
As you review employee progress toward year-end goals, you may encounter surprises. Employees who you thought were on track may not deliver. Before you decide that you have big employee problems, step back and consider how you started the year.
Proper Goal Setting
Your employees may lack motivation due to a goal-setting problem. McKinsey analysts checked out what 1,000 employees said about what motivates them to do their best work.
If your company is like most employers, you set annual goals. Corporate leaders often commit to a company-wide goal. A goal such as increasing sales by 10% for the year gives employees a guidepost for the coming year.
But an employee who works in the accounting department may not feel a connection to the increased sales goal. During the year, their motivation could fade. Managers can head off employee problems like these by working with team members to personalize goals.
Participation
Employees will be more likely to feel excited about reaching goals they have helped to create. In advance of a team meeting, managers should encourage employees to come up with their best ideas.
During one-on-one sessions, employees should also pitch their ideas for goals they want to meet for the year. The McKinsey study shows that only 13% of employees “have freedom” to decide the best way to achieve their goals.
In the case of our accounting department employee, they may come up with a goal of reducing errors in billing. Or they may commit to decreasing how long it takes to collect overdue accounts. Both goals would indirectly support the companywide sales increase.
Allowing more independence in the goal-setting process may bring increased employee motivation.
Measurable and attainable
If the goals are not measurable, managers and employees will struggle to determine whether they’ve been reached. A commitment to reducing billing errors to 1% makes it easier for employees to demonstrate achievement.
Adjusting Goals
In today’s fast-paced economy, the goals you set early in the year may no longer apply by the second or third quarter. Corporate leaders should monitor and report on the status of goals regularly. They should also explain revisions to goals.
Once the revision process starts, the rest of the organization should reset their goals. If managers don’t make the specific effort to work through changed goals with employees, they risk losing motivation and commitment. Other employee problems, such as poor performance, soon follow.
Monitoring Progress
Employee problems also stem from a lack of feedback. One study we reported on recently noted that younger team members crave regular, almost daily, feedback.
Goal setting is a meaningless process if nobody is monitoring and reporting on progress. In too many organizations, the employee feedback system moves in one direction. Mostly, employees hear from the managers about whether they are meeting expectations.
And often, the annual performance review is when employees hear about how they are doing. These annual reviews don’t serve managers or employees well. In fact, only two out of 10 employees say they find value in them.
It’s time to change the one-way feedback system. During your regular one-on-one meetings ask your employee how they think they are doing toward their goals. Then, give them your assessment of their work.
While you should praise what is going well, be prepared to offer suggestions on what they can improve. You can engage in these discussions by using the approach that works best for each team member. The results of their psychometric assessments will let you know which employees prefer casual chatting before moving into performance discussions.
Rewards and Recognition
Improved camaraderie and the enjoyment of being on a winning team satisfies many employees who achieve goals. Official rewards and recognition can strengthen that enjoyment. The right recognition motivates your employees’ commitment to being high producers.
Whether it’s a bonus, more PTO or a promotion, connecting the reward to goal achievement makes it meaningful. And when you personalize the reward, your employee understands that you value them.
Many employee problems can be solved by giving them a say in goal setting and providing regular feedback. Keep these details in mind as we move into the last quarter of the calendar year.
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