Human Resource & Payroll Services And Solutions - Houston, Dallas, Austin - Texas www.hrp.net. Is goal-setting in your organization just a hoop that must be jumped each year? One veteran of human resources experience and knowledge shows businesses how to make goal setting both an individualized and collaborative process with the power to inspire workers to new heights. Read on to learn how.

1. Toll Free: 877.880.4477
Phone: 281.880.6525
The Power of Collaborative Goal-Setting
in Driving Employee Performance
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2. » All too often, the process of establishing goals for employees in the
context of a performance evaluation slides into an uninspired exercise of
just going through the motions, only to provide an easy reference point
for future compensation decisions.
» But it can instead be an opportunity to inspire your staff to high levels of
productivity and achievement. Accomplishing that can only happen if you
take the process seriously, and move beyond some entrenched myths
about setting performance goals.
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3. Here's how you can do it.
» Supervisors and business owners often assume that "they're paid the big
bucks to make management-related decisions, including assessing
someone's performance," notes Paul Falcone, a veteran human resource
executive and author.
» That traditional mindset often translates into performance evaluation as a
"one-way, top-down exercise where the boss ends up playing the
unilateral decision-maker and occasional disciplinarian," he adds.
» That approach kills employee initiative,
motivation, and creativity. He does not
suggest that supervisors abandon their
responsibilities as leaders, but pursue a
collaborative approach.
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4. Turning the Conversation Around
» Imagine the reaction of an employee accustomed to being dictated to if
her supervisor, prior to the next review session, asked her to come to the
meeting with a written performance self-assessment and answers to such
questions as:
 What were your greatest accomplishments last year?
 How can I help you build new skills and prepare you to progress in your
career?
 What goals are you setting for yourself?
 What will the measurable results look like to ensure that you have met
them by this time next year?
» But what if employees exaggerate their assessment of their own
performance? And worse still, what if the biggest exaggerators are
employees you consider to be the weakest performers? Won't that set up
a showdown? Sometimes it will happen, Falcone concedes. But with a
poor performer, the tough conversation would've had to come at some
point regardless.
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5. The "Aha Moment"
» The "aha moment" for supervisors when they conduct these two-way
evaluation sessions, Falcone says, is that workers "are typically harder on
themselves than those supervisors ever would be. "When that happens,
supervisors" see the significance of shifting some responsibility for
assessment and goal-setting back to their employees."
» Falcone manages employer expectations about how this all works, stating
that a 70-20-10 rule applies:
• 70 percent of the employees will go along with the approach, but not "blow you
away" with their feedback.
• 20 percent will "go wild with bells, whistles, productivity charts and the like."
These employees are the high-potential workers who you are especially trying
to motivate with this process.
• 10 percent won't want to participate, telling you it's your job. But such workers
may have "entitlement issues and time-clock mentality," Falcone notes. The
refusal to participate may simply be documented and added to other evidence
of a reluctance to improve performance. That evidence will likely impact their
future with the organization.
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6. 2600 Performance Goals
» Supervisors themselves of course maintain a key role in employee goal-
setting. Falcone recently wrote a book, "2600 Phrases for Setting Effective
Performance Goals" which offers a vast menu for employers to draw
upon.
» The organization of the 2600 phrases
reveals the wide breadth of performance
categories that may be pertinent to any
given job. In addition to performance
goals tailored to dozens of specific jobs,
the book includes phrases in 32 generic
realms of performance -- categories you
might not have initially considered
relevant to a position.
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7. » For example, in keeping with his focus on collaborative goal-setting,
Facone includes several pages of self-development goals, for workers at
different career stages and functions. A few examples:
• Train yourself to provide two solutions for each question you raise.
• Study and share best practices.
• Engage in positive confrontation rather than avoidance.
• See yourself as a role model who embodies the company's mission and
values.
• Ensure that team members are comfortable sharing minor concerns with
you before they become major impediments.
• Delegate what you're best at and what you enjoy in order to mentor
others by sharing your strengths.
» How many goals should be collaboratively established for workers? The
number could be huge, but setting no more than two or three "macro
goals" is probably all that's realistic and measurable.
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8. Falcone stresses that goal-setting is an individualized process, even though
you probably need to share broader organizational goals as well. "Good
leadership is all about listening to where people want to go with their
careers, setting them up to gain traction in that area and then stepping out
of the way," he concludes.
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9. 14550 Torrey Chase, Suite 100 Houston, TX 77014 USA
Toll Free : 877.880.4477
Phone : 281.880.6525
Fax : 281.866.9426
E-mail : info@hrp.net
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10. 14550 Torrey Chase, Suite 100 Houston, TX 77014 USA
Toll Free : 877.880.4477
Phone : 281.880.6525
Fax : 281.866.9426
E-mail : info@hrp.net
www.hrp.net