Overview
Setting up goals, is one of the
preliminary actions that an organization should perform to guide the
organization’s effort towards the desired definition of success (Shahin
and Mahbod, 2006). As per Toader and Roibu, (2016), traditionally the
defined goals have always been targeting financial aspect, however lately it
has come to attention the need on new key performance indicators that will not
only help the organization to achieve financial success but also enable an
organization to gain a competitive advantage over the fellow competitors.
Gabcanova (2012) has stated that measure, benchmark, and assessment on goals
are vital in the context of figuring the current status of work , areas to
focus for future improvement and also the effect of previous corrective
actions. Toader and Roibu, (2016) has also stated that managing the human
capital and its performance is a key for any organization's success, therefore
using the correct and relevant KPIs/Goals to measure the workforce has become a
crucial action to focus. Below is a video by DecisionSkills (2014) that
describes the usage of effective goals, which will be discussed in detail in
the preceding section.
Video:1
SMART Goals - Quick Overview
SMART Goals/Objectives
According to Hursman (2010), an
effective goal can be explained using five main characteristics symbolizing
“S-M-A-R-T” are described below
· Specific: Define exactly what needs to be accomplished as a goal, providing
absolute clarity
· Measurable: Goals should be quantified to assess the degree of accomplishment
and clear measuring criteria to be defined.
·
Attainable: Goals should be achievable based on the provided timeline,
resources, and talent. If not, employee dissatisfaction and demotivation can
occur, because employees are working on something unrealistic.
·
Relevant: Individual goals need to be in sync with the desired outcomes. If not,
there is a risk of spending effort on areas that will provide little outcomes
and loose focus on more important goals. Prioritization goals are also an
important aspect to make goals more relevant.
·
Time-Bound: In the corporate business world time-boxing, all goals are highly
important, setting up clear expectations of when things need to be done will
negate any loose ended expectations.
Prioritizing the GOALS
Shahin and Mahbod (2006) have emphasized
the need for assessing the goals based on the SMART criteria and using that for
prioritization of goals. He has recommended the below hierarchical analysis
model, as an effective way of assessing a goal and prioritizing it.
Figure:1
Integration of AHP model and SMART goal setting
As per the above diagram, Shahin
and Mahbod (2006) advice to weight every goal on a pairwise characteristic to
figure out a global weight for each SMART characteristic. This will provide a
clear perspective to decide, and help priorities objectives and the rationale
for such prioritization.
Usage of effective goal setting
The organization which I work for has
effectively used SMART concept to define its goals. The organization have
embedded the usage of SMART to its engineering-delivery process where it is not
only limited to an assessment procedure but also helping the organization to
drive desired behavior among employees. Below is an explanation of how the
organization has archived this.
- All the employees in the organization have been assigned a specific
role according to the nature of the work associated (e.g. Software developer, QA
analyst)
- Each role is associated with a set of behaviors that the
organization desire to drive among the given type of employees.
- Goals are assigned based on the associated role, making them Relevant
- Each behavior is associated with a certain set of KPIs and tracked
as well-defined metrics, making the goals Measurable
- Each KPI and its associated metrics are clearly defined, and all
the employees have been educated as apart of on boarding training making
the defined goals Specific
- Each KPI and its associated metrics have a target that the employee
need to achieve. These targets have been derived based on industrial
standards (e.g. “caper jones estimation model”) and altered for given
project situation making them Attainable
- All goals are Time-boxed to the life span of a specific software
release timeline, providing clarity to the employee when to accomplish the
expected goal
- As a metrics-driven organization all the relevant KPIs and
associated metrics, together with the employee’s degree of accomplishment
to the target are published as Realtime dashboards.
· Role: Software Developer
· Timeline : Release start date to Release end date
· Desired behaviors to drive: “Write clean code”,
“Be productive in Coding”, “Help the team”
· Associated KPI-Metrics and targets:
o Be Productive in
coding: Story points per day(target: 2), Reuse Index(target: 90%)
o Help the team: Collaboration index (target: 80%)
Conclusion
Modern-day workforce expects a working
environment that provides them with tasks that has clarity and transparency,
with sufficient resources to perform them. Employees also expect to be assessed
on fairgrounds. Setting up effective goals with SMART characteristics can be
used effectively to assign meaningful work to your employees that are tightly
coupled with the organization's desired state of success.
References
DecisionSkills (2019). SMART Goals -
Quick Overview. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-SvuFIQjK8
[Accessed 25 Sep. 2019].
Gabcanova, I. (2012). Human Resources Key
Performance Indicators. Journal of Competitiveness, [online] 4(1),
pp.117-128. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269829585_Human_Resources_Key_Performance_Indicators.
Hursman, A. (2010). Measure What
Matters. Information Management, [online] 20(4), p.24. Available
at: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/52725168/measure-what-matters
[Accessed 25 Sep. 2019].
Shahin, A. and Mahbod, M. (2006).
Prioritization of key performance indicators. An integration of analytical
hierarchy process and goal setting. International Journal of
Productivity and Performance Management, [online] 5(3), pp.226-240.
Available at:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/488f/f5fa5ca4e146f3fe41362b2c77604e03b439.pdf
[Accessed 25 Sep. 2019].
Toader, G. and Roibu, E. (2016). MANAGING THE HUMAN CAPITAL
PERFORMANCES THROUGH THE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: A BALANCED SCORECARD
APPROACH. International Journal of Management and Applied Science,
[online] 2(1), pp.58-63. Available at:
http://www.iraj.in/journal/journal_file/journal_pdf/14-223-145439622558-63.pdf
[Accessed 25 Sep. 2019].
13 Comments
As Discussed by Abraham (2019) S.M.A.R.T. goal work for companies but not for people because we are sensitive beings. That’s why I think S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time frame) goals are not relevant when we use the viewpoint of humanity. But in Organisation prospective Smart goals point the way to what you want to achieve. In this way, it will give a sense of direction to everyone who wants to achieve the goal, and it can likely complete. Well formulated goal is easy for everyone to understand(Murphy, 2010).
ReplyDeleteAlthough it might be arguable that the S.M.A.R.T goals are not directly address the viewpoint of humanity , I have a different opinion that as Hursman (2010) has noted, any activity employees perform at work need to be targeting an or a goal and having a structured manner to achieve the goals is always beneficial in terms of both employee and the organization.
DeleteAs expressed above, Not only on organization, but also goal setting would have positive impact on employee performance as well.Finally, employee performance leads to increase the effectiveness of the organization.(Choon and Patrick,2016)
ReplyDeleteAgreed, for example, Locke and Latham (2002)’s study also establishes a positive relationship between the definition of goals, feedback loops and overall productivity, within an organization.
DeleteIt is true that objectives need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time frame) and it is the responsibility of the management to drive the workforce towards achieving such goals in an efficient and effective manner (Hursman, 2010). Having a proper direction through SMART objectives will motivate the workforce and will definitely drive the organization towards the success.
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. Studies by the likes of Sadeghi and Pihie (2012) showcases the importance of recruiting leaders who can clearly elaborate on an organization’s vision and secure their employees commitment to achieve milestones/goals defined within it.
DeleteShahin and Mahbod (2006) explains well regarding the prioritization of goals. further one of the biggest issue when setting goals effectively is lacking a clear concept of the goal.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Research by Arvey, Dewhirst & Boling (1976) indicated that goal clarity was positively related to overall motivation and satisfaction in the workplace.
DeleteAgrees with you, While SMART goal criteria are a good basis for setting goals, more factors are involved, of course. It is also crucial, apart from the SMART aim requirements, that targets are realistic and achievable without being too vague or easy to achieve. Set goals that are too easy to accomplish and risk being futile and insufficiently motivating, set them too hard and they will never be within reach. Research indicates that when there is a 50 percent chance of achieving a goal, workers are most inspired. Spread something to yourself and your team, but also make sure that it is something that can reasonably be worked on, if not completed, within a realistic time frame with the available resources and capabilities
ReplyDeleteTrue. Miner (2005) notes that complex goals may become overwhelming and negatively impact morale, productivity, and motivation. The timescale for such goals should be realistic. Allocating sufficient time to work toward a goal makes way for opportunities to reassess the goal complexity, whilst reviewing and improving performance.
DeleteVery informative blog thank you so much for sharing. We run fun online employee engagement activities for organizations around the world. These engagement activities and challenges are designed to be equal parts to improve virtual teams bonding and skill building. We are India's leading Digital Employee Engagement Platform.
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ReplyDeleteNice content provided in the blog. Know about Performance management here.
ReplyDelete