Use greytHR to Set SMART Goals

Scenario

Aligning team goals with annual business objectives

At the beginning of the financial year, the organization wants to align individual and team goals with broader business objectives, such as increasing market share and improving customer satisfaction. 

Employees across departments need to set SMART goals that contribute to these objectives. This ensures their efforts are measurable, achievable, and aligned with the company’s strategic direction.

Objectives

• Ensure that employees can easily create SMART goals using greytHR PMS.

• Provide a structured process that aligns goals with the organization’s performance management strategy.

• Improve the tracking and measurement of goals to facilitate better performance evaluations.

People Involved/Stakeholders

• Employee (User): Adds SMART goals to their goal plan and sends it for approval.

• Manager (User): Assigns SMART goals to his/her team members.

• Manager (Reviewer):

  • Approves goal plan.

  • Reviews and provides feedback on employee goals.

• Administrator (HR Admin): Configures the goal-setting environment and monitors progress. Monitors the overall goal achievement process for performance evaluations.

Preconditions

• The employee/manager must have access to the Goal Plan feature in the greytHR PMS.

• A performance period must be active, and goal-setting must be enabled for employees/managers.

• Employees must be trained or familiarized with the concept of SMART goals.

Steps to create a goal plan using SMART goals

Log in to the greytHR Admin portal and go to Performance Management > Goal Plans.

1. Create a New Goal Plan
   Click Create Plan and select the appropriate Goal Plan Type:

   1. Performance Goal Plan (specific targets)

   2. Developmental Goal Plan (skill development)

   3. Organizational Goal Plan (company-wide objectives)

   4. Other (special projects or unique tasks)

2. Set Goal Plan Details:

   1. Enter the name, description, and timeline for the plan.

   2. Upload a policy document (optional) for employee reference.

3. Select Employees: Add employees to the goal plan by clicking + Add Employees.

4. Define Timelines and Controls

   1. Set deadlines for employees to modify or update their goals.

   2. Configure check-in reminders (weekly or monthly).

5. Configure Goal Categories and Weightage

   1. Choose from categories like Customer, Finance, Learning, or Business Process.

   2. Enable weightage to assign priority to specific goals.

6. Assign Role-Based Controls: Define what actions employees, managers, and higher managers can perform (Example: View, Create, Edit, or Delete goals).

7. Review and Save the Goal Plan

   1. Review the plan details in the Summary section.

   2. Click Save to save it as a draft.

8. Activate the Goal Plan: Navigate to the Draft tab and click Activate.

9. Notify Employees and Managers: Use the Notify button to send reminders to employees and managers to assign and start working on goals.

Employee actions

1. The employee logs into the greytHR ESS portal > Performance Management > Goal Plans.

2. Click Create Goal and is prompted to fill in the goal details based on SMART criteria:

• Specific: Define the goal clearly.

• Measurable: Specify how success will be tracked.

• Achievable: Ensure the goal is realistic.

• Relevant: Align with department or company objectives.

• Time-bound: Set a deadline for completion.

The employee submits the goal for manager's review.

Manager actions

The manager reviews the goal, provides feedback (if needed), and either approves or requests changes.

Once approved, the goal becomes part of the employee's Goal Plan for the performance period.

The employee tracks progress throughout the period, updating milestones as required.

Postconditions

• The SMART goal is added to the employee’s Goal Plan and is ready for tracking throughout the goal duration.

• The employee receives periodic reminders and can update progress as they work toward achieving the goal.

• Managers and HR can view the goal progress and provide real-time feedback.

Tips and tricks to manage goal plans

1. Spending too much time creating new goal plans from scratch.
   Solution: Clone existing goal plans to reuse configurations and save time.

2. Employees need flexibility to adjust their goals after the cycle starts.
   Solution: Define a window of time during which employees can modify their goals to accommodate necessary changes.

3. Finding it difficult to track goal progress regularly.
   Solution: Automate weekly or monthly check-in reminders to keep employees and managers on top of their progress.

4. Some tasks or goals need higher priority over others.
   Solution: Assign weightage to goals to ensure key tasks are prioritized.

5. Need a quick way to monitor employee’s goal progress.
   Solution: Use the Not Started, In Progress, and Completed columns to track goal statuses at a glance.

6. Difficulty in organizing and analyzing goal data.
   Solution: Use pivot mode, grouping options, and filters to view and organize data from different perspectives and gain better insights.

Recommended links:

• 4 Ways to Use Data Analytics for Employee Performance Management

• Performance Management System

• Goal Setting and Alignment