SMART Method Used in Performance Management July 22, 2015 Sports teams articulate goals to every player to help them compete and succeed. For an athlete to secure a spot in the lineup and add value toward a championship, she must understand the team strategy, and he must know accountability for his work quality. It is no different in public service. Performance goals are necessary to help employees identify what specific results they are trying to achieve, and how they’ll get there. In North Carolina state government, we are using a S.M.A.R.T. model to write our performance goals. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. It is a tool used by organizations to create actionable plans and boost the productivity and accountability of the work culture. Let’s take a look at each aspect of S.M.A.R.T. in more detail. Specific: Great goals are focused so that employees have clear direction. Any actionable goal should answer questions like “who” and “what,” and any employee in this culture should know specific expectations and the customers he serves. Measurable: A goal without a measurable outcome is like a sports competition without a scoreboard. Any goal should explain “how” so an employee understands successful impact. Attainable: Goals should challenge us to do our best, but they also need to be realistically achievable. Goals set too high can demotivate; goals set too low do not serve our customers. Relevant: Employees and supervisors need to know that their work expectations cascade from the agency’s strategic goals. “How do agency goals tie to employee key responsibilities?” “How are they aligned to unit objectives?” We have a team strategy, and we must all understand our part in it. Time-Bound: Set goals that give employees enough time to achieve them but also challenge them to be productive. Time-bound expectations answer the question “by when.” When our performance goals are S.M.A.R.T., they ensure that we have specific information, clear success measures, and that what we are working to achieve will benefit the organization. This blog is related to: performance management
SMART Method Used in Performance Management July 22, 2015 Sports teams articulate goals to every player to help them compete and succeed. For an athlete to secure a spot in the lineup and add value toward a championship, she must understand the team strategy, and he must know accountability for his work quality. It is no different in public service. Performance goals are necessary to help employees identify what specific results they are trying to achieve, and how they’ll get there. In North Carolina state government, we are using a S.M.A.R.T. model to write our performance goals. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. It is a tool used by organizations to create actionable plans and boost the productivity and accountability of the work culture. Let’s take a look at each aspect of S.M.A.R.T. in more detail. Specific: Great goals are focused so that employees have clear direction. Any actionable goal should answer questions like “who” and “what,” and any employee in this culture should know specific expectations and the customers he serves. Measurable: A goal without a measurable outcome is like a sports competition without a scoreboard. Any goal should explain “how” so an employee understands successful impact. Attainable: Goals should challenge us to do our best, but they also need to be realistically achievable. Goals set too high can demotivate; goals set too low do not serve our customers. Relevant: Employees and supervisors need to know that their work expectations cascade from the agency’s strategic goals. “How do agency goals tie to employee key responsibilities?” “How are they aligned to unit objectives?” We have a team strategy, and we must all understand our part in it. Time-Bound: Set goals that give employees enough time to achieve them but also challenge them to be productive. Time-bound expectations answer the question “by when.” When our performance goals are S.M.A.R.T., they ensure that we have specific information, clear success measures, and that what we are working to achieve will benefit the organization. This blog is related to: performance management
