Help Staffers Hit Goals

BursaSnipers

Publish date: Sun, 07 Jul 2019, 08:14 PM

2 Managers can set the perfect employee goals. But if employees are riddled with doubts about them, they may give up from the get-go.

Ideally, you’re able to spark excitement so that staffers care about pursuing and achieving the goals you set for them. You make it meaningful to them and give them the tools and resources to reach the target within a reasonable time frame.

Yet some leaders get in their own way. They overplay their hand by setting outlandish goals that employees reject. Even if they establish enticing objectives, they may micromanage the follow-through to the point where workers feel suffocated by the boss.

To increase the odds that people reach employee goals:

› Invite input. Rather than announce a goal from on high, turn employees into participants in the process. Explain organizational challenges you face and what’s at stake. Then enlist input in crafting a goal that addresses high-priority needs.

“People resist things that are forced upon them,” said J. Michael Crant, a management professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. “They need to feel they have a voice.”

› Listen, don’t judge. Inviting employees to help shape the goal only works if you show genuine interest in their ideas and opinions. Even if you privately disagree with their approach or assume they’re setting the bar too low, don’t say so — at least not yet.

“Active listening and empathy is vitally important,” Crant said. “If the employee says something that disappoints you, don’t express disappointment. Instead, listen to their perspective and ask pointed questions” to drill down and explore any areas of difference.

› Express your faith. If you don’t believe your employee has a realistic chance of attaining the goal, you’re doomed from the start. Setting a false expectation or resorting to a hollow rallying cry (“You can do it!”) won’t prove motivating.

It’s better to pinpoint why you think the individual is well-suited to deliver. Cite examples of past triumphs or demonstrable skills that apply to this situation.

“Managers need to hold people up, not tear them down,” Crant said. “When people have self-efficacy — the belief that they can do it — they are more likely to succeed.”

› Track progress. Establish checkpoints to monitor an employee’s performance in advancing toward the goal. Don’t just set a target date and then disappear until just before the deadline.

“If you set a goal for three or six months, give the employee incremental feedback after one or two months,” Crant said. “That’s motivating (to the employee) and it can give you indications of when or if you need to intervene.”

› Assess their commitment. If individuals lack commitment to follow through, even the best employee goals will fizzle. People are more apt to expend effort when they’re driven from within to excel.

David Peck, a San Franciscobased executive coach at Goodstone Group, suggests asking staffers, “On a 1-to-10 scale, how energized are you on most days working on this goal?” If the answer concerns you, probe further. Perhaps you’re interfering with their march toward goal attainment or they need more guidance or training.

› Reach higher. Insisting that employees strive for audacious outcomes probably won’t work, but nudging them might. If they volunteer a goal that’s too easy, ask them to ratchet up their ambition.

Peck highlights the difference between “conditions of satisfaction” and “conditions of delight.” Reply to those who set modest objectives by saying, “That sounds like a satisfying goal. What if you aimed higher for conditions of delight — to hit it out of the park?”

“Then their eyes light up,” Peck said. “It raises the energy in the room.”

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