

What are the different types of work goals?

Setting goals and objectives for employees will vary drastically from company to company, department to department, and even person to person. 

The goals of salespeople will probably include monetary figures and closing deals, while the goals of graphic designers might be more about quality of work and project deadlines. 

From an organizational standpoint, goals can be broken up into these four categories:

• individual;
• team;
• department;
• company.

It is common to start with individual goals and tie them to the higher levels. Still, each tier is important depending on the structure of a business. 

Another critical distinction is performance goals vs. development goals. The former focuses more on hard results, like selling $100,000 in products or growing a customer base by 25%. The latter is more about acquiring skills to improve the capabilities of an individual, team, department, or company. This could look like an individual earning a certification or your HR department adopting a new talent management software to improve their capabilities.

Development and performance are inherently linked. These two types of goals will often be used in conjunction, such as developing a skill to improve performance. Using a combination of performance and professional development goals lets you enjoy short-term success while investing in long-term benefits.

🏆 9 Best practices for setting employee goals

If setting goals was easy, every company would be full of focused employees with high job satisfaction. The fact is that effective goal setting requires a knowledgeable and committed people operations department. 

Employee goal setting takes time and careful planning, but the benefits are worth it. To maximize these benefits, here are best practices.

Ensure consistency with goal-setting frameworks

A formula for setting, tracking, and accomplishing goals will expedite the process and make it easy for everyone to understand. While there may need to be some customization between different departments, templates are a good idea.

A goal-setting framework makes it easy to review information quickly and update objectives over time. Employees should also become familiar with the framework to easily understand their expectations and how success is measured.

➡️ Read our complete discussion on goal-setting frameworks. We analyze 7 different options and explore the best case scenarios for each.

Review company objectives

It is always a good idea to (re)familiarize yourself with company objectives, especially those pertaining to the employee for whom you are setting goals. Looking at a business goal from the subject's perspective will give you fresh insight into their part of the whole. 

This will not only help you better align individual and organizational goals but may uncover new areas of focus. It is also a good idea to ask the employee for their thoughts on how they can best contribute to company-wide objectives and use that topic of conversation to develop goals.

Align goals

Aligning individual goals with company goals is a great way to build synergy and focus the efforts of your workforce. With everyone working toward the same objectives, people ops can orchestrate everyone's skill set to maximize results. 

Part of this includes educating employees on company-wide goals, so they understand their role in the big picture. This allows for creative problem-solving on the individual level, unlocking greater efficiency through teamwork and collaborative effort, rather than isolated workers who only focus on the task in front of them.

➡️ Check out our complete guide on aligning employee and company goals.

Involve employees

It is wise to involve employees as much as possible in goal-setting. They are the most knowledgeable about their role and individual capabilities, so take advantage of their expertise.

Encouraging employees to participate in the goal-setting process will also give you insight into their ideas and opinions. If they are excited about pursuing specific goals or learning new skills, lean into that interest. This encourages professional development and will boost engagement as they take ownership of their goals and individual growth. 

Be flexible

Employees and management alike often find themselves paralyzed by uncertainty when setting goals. Employees are afraid to bite off more than they can chew, and management is concerned with underestimating or overestimating expectations. 

The pressure comes off when you accept that goals aren't set in stone. Adjusting and reevaluating goals is a natural part of the process that should be expected. Unforeseen circumstances or changes in the company's direction are bound to happen. So don't be shy about making updates and communicating often with regular check-ins.

➡️ Discover how to adopt this approach with our continuous performance development guide. 

Performance appraisal integrations

Goals and individual performance go hand-in-hand, so having a way to track goal progress in your performance appraisal system or vice versa will streamline both processes. This can be as simple as shifting performance appraisals to MBO (management by objective) or including goals in your performance tracking software. 

Aligning performance with goals allows people ops to kill two birds with one stone, so take advantage of the overlap where possible. 

➡️ Compare the pros and cons of top performance evaluation methods for your business.

Leverage technology

Setting and tracking goals for every employee in a company is no small feat. Human resources departments are often so intimidated by the prospect that they would rather bury their heads in the sand since they don't believe they have time to accomplish it. 

The secret here is having the right tools for the job. Especially for large companies, technology is essential for managing all of this data.

With software like Zavvy, goal setting, progress tracking, and follow-up can all be managed from one place. This saves HR countless hours and makes handling all this information much more manageable.

Reward success

We've talked a lot about setting goals, but what happens when an employee achieves or exceeds their expectations? Rewarding success is an essential part of the cycle that recognizes good work and inspires workers to dive back in for the next round. 

Rewards don't have to be anything substantial, but success should be celebrated. Possibilities include everything from promotions to cash bonuses. However, many employees simply appreciate knowing their hard work is not going unnoticed.

Offer support

Some employees will be intimidated by establishing goals for fear of not meeting expectations. A vital aspect of people operations is supporting employees to empower their success. This is the crucial difference between feedback and feedforward. 

Be sure to communicate that goals are meant to help everyone reach their full potential, not create anxiety or unfair expectations. If an employee isn't making sufficient progress in achieving their goals, reach out to offer support or ask what they need to succeed. 

🎯 3 Examples of goal setting for employees

Setting goals for your employees may seem simple, but doing it well requires the proper knowledge and people skills. Here are some examples of what goals for different types of employees might look like.

Salespeople

Setting goals for salespeople is an easy place to start because success metrics in sales revolve heavily around cold, hard numbers. That isn't to say a salesperson's goals should always have a dollar sign attached, but performance goals often will.

Jane Doe - Saleswoman - Quarterly goals

• Improve sales by 5% from last quarter.
• Increase average order size by 20%.
• Pass down three low-performing accounts.
• Extend lead time average to three days.
• Convert one cold call lead.

Setting goals for incremental increases is often a safe and repeatable tactic. Asking Jane to perform a little better each quarter provides motivation to keep improving through new skills or a stronger work ethic. Over time, this will have a significant impact on her personal growth.

In this example, Jane is hunting for bigger orders from better customers, moving her way up, and passing off less critical accounts to new sales team members. This careful maneuvering is raising Jane to a higher sales tier. 

Extending average lead time is more of a developmental goal, encouraging Jane to convince customers to wait longer for their orders to take pressure off the manufacturing team. Converting one cold call is a pretty easy challenge, but it may be a weak area for Jane. Again, minor incremental improvements add up to significant success over time.

Knowledge workers

The bulk of dynamic goal setting is aimed at knowledge workers. Production workers generally have set quotas that influence their performance, but goals for knowledge workers are often more complex. 

John Smith - Writer - Weekly check-in

• Strengthen headlines 
• Reduce reading level 
• Use more sources

Many companies are adopting regular check-ins as an alternative to more hands-off annual reviews. This is a great way to offer constant support and keep employees on the right track with short-term goals.

In this example, John's editor would like to see him work on more attention-grabbing headlines to hook more readers. She wants him to work on creating more readable articles by lowering the complexity to appeal to a broader audience. Lastly, using and linking to more sources will increase the authority of the content in the eyes of readers and search engine algorithms.

These examples show how goal setting doesn't have to be an official or intimidating request. Casual suggestions for improvement will slowly fine-tune the performance of employees without undue stress or burdensome expectations. In this case, hard target numbers aren't even provided (though metrics are available for measuring progress).

Leaders

Some managers never find themselves on the receiving end of developmental goals and performance reviews. This is a mistake. Leaders have a greater impact on companies than anyone else, so setting goals for them is arguably even more important.

Erika Mustermann - Project Manager - Project debrief

• Get two days ahead of the deadlines.
• Reduce redos to <%10.
• Take on two new team members.
• Increase output by 15% to overtake the leading competitor.

A good time to set new goals is often at the end of one project and the beginning of another. Use the previous experience to discuss areas for improvement with the subject and set new goals for the next project.

In this example, the company would like to see Erika get ahead of deadlines to reduce last-minute submissions while at the same time reducing or keeping redos under 10%. These goals are likely related to buying time to address redos so projects don't fall behind. 

Staying ahead of the competition is always a good goal. Erika is receiving two new team members to help make that happen. While this should increase output, it is also more work. But if Erika can accomplish these goals, she will have a top-performing team, a great personal accomplishment, and a massive boon to the company. 

➡️ Explore more examples of goals for employees:

• SMART goals
• Leadership SMART goals
• New employee goals
• Employee performance goals
• Performance goals for managers

🕵️‍♀️ 3 Ways goal setting makes a difference for your people

On the surface level, goal setting may seem like a way for management to direct and motivate employees. But the truth is that goals have the potential to be much more dynamic than that, empowering employees to be their best for the betterment of themselves and the company. 

Effective goal-setting requires a company culture that promotes trust and learning. Here are some ways it benefits the individual.

Aligning objectives

Aligning individual goals with company objectives is a big win-win. Highlighting the importance of an employee's role in the company's overall success helps them see the bigger picture and understand their value as team members. 

Feeling like a valuable piece of the puzzle rather than just a cog in the wheel gives workers pride in their contributions. 

A convenient side effect is that these employees also become stronger proponents for achieving company objectives. 

Enhancing clarity and communication

Lack of clarity and communication is a killer of productivity. Workers can't be expected to perform their jobs well if they don't understand their role well, yet this happens remarkably frequently.

The goal-setting process should make it abundantly clear what is expected of an employee and how they can succeed in their role. 

If anything is unclear, this conversation should allow them to ask questions and establish a channel for open communication.

Evaluating performance

Goals need some metrics to determine goal progress and success. Those metrics can be used to measure performance, giving employees the means to gauge their capabilities compared to expectations.

An objective mechanism for self-evaluation gives individuals more accountability and the potential to improve independently. There is little incentive to correct ineffective behavior or processes without a way to measure and improve one's performance. Such a mechanism gives employees the autonomy to seek solutions or assistance to meet objectives.

➡️ Zavvy, where goals meet growth—Set, achieve, surpass

A company culture built around crushing goals and growing as a team is a powerful thing. Once you get the ball rolling, ambitious employees will fall into a nice rhythm of setting and achieving goals, building skills and confidence, then setting even higher goals to pursue. 

Zavvy makes creating a cycle of success straightforward: 

• Your leaders can enjoy the convenience of automated reminders for goal reviews, easy integration with performance reviews, and a centralized platform for managing all aspects of employee goals and growth. 
• Employees benefit from real-time progress tracking to stay on top of their goals and personal development.
•  Plus, our one-on-one meeting solution and career pathing software make it easy for employees and management to set expectations, communicate, and plan ahead.

No more scattered spreadsheets, no more improvement plans that collect dust—one source of truth for everything people. 

📅 Schedule a free demo where we show you how our platform can help your business unlock its full potential.