SMART Goals: Take Your Time, Do Them Right!

Posted by Richard Dimarco Barea on Feb 7, 2015

Johnny HR's Goal

Specific
Improve customer service satisfaction ratings given by product reps in Florida by 5% by creating an employee engagement program.

Measurable & Achievable
Create employee recognition programs around developing an educational PowerPoint and tracking achievement through a CrewHu contest that quantitatively ranks & rewards those who filled out the survey.

Johnny HR was crafting the ultimate employee engagement program with the help of an employee engagement software to improve customer service. He knew that improving customer service on the sales floor would create a domino effect to increase monthly revenue. He had made his goal 'specific', 'measurable' and ensured it was 'achievable'. The final two pieces to making his goal SMART were going to help him clinch his new Chief of HR Position. So he sat down and asked himself:

How realistic or relevant is my goal?
What is the timeline for this goal?

How Relevant Goals Improve Employee Engagement

Johnny knew he needed to ensure that his goal impacted 3 stakeholders: the consumer, the employees and the company. He analyzed the level of relevance by asking if the goal would benefit these groups. He was able to extrapolate these insights:

An employee education and engagement program would matter to the Consumer because they would get more valuable information and a better experience with the in-store sales reps.

An employee education and engagement program would matter to the employees because they would be able to hit quotas faster, secure their positions, grow as professionals while being happier and more productive at work.

The company would benefit largely as they would see increases in customer service, expand their customer base with growing revenues and extend employee tenure.

Stakeholder_(en)

While Johnny HR always knew that employee incentive programs, workforce training, and employee contests were instrumental he would now be able to quantify how this initiative would affect stakeholders both within the organization and in the market.

Why Timeliness is the Most Crucial Component of your Goals

Time was ticking from the moment Johnny HR started to create his goal and he realized he needed to finalize it to show Ron, the CEO, for budgeting approval. It was serendipitous that the last part of his goal was to develop the time-bound component! He had remembered reading in a college management textbook that:

The fifth criterion (Timeliness) stresses the importance of grounding goals within a time-frame, giving them a target date. A commitment to a deadline helps a team focus their efforts on completion of the goal on or before the due date.

He was now ready to create project timeline to ensure he hits his goal. The 90 day timeline (working backwards) is below:

Day 90

Results to CEO.

Day 82-89

Export Campaign Results, Analyze and Prepare Report.

Day 82

Promtly reward empoyees and send public shout outs on CrewHu.

Day 51 to 81

Launch a Customer Service contest using the employee recognition software CrewHu. Send daily shout outs.

Day 50

Reward employees who Achieved their goals on CrewHu.

Day 19 to 49

Nurture Employees on the employee recognition software CrewHu using the Social Cafe.

Day 10 to 20

Issue Memos and Execute Training for Employees.

Day 2 to 9

Create Educational PowerPoint Presentation.

Day 1

Create Smart Goal and Get Budget Approval from CEO.

He felt empowered and almost prophetic with his ability to see the next 3 months of activities he would have to undergo in order to make the program a success. He read through his time line a few more times adjusting the dates to ensure he would be able to execute all the activities. (Initially he had a time line of 60 days but decided to add a customer service contest over a 30 days period to see if could boost customer service levels even higher. He adjusted it to a 90 day time line and wrote out his final draft of his goal:

Specific
Improve customer service satisfaction ratings given to product reps in Florida by 5% by creating an employee engagement program.

Measurable & Achievable
Create employee recognition programs that focus on customer service and tracking achievement through a CrewHu contest that quantitatively ranks & rewards those who hit their goals.

Relevant & Timely
Maximize results for all stakeholders within 90 days that will increase customer service metrics, employee morale, lower turnover and increase sales. These reults will be reinforced with prompt employee recognition awards.

What CEOs think of SMART Goals

Johnny HR was proud and a smile crept across his face. He quickly penned a clean draft and walked down the hallway to present it to his CEO. Ron looked down at the extremely proficient SMART goal that Johnny had created in the past 45 minutes. Ron had a few questions that Johnny was able to answer effectively because he had gone through the exercise in depth. Ron's stern face loosened and he told Johnny...

If you make this happen in the next 90 days...I believe you to be the person we are looking for to be our new Chief of HR. Make it happen Johnny!

Triumph! Johnny thought while he composed himself and walked out of the room weak kneed. His mind was spinning and he had one thing on his mind----execution! Luckily he had his SMART Goal clearly defined. His timeline was specific and he had a clear scope of what he needed to do. A small pep was in his step and his walk was potent and purposeful. He arrived at his desk and called his wife to tell her the good news. She congratulated him and he was happy. He smiled and knew that it was all uphill from here...thanks to his SMART Goal!

Topics: employee engagement, smart goals, holiday engagement

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