Goal-setting can really make a difference for small businesses, especially when your employees get involved. It’s a strategy that keeps everyone focused, engaged, and pushing forward. But if not done right, it can have the opposite effect, leading to frustration and setbacks. Ideally, you want goal-setting to be both inspiring and realistic, encouraging employees to aim for challenging, but not overwhelming, targets. Goals should push employees a bit but not stress them out.
Think of the employee’s journey like a hike on a park trail. Their goals are like trail markers guiding them towards bigger successes. These small wins help employees feel like they’re headed in the right direction. If the markers are too close together, it doesn’t feel challenging or inspiring. However, if the hike feels more like a special feat, then everyone is motivated to reach the goal. But if the markers are too far apart, it can feel daunting and unrealistic, leading to doubt and giving up. Goals that feel unreachable can cause businesses to stumble.
The key is setting inspiring and realistic goals, like perfectly placed trail markers that boost your team, leading to a more engaged and productive workplace. Here are some tips to develop motivational yet achievable goals for employees.
Tip #1: Balance Metrics and Individuality
Using metrics helps in developing realistic goals. By understanding the trends, you can define what counts as reasonable improvement. Sharing these insights with your team helps them see the bigger picture. However, simply relying on numbers might not be enough to inspire. Employees who are already putting in effort might need more inspiration to step up, and this is where personal goals come into play. Goals that let employees chase their own aspirations while improving company metrics can be very inspiring. For instance, an employee wanting to enhance communication skills through a course or certification could be nudged to use these skills for broader company objectives like better client retention or smoother onboarding processes.
Tip #2: Embrace Personal Development
To apply the first tip, you might need to incorporate personal development into your goal-setting strategy. Allowing team members to pursue personal growth, like attending relevant industry conferences or furthering their education, can be motivational and expand the company’s potential. That being said, you don’t have to approve every skill or certification request. It’s okay to ask that any personal development aligns with company goals—this way, both the employee and the company benefit. The employee gains new skills while the company gets an enhanced capability to hit its targets.
Sometimes, it might be necessary to ask for a specific commitment from the employee, especially when the company is footing the bill. For example, if you’re paying for a team member to get the necessary training for a bookkeeping role, it’s wise to require a commitment that they stay for a certain period post-training, such as two years.
Tip #3: Foster Intrinsic Motivation
Tapping into what truly excites your employees when setting goals can be incredibly inspiring. Managers might need to invest extra effort in figuring out and leveraging these passions to align them with company objectives, but the energy it ignites is well worth it. An employee who is passionate about the organization might be eager to boost productivity by finding new ways to enhance efficiency. If well directed, this passion can help the company achieve a variety of goals. By fostering intrinsic motivation in goal-setting, businesses can turn seemingly unrealistic goals into achievable ones by pairing them with team members who are passionate about the causes involved. For example, a goal focused on improving company’s sustainability can be pursued by someone passionate about environmental issues.
Goal-setting benefits businesses by aligning everyone’s efforts around clear targets. To truly work, goal-setting should be framed as a win-win, bringing satisfaction and better outcomes for both the company and the employees. By adopting personal development and encouraging intrinsic motivation, leaders can effectively use goal-setting to drive better performance and growth.
