Goal Setting, Management Effectiveness Profile

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Welcome to the December 7, 2005 issue of The Total View

Published by Success Performance Solutions, Written by Ira S. Wolfe

Visit our Human Resources Blog and Perfect Labor Storm Blog where we can post daily (and more often) human resource updates, news, and Perfect Labor Storm facts.

What's Inside:

1. 'Tis the Season to Be Jolly....and Set Goals
2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #481 to #482
3. Top 10 Oddest Job Interview Responses
4. Supervisory Skills Boot Camp begins February 2006
5. New Screening Test for Personality and Cognitive Reasoning
6. Management Effectiveness Profile (MEP)

1. 'Tis the Season to Be Jolly....and Set Goals

In the words of sportscaster Dick Enberg "my-oh-my": it's shocking how many employees and managers struggle with a simple thing like setting goals. Don't get me wrong - nearly everyone can make a wish list of things they hope they can accomplish. Think - new year resolutions. But in business, goals are not targets you'd like to reach but outcomes you must achieve. Setting goals correctly determine the performance you need to get the results you want.

Just recently, I had the opportunity to work with several managers on improving their performance. In one group, the issue was customer service improvement. In the other, the problem was time management. It didn't take long to uncover a common thread: managers in both groups struggled in setting objective and measurable goals.

One manager, a 30-year sales veteran with at least half that time spent in management, was asked to write down his goals for the week. At the top of his list was "planning for next week." I couldn't resist. I dug deeper by asking him, "if your plan worked, what did you accomplish?" He responded by telling me planning was his job. Essentially his goal was to keep busy. Upon further prodding, I tried to get him to tell me how much revenue he needed to bring in, how many orders he needed to close, how many prospects he needed to reach, or anything tangible. My efforts were fruitless. Instead he told me how I didn't understand his business and that it was impossible to prepare an agenda for a meeting and stick to it. "I try to keep the minutes under an hour, but you know", he continued trying to persuade me, "sometimes employees bring things up and the meetings last an hour and a half or two hours." Even after two hour meetings, he still couldn't identify a single measurable target he achieved after last week's meetings.

I quickly figured out why his manager called me in the first place. His boss wanted results but he felt as long as he showed up at every meeting with an agenda and discussion points, he did his job…..and did it well.

Not unlike many managers, he lost sight of the big picture by failing to link daily activities to individual goals that led to helping his employer reach its business objectives. To demonstrate my point, I asked him to shut his eyes and then placed a target on the wall of his office. I handed him a red marker, and without opening his eyes, instructed him to put his initials in the bull's eye. He stood up but, of course, he had no idea where the target was. That was exactly my point. He started to walk toward the door, opposite where I placed the target. Just before he was going to put his initials on the back of his door, I stopped him. He opened his eyes, turned around, and headed directly toward the bull's eye.

Too many people, including managers, set goals with their eyes shut. Employees spend a tremendous amount of time doing tasks and participating in activities that bear little or nor fruit when it comes to helping them or the organization reach their goals.

How can individual contributions be aligned with business objectives? Let me offer three important observations:

1. Establish goal-setting as a core competency for all employees. Don't assume that employees and even managers know how to set goals. While a few people are innately good at setting goals, most are not. Goal setting is a skill and not everyone is proficient at it, including high level executives.

2. Goal setting is impacted significantly by personality. Self-awareness is a key driver in raising your emotional intelligence. Understanding how you and your employees approach goal setting will be the difference between busy-ness and goal achievement.

3. Goal setting alone is not a motivational exercise. Many managers use "stretch" goals to energize and engage employees. This technique often times has the opposite effect. In fact, setting unrealistic goals can be downright de-motivating.. Setting subjective, wishy-washy targets does little more than create unproductive activity. Writing and publishing specific, measurable targets sets clear expectations for everyone.

How can employees and managers learn to write "SMART-R" goals? Goal statements need to include the following S-M-A-R-T-R characteristics:

1. Specific. The goal clearly states a single, well-defined result. Compare the sales manager's goal of "plan meetings for next week" with "prepare agenda for scheduled sales, management and staff meetings so that all discussion is completed in less than 60 minutes per meeting." I'd even propose a higher goal: "increase sales revenue by 5 percent" or "decrease product returns by 2 percent" where the meetings include discussions and training on how to achieve these goals. In truth, planning meetings is not even a goal for this manager - it is an activity required to monitor how well his team and staff are doing toward achieving the goals.

2. Measurable. Determine how the goal will be measured. Sixty minutes is definitely measurable but I'd encourage employees to go one step further such as I recommended above: "increase sales revenue by 5 percent." Create a dashboard of activities that can be measured to help you monitor progress and report results at each meeting.

3. Add value. Ask the question: if we do achieve this goal, what benefit will the organization enjoy because of it? You may be amazed at difference between what employees and management consider valuable.

4. Realistic. Given the time, resources and support available, is achieving the goal possible? Is sixty minutes enough time for each meeting? Is increasing sales by 8 percent realistic with the current product line, competition, economic climate?

5. Time-Resource. Achieve 5 percent increase by when - next quarter, next year? Set milestones. Five percent may be realistic in 15 months but before the end of the fiscal year. Do a resource check - will efforts to achieve the goal require any additional equipment, supplies, staffing?

Continued Next week: Goal setting: You can't keep the personality out of it.

Source: SMART-R: Managing to Excel, Setting Goals and Standards.

2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts # 481 to # 482

Don't miss day-to-day updates on Perfect Labor Storm. Save the Perfect Labor Storm blog to your favorites.

Fact #481: In 1964, 47 percent of Americans and 31 percent of workers ages 24 to 29 had not completed high school, compared with 13 percent for both groups today.
(Source: Workforce Management, October 24, 2005)

Fact #482: Though there are more than 9 million males ages 17 to 21 in the U.S., only about one is there have the educational and other qualifications needed to become a member of the armed forces. And of those 3 million qualified males, about half already are in the military or in college.

Don't be caught in storm without all the facts. "The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away" is a must-read leading edge forecast that predicts workforce trends for decades to come. Order your copy today - Only $7.95.

3. Top 10 Oddest Job Interview Responses (Source: Accountemps)

" A guy said he was the sole source of support for his puppy."

"The candidate noted that there were no redheads in the company, and said we should hire one."

"An applicant explained that his brother-in-law was successful in the industry, so he would be, too."

"Someone said she was a good reader at church, and that's whey she ought to be hired."

"The candidate said she'd always wanted to work in our building."

"The candidate said that unless we hired him, our corporate identify would disappear."

"The applicant said he'd been rejected by all the good companies"

"The job seeker said we should hire him because he just won big in Las Vegas and was on a roll."

"He said we should hire him so he could ride his bike to work."

"One person said we should hire her because she was a cheerleader in high school."

Source: Human Resource Executive, November 2005

Have you heard a really Odd, Funny, or "I can't believe he/she said that" Interview Response? Email us today and get a chance to win a $25 Gift Card to a store of your choice. Multiple winners!

4. Supervisory Skills Boot Camp begins February 2006

Ever since Success Performance Solutions introduced Managing to Excel in 2002, hundreds of Central PA supervisors and managers have been learning and developing proficiency in the twelve competencies that highly effective managers and supervisors have that average performers don't.

Success Performance Solutions will offer Managing to Excel workshops beginning in February 2006. Each workshop will be limited to 6 supervisors. Topics will include Settings Goals, Time Management, and Scheduling Work.