W

hat are performance goals? There are many ways to

define performance goals and there are a good num-

ber of other terms with similar meanings, such as per-

formance objectivesand standards of performance.We can sim-

plify our answer to this question by stripping away the fancy lan-

guage and saying that performance goals are statements that

describe what an employee needs to achieve in order to con-

tribute to the overall success of his or her organization. Usually

the statements describe a desired result rather than specify how

the result is to be obtained.

Specific and Measurable Goals?

A Balancing Act

There is no one “right” format for performance goals. There are

formats and ways of writing goals so they tend to be more use-

ful, but wording performance goals so they work is often a bal-

ancing act. Ideally, performance goals should be as specific as

possible. The more specific a goal is, the more likely the employ-

ee and the manager will have a common, shared understanding

about what it means. That’s important.

Setting Performance

Goals That Work

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