“People don’t need ‘sexy but complex’ HR forms to perform,
they need great goals and regular feedback”
I just finished writing my monthly column ‘Strategy in Action’ for HR-square – a leading monthly HR-magazine. The title: ‘HR professional, don’t be too SMART.’ In this post, I would like to share with you the core ideas.
INDIVIDUAL OBJECTIVE SETTING, TOO OFTEN A PAPER EXERCISE TO PLEASE HR
As you know, individual objective setting is crucial for strategy execution success. Without it, organisations cannot complete the 8 and realise peak performance. But all too often, performance management has become a paper pushing, hollow activity to please HR.
If you follow my writing, you know my point of view. However, I have not shared with you some tips to make the goal setting exercise more rewarding for your organisation. So here we go:
Tip 1: Promote the benefits, not the mechanics
The goal-setting theory (I will blog about this soon) is fascinating. It’s one of the cornerstones of modern management and gives great insight into human behaviour. It should also be basic knowledge for any manager taking objective setting seriously. Don’t let SMART training be your organisation’s best goal-setting effort. Explain why goal setting helps your company realise its strategy. Aim for the bigger picture, promote the overall goal-setting benefits and help your managers look way beyond the mechanics.
Tip 2: Keep it simple
Make your goal-setting tools and templates user-oriented. Keep them simple and easy to find and you will go a long way. Make it your goal to identify, sell and implement 5 goal setting simplifications in your organisation.
You will find out that the ‘selling’ part is probably the most difficult bit, especially if you are not the process owner. Although I know many ‘ individual objective setting’ process owners - often HR-managers - who are unable to switch from complex to simple, only because they get an intellectual kick out of complex HR processes. So the selling might prove the tough part, even if you are the process owner!
Tip 3: Set goals for goal setting
Give clear and challenging goals on goal setting (like I just did) to everyone – employees, managers, the executive team – as well as those responsible for the individual goal-setting process within the organisation. The initiative will promote goal setting, increase goal-setting performance and serve as best-practice.
Tip 4: Develop the necessary skills
Setting high-quality individual objectives for yourself or others is an art. There are so many factors to take into account including the organisational context, the strategy, individual capabilities and a fair amount of psychology.
But the consequence is that the overall goal-setting quality in your organisation largely depends on the individual’s ability to operate within the goal-setting process.
Make sure everyone involved knows exactly what’s expected of them and provide adequate development opportunities.
