How to set an objective for SME employees

Deep down, you and your managers know the importance of strong objective setting if your employees - and the organisation - are to achieve their goals. And that's the case regardless of the size of your business.

But, sometimes, you'll find that managers will simply have "too much to do" or claim it as an "admin burden" or that their team "know what to do" - and they don't set objectives. 

You'll no doubt have heard of the acronym SMART to help focus the mind when writing an objective, but SMART misses a couple of key elements - and so we've refined SMART to become STREAMS.

You can see what we thought was missing from SMART by watching - and sharing with your line managers - this short video. And it's as practical for and relevant to you as an SME as as far larger organisation.  

It explains that an objective needs to be more than specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and time-based. It needs to consider: 

• the desired outcome or impact of the objective - not looking just as whether it's been 'done' or not!
• how the objective can be achieved - and how it links to strategy and goals
• how it can be exceeded 
• the acceptance and perception of - and agreement to - the objective by both the employee and manager  
• how challenging the objective is.

You'll also find out in this video how many objectives to set - and how best to measure against them. 

We hope you find it useful!

Take a look at the video and, see how you can apply this to the objective setting in your organisation. And this also applies to creating development goals.