Development 4 Managers.com

Performance Goals

Goals at Work - Practical Employee Performance

It can be difficult to decide what kind of goals to set for your employees. How do you decide what aspects of their work should they focus on in a way that they won't neglect the rest of their duties?

If you feel stress and discomfort over making this decision, you are among thousands of worried and confused managers. Thankfully there are some practical tips you can follow that will make it easier for you to decide on goals.

Imagine if you will, what would happen if your employee was not your employee. Imagine that the person is a contractor you hired to do that specific job. What would you expect of this person? Some times it is easier for us if we think in terms of the person not working for us. If we had to outsource someone to do that task, we become more budget conscious and more goal oriented. This is exactly what we need.

When I speak about how to manage employees, I ask managers to see their employees as "owners" of their tasks, duties, department, etc. This way the employees become owners of their goals. Imagine your employee feeling like that is their own business. Since that particular business is theirs, what should we expect from that employee that is better than what you can get from other similar businesses out there? Those are the goals you want to focus on.