The Three Questions Leaders Should Ask Themselves about Employee Goals

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There are three questions every manager should ask themselves while evaluating employee goals. If anyone of these three questions cannot be answered in the affirmative, then it might not be the best goal for that employee.

Is the goal achievable? As leaders we want our employees to succeed. Failing to achieve an impossible goal can be demoralizing to the employee. Once it becomes clear that the goals won’t be achieved; motivation will wane quickly.

Is the goal difficult? This might seem like it is in conflict with whether the goal is achievable, but it is different. The goal must stretch the employee. Successfully stretching employees will naturally improve productivity.

Will the goal move the strategic pendulum? Every employee goal should be linked to a company or team strategy. The employee needs to know how their success affects the organizations success.

Comments

Yogesh Shastri said…
Thank you Saurabh for continuing to enlighten us with your findings. We know it takes time and effort to continue a blog like this and I am indeed thankful to you for that!

Read your latest post on "Three questions leaders should ask themselves". You wrote

"If anyone of these three questions cannot be answered in the affirmative, then it might not be the best goal for that employee"

Or should it be read like -

"If anyone of these three questions cannot be answered in the affirmative, then it might not be the best goal for that employer."

I personally believe that until and unless an organizational goal has got something for me as well (Do I sound too selfish? Too Self centered..May be I am) no matter what questions my leader asks himself before setting my goals, he still might miss on his goals, because I will surely miss mine. An organizational goal should inspire its people to come forth and do something that is mutually rewarding. And the responsibility to do lies with the leader.

A leader should ask himself - Ok, this is the goal I am setting for them - will its achievement fulfill my team in some way. Will my team be delighted when it achieves this goal - or will it only be me who will be delighted, while my team ends up frustrated, demoralized, whiny and exhausted?

Until and unless the team and leader are on same page, none of these questions really matter.

Thank you for this thought provoking post.
February 2, 2010 at 7:36 PM
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