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Did you know that only 36% of employees in the U.S. are engaged in their workplaces? To increase employee engagement, you have to embrace the right goal-setting techniques.
Employee engagement will be one of the key drivers of your organization’s success. Engaged employees will be more productive, more satisfied, and less likely to leave.
Goal setting techniques will help employees focus on their work, set attainable goals, and track their progress. However, goal setting is not always easy. You may find it challenging to develop realistic goals that will motivate your employees.
Luckily, there are a few goal-setting techniques that can help you encourage employee engagement. Read on for a few tips to help you set effective goals to promote employee success.
What Is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is the level of enthusiasm and dedication employees have toward their work. An engaged employee will be passionate about their job and committed to achieving the organization’s goals.
Engaged employees are also more likely to be productive, creative, and motivated. They will go above and beyond to contribute to the success of their team or company.
Such employees are also less likely to leave their jobs, saving your company money on turnover costs. Also, engaged employees tend to be more creative and innovative.
They will generate new ideas and solutions for your organization. These aspects will result in increased revenue for your company.
Goal Setting Techniques That Can Encourage Employee Engagement
When setting employee goals, there are a few things you should keep in mind. If you want to create a productive and successful atmosphere, follow these goal setting techniques:
Get Input From Employees
Before you start setting goals, it’s essential to get input from your employees. Ask them what they would like to achieve in their roles and what they think are realistic goals for the company.
Their input will help you create goals that are relevant to their work. Getting input from employees will also ensure that your goals are achievable.
Engaging employees in setting goals will also inspire commitment. They will feel a sense of pride in accomplishing the goals, which will motivate them to work harder to achieve the desired results.
Link Employee’s Goals to the Company’s Goals
It’s vital to link your employees’ goals to the company’s overall goals. This technique aims to help employees see how their individual goals fit into the big picture. Linking individual and company goals will ensure that your employees align their work with the organization’s mission.
Linking employee goals to the company’s goals will help employees see the impact of their work. Your employees will be motivated to attain their goals when they understand how their roles contribute to the overall company’s success. It is important that you put them in a position that works to their strengths so they can achieve these goals at the right time. Your employees have skills and you need to build on that as much as possible. Looking into competency vs capability is important as well, so you can see how this applies and what it can mean for goal setting.
Set SMART Goals
SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. To create specific goals, you should ensure that they’re as clear as possible.
Measurable goals mean you have criteria that will show how well you’re progressing towards attaining the goals. Ensuring the goals are measurable will help your employees track their progress. It will also lead to increased motivation because employees will be able to quantify how close they are to achieving their goals.
The achievable aspect means that your goals should be realistic. Avoid stretching your employees so much to the point of frustrating them because they can’t accomplish a goal. The best practice is to consider the employees’ limitations that might make it hard to hit a set target.
Relevance means that your goals should align with other goals in your company. Also, ensure you have a timeframe within which you need to achieve the set goals.
Adjust the Goals as Needed
Your goals should not be stagnant because the business environment is constantly evolving. After setting the goals, it’s essential to monitor progress and adjust them as needed.
As events unfold throughout the year, you should revisit the goals to ensure they’re not demotivating. Reviewing will help you adapt your goals to the changing business environment.
For example, you can update the goals if there’s a change in the assumption you used to set them initially. Such adjustments will help you establish a performance management system that motivates employees to do better.
Implement OKRs
One goal-setting technique that can help you achieve increased employee engagement is implementing OKRs. OKRs are a framework for setting goals that Silicon Valley companies popularized.
OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. The objectives are the goals you want to achieve, and the key results are the metrics you will use to measure progress.
For example, if your goal is to increase employee productivity, your key results could be measures such as increased output or decreased time spent on breaks.
OKRs can help you track progress and ensure that employees work towards achievable goals. In addition, OKRs can improve communication between managers and employees.
However, you should be aware of the common challenges and mistakes in implementing OKRs. This knowledge will help you stay on top of mistakes and achieve your bold goals.
Define Rewards and Consequences
Defining rewards and consequences will ensure that employees take the goals seriously. When you set goals, it’s essential to identify what employees will gain from achieving them.
The rewards don’t have to be financial. They could be things like increased responsibility, flexible work hours, or more vacation days.
Ensure you identify the consequences of not meeting the goals. The consequences should be proportional to the severity of not achieving the goal. For example, if an employee fails to meet a goal that’s not essential to the company’s success, the consequence could be a verbal warning.
On the other hand, if an employee fails to meet a goal essential to the company’s success, the consequence could be termination.
Use the Right Goal-Setting Techniques to Encourage Employee Engagement
Setting goals is a crucial aspect of any successful business. By following the above goal-setting techniques, you can encourage increased employee engagement and motivation.
When your employees are engaged and motivated, they’ll be more productive. Such productivity will reflect positively on your bottom line as it will lead to increased revenue for your business.
Check out the rest of our blog for more informative articles.
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