JOB AID FOR MANAGERS: SMART GOALS

Adapted from the University of California SMART Goals: A How to Guide https://www.ucop.edu/

12/2020

WHAT ARE SMART GOALS?

• Statements that are results-based and geared towards achieving a benchmark, milestone or

accomplishment

• Statements that are clear for both the employee and manager to pick up and understand,

without an abundance of context. Expectations of performance level and indicator(s) of success

are built in

• Should be specific to the determined performance cycle

• Numeracy of goals depends on number of buckets, complexity of responsibilities and place in

organization. Should not be too many (more than 5-7), because then they are likely more tasks

than goals

• Too many tasks and not enough goals indicates a workload issue that would need to be

addressed separately

SMART Method

S Specific What will be accomplished? What actions will you take?

M

Measurable

What data will measure the goal? (How much? How many? How well?)

A

Achievable

Is the goal doable? Do you have the necessary skills and resources?

R

Relevant

How does the goal align with broader goals? Why is the result important?

T

Time-Based What is the time frame for accomplishing the goal? Is it reasonable?

WHAT ARE NOT SMART GOALS?

• They are not just statements

• They are not action items; unattached to a goal

• They are not copied and pasted from previous year’s performance evaluation

• They are not requests

Adapted from the University of California SMART Goals: A How to Guide https://www.ucop.edu/

12/2020

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PERFORMANCE AND DEVELOPMENT

GOALS?

Performance

Development

• Appropriate to the level of the position

• Related to job responsibilities and

deliverables

• Aligned to higher level goals

• Focus on the day-to-day not, not just above

and beyond

• Learning-oriented

• Support higher level performance in the

employee’s current job and career

advancement

WHY ARE PERFORMANCE GOALS IMPORTANT?

1. Setting clear and concise expectations at the performance review cycle creates a reasonable

roadmap for both the manager and staff member

2. Effective and proper goal setting and achievement can divert an employee and manager from

needing progressive discipline

3. Goal setting can help with the accountability loop for both manager and employee

4. Opportunity to celebrate accomplishments

WHY ARE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IMPORTANT?

1. Continuous learning is a key indicator of high performing individuals

2. Development goals can help employees hone industry standardized skills, or learn new skills

that will position them for growth

3. Employees who feel their employer has an interest and concern for their development are

proven to be more engaged and committed to their organization

Adapted from the University of California SMART Goals: A How to Guide https://www.ucop.edu/

12/2020

WHERE DO YOU START?

1. Look at the job and separate out areas of responsibility in broad areas or “buckets” of

responsibility

2. Create a list of results the employee is responsible and held accountable for in each bucket

3. Using the formula below, develop a performance goal for each bucket – focus on end result, not

task

SMART GOAL FORMULA

Goal Statement

What makes it SMART

Do _______ . . .

Specific action taken

in order to _______ . . .

to accomplish Measurable, Relevant result

By _______

Within certain Time frame

And make sure it’s achievable! (realistic time frame, sufficient resources, feasible target)

Adapted from the University of California SMART Goals: A How to Guide https://www.ucop.edu/

12/2020

LET’S BREAK IT DOWN!

“S” Specific Action

• The goal should indicate your role and responsibility

• The “S” of the goal should also help indicate whether the goal relates to an ongoing

responsibility or a new project

“S” actions may include:

Oversee

Update

Write

Supervise

Develop

Provide

Coordinate

Upgrade

Process

Manage

Create

Maintain

Support

Evaluate

Dispatch

Plan

Implement

Reconcile

Direct

Transition

Produce

Administer

Establish

Generate

“S” actions to avoid:

These words direct a result, but are not specific of the person’s role in that direction or the

specific action to accomplish the direction

Improve

Reduce

Increase

“M” Measurement

• What does successfully completing the goal look like?

• What data, either qualitative or quantitative, could be used to prove success? Data and

measurement are the most difficult aspect of performance planning. Nonetheless, the

conversation is necessary.

Data Types

Data Collection Methods

Quality/accuracy rates

Automated reports

Quantity of …

Automated reports

Customer satisfaction rates

Survey results

Percentage on-time of services

(turnaround times)

Cost reduction efforts

Time saved

Adapted from the University of California SMART Goals: A How to Guide https://www.ucop.edu/

12/2020

“A” Achievable

This is a gut-check component of the SMART goal and placed to ensure that the goal is realistic for an

employee to accomplish, within reason. It can also be used to inspire performance.

Think about:

• How does someone accomplish the goal?

• Do they have the tools/skills needed?

• If not, consider what it would take to attain the skills. Perhaps, that should be the initial goal

and scaffold the goals over time

“R” Relevant

This is all about alignment. The individual goal should align with the department goal, which should align

with divisional goals and with the University imperatives. For example, an individual goal should not

contradict division goals about timely customer service for assurance of graduation rate benchmarks.

“T” Time-Bound

Create benchmark dates that take into account workload and progress. Adding deliverables into an

action plan is not a bad idea either.

Adapted from the University of California SMART Goals: A How to Guide https://www.ucop.edu/

12/2020

Appendix

A. EXAMPLES OF SMART GOALS

Ongoing

• Provide high quality customer service resulting in a 90% customer satisfaction rating from external

customers on accuracy, timeliness and courtesy measures on an ongoing basis.

• On an ongoing basis, reconcile the department financial reports by the 15th of every month with no

increase in reconciliation errors.

• On an ongoing basis, accurately process and dispatch 95% of service requests received via phone,

email and work order.

• Conduct education, monitoring and outreach to ensure that 95% of campus clients are utilizing the

zone management program as a first-stop to Facilities customer service.

• Manage the department budget to stay within allocations and accomplish 85% of service results by

the end of the fiscal year.

• Coach and support my direct reports resulting in attainment of 85% of all performance plan goals

and feedback from direct reports that I provided them with clear expectations, meaningful feedback

and fair performance evaluations by the end of the fiscal year.

New Project/Performance Cycle-Specific

• By March 2011, develop and implement a customer service plan that results in department staff

reporting that they are clear about expectations for excellent customer service and have the skills

and support to perform at that level and that results in customers reporting that they receive

excellent customer service.

• Reduce overtime in the department from 150 hours per month to 50 hours per month by the end of

the fiscal year with no increase in incident reports.

• Develop a quality improvement process for the sanitary sewer system that reduces the failure rate

to 1% by 12/31/19.

• By 11/30/19, update the employee handbook to include a process map for the top 10 most used

processes.

• Conduct outreach and education that reduces the amount of non-process compliant requests by

__% by June 30, 2020.

• Develop and implement vehicle replacement plan to increase the Average Fuel Economy to 30 Miles

per Gallon by 2020 for Midsize and Compact Vehicles and to increase the average Miles per Gallon

on the total fleet to 25 MPG by 2022.

Development Goals

• By June 30, 2020, develop and apply upgraded computer skills that enable me to produce budget

reconciliation reports each month in a timely and accurate fashion.

• Develop and practice my coaching skills so that my direct reports report that they feel more satisfied

with their work and able to perform at a higher level and such that I achieve a 30/70 split between

coaching and doing by June 30, 2020.

Adapted from the University of California SMART Goals: A How to Guide https://www.ucop.edu/

12/2020

B. Worksheet

Initial Goal (Write the goal you have in mind):

______________________________________________________________________________

1. Specific (What do you want to accomplish? Who needs to be included? When do you want to do this?

Why is this a goal?)

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Measurable (How can you measure progress and know if you’ve successfully met your goal?):

______________________________________________________________________________

3. Achievable (Do you have the skills required to achieve the goal? If not, can you obtain them? What is

the motivation for this goal? Is the amount of effort required on par with what the goal will achieve?):

______________________________________________________________________________

4. Relevant (Why am I setting this goal now? Is it aligned with overall objectives?):

______________________________________________________________________________

5. Time-bound (What’s the deadline and is it realistic?):

______________________________________________________________________________

S.M.A.R.T. Goal (Review what you have written, and craft a new goal statement based on what the

answers to the questions above have revealed):

______________________________________________________________________________