This is the beauty of starting a blog for yourself – you learn! I have been in HR/L&D for 4 years now and I never new that SMART objectives for performance management actually got SMARTER! So, when line managers sit with their team members to discuss their objectives, they need to make sure that these objectives are SMART. What does that mean? Objectives should be:
S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Attainable
R: Relevant
T: Time Bound
And here is the new addition!
E: Evaluate
R: Reevaluate
I love the ER, I really do!
Today’s post is really about two issues:
A. Does Management by Objectives really work?
B. Why I love the -ER!
A. Does Management by Objectives really work from your experience?
From my experience, I see that managing by objectives can only work if:
1.appraisal managers know how to set SMART objectives which is often not the case
2. managers clearly communicate the SMART objectives to the employees and the employees really understand them and what achieving them means for them, for the team and for the organization as a whole
3. the organization has a transparent culture where people are held accountable. Managers should be held accountable if they don’t take this process seriously.
Notice the word managers in bold over and over again! By managers, I don’t just mean executive managers, but direct report managers, supervisors, line managers or team leaders. I usually find the bottleneck is with them; maybe they aren’t sold on the idea. Maybe the appraisal system used is not user-friendly or maybe they hate doing ‘admin’ work. Somehow, they need to believe in the system and be trained to use it to their advantage and for the development of their employees. That should be the aim of any company that claims it is managed by objectives. Get your managers on board or get them out! If they don’t believe in the system, it may be a sign that they do not share the same organizational values; employees, especially managers, with different values become toxic to the organization eventually.
B. Why I love the -ER!
I love the E – Evaluate and the R – Reevaluate because if managers sit with their team members and discuss and review their objectives on a regular basis, the performance management system may work a lot better. Constant yet more ‘formal’ communication will allow employees to freely discuss where they are with their objectives and if they will be able to meet them; if not, managers and their subordinates can discuss what can be done so they can meet them or even change them before it is too late. Best practice states that managers should meet with their employees 4 times – 2 informal meetings, 1 semi-formal and the actual appraisal interview. This of course is the minimum.
So, I hope that if you are a manager, you realize that you have a huge role to play to develop your team and to move your agency forward. Objectives are not to be taken lightly. I have a lot to say about performance management in general, but I will leave that to future blog posts.