Performance Evaluation Goals and Objectives With Examples

Setting goals is essential to motivate employees. As a supervisor, it can be challenging sometimes to encourage your team. This article explains the underlying purpose of employee performance reviews and how you can set goals to help your employees achieve more successful results for their role.

Why are performance review goals important? 

Performance review goals are vital for motivation, development and even corporate protection. Clear communication about what the organization expects can help employees stay positive and focused throughout their employment. By giving performance evaluations, you and your employees can concentrate on areas of improvement and achievable goals. 

Some possible performance review goals include:

Motivation

It is important to explain clearly to employees what you expect from them. You and the employee must understand the objective and the results you both need to achieve. One of these objectives is to motivate the employees to provide quality work.

Employee development and organizational improvement

The performance evaluation is a tool that employees can use to improve their personal growth and achieve professional goals. Taking the time to write down the goals helps the employees to see what they need to do to accomplish them. During the evaluation, you and the employee talk about the results you want to achieve and come to an agreement on how to get there. The employee commits to achieve the assigned goals, while you commit to supporting them in their career growth.

Protection for both the employee and the employer

During the evaluation, you should document each area of goal setting and feedback. This documentation proves that you provided clear explanations of what the company expects from employees in their jobs. It is legal evidence that you actively involved your employees in the recognition and promotion process without discrimination. If the employee needs more time or support to achieve the assigned goals, the documentation can serve to develop a performance improvement plan.

Performance evaluation goals examples

When setting up your performance goals, make sure they are SMART goals. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. 

Here is a list of employee evaluation goals examples you can customize and use during your reviews:

Learn more: SMART Goals: Definition and Examples

Productivity goals

Productivity goals allow the company to produce more in the same time frame. You should measure productivity goals in the number of clients served, the number of units produced or percentages. 

Example: To conclude two more sales each week until reaching 12 sales a week. 

Efficiency goals

The objective here is to make fewer mistakes, accomplish more and produce better output over time. Provide a precise measure to help the employee assess their work. Encourage the employee to be more strategic in their approach to work. If they are in a problem-solving role, you can advise them to target the problem more efficiently.

Example: Achieve a yearly average of 90% satisfaction on all customer service surveys.

Education goals

Education brings value to both the employee and the organization. Setting milestones helps an employee reach their educational goals. It can be especially motivating for an employee who wants to be promoted to a management position in the organization or who wishes to receive a pay raise.

Example: To complete all training sessions before the next performance review, or to complete an MBA program within three years.

Communication goals

This is a self-development goal. The supervisor can help an employee to acquire and develop soft skills by challenging them to accomplish specific goals. 

Example: Participate actively by sharing one point at every weekly meeting.

Example of public speaking objective: Lead a discussion at the weekly team meeting on November 20 to improve your public speaking skills.

Creativity and problem-solving goals

To encourage creativity and problem-solving, you can lead the employee in a practical approach to developing creative solutions.

Example: Create a shortlist of options for the department’s new software. Perform tests of all the options, and provide feedback on your recommendations.

Documentation goals

The objective is to ensure that an employee documents the evolution of projects and the current situation of the business. Assign a clear deliverable and due date, and tell them who to send the documentation to. 

Example: By the first Monday of every month, provide the executive team a status update for the software implementation project.

Program maintenance goals

Program maintenance is the process of remodeling software or programs after their delivery to accomplish the forecasted outcomes. The end result is to correct eventual errors and improve performance.

Example: By the end of the quarter, design a program launch checklist. List every task, specify a task owner and set due dates.

Leadership goals

The objective is to align your employee’s behavior with the company’s strategy and get results.

Example: Schedule and lead weekly team meetings. Provide an agenda for every meeting, and distribute minutes with action requests within the three days following the meeting.

Example: Encourage the team’s professional development by organizing at least one instructor-led course at which all team members will attend. Achieve this before the next yearly review.

Attendance and dependency goals

It is sometimes useful to review the expectations in terms of time and attendance with the employee. You can help to redefine on what time the shift begins and encourage punctuality. 

Example: Arrive on time for weekly team meetings. It shows your respect for your colleagues’ time. The team appreciates your creativity and enthusiasm.

Time management goals

Time management is a skill that an employee can acquire with some support. A time management goal will help the employee understand what they need to complete some tasks and how to create a plan.

Example: Sit with the manager for 10 minutes every morning to review and prioritize the tasks to perform. 

Safety and compliance goals

To make sure all employees follow the safety rules, you need training activities and documentation. The employee responsible must regularly review the safety requirements and keep track of these.

Example: Manage all necessary preventive maintenance activities on the first Monday of each month, and document your finished work in the monthly log on the day you complete it.

Project management goals

To improve project management abilities, you can encourage your employee to better structure and plan their tasks.

Example: Use the online document management software program for 100% of company construction projects this year.