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Objectives
Made Easy
By Joan Henshaw
Table of Contents
About the Author
Introduction
Using Performance Objectives as the Foundation of
Effective Management
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12
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Summary
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Introduction
Performance objectives are an amazingly
effective tool for improving employee
performance and employee job satisfaction.
They make managing employee performance
not only more effective - but much, much
easier.
Theyre a tool that managers, just like you, can use again and again not just for improving
and managing performance but also for:
Getting clearer on what you want from your employees, means youll get more of
what you need from them. Dont make the mistake many business owners and
managers make by assuming your employees know whats expected of them.
Perhaps they should but they often dont.
Your employees will struggle to give you what you want if they are unclear of your
objectives. This causes so much frustration in the workplace, time and again we
hear unhappy employees say, I just want to know what my boss wants from me.
Why doesnt he/she just tell me?
Planning performance
1. Identifying, writing and agreeing
performance objectives.
Making expectations clear
2. Discussing how the objectives contribute to
the business goals.
Ensuring employees connect their efforts to
the mission and purpose of the business
Development planning
4. Discussing the employees
development aspirations and objectives.
Planning development activities.
Encouraging development and helping
staff match their abilities to the role
Managing performance
3. Monitoring and measuring performance
against objectives so that you are...
Providing ongoing, regular and specific
feedback on performance. Identifying and
acknowledging outstanding performance
and any areas for improvement.
Frequently giving feedback and recognition
What you can see from our model is how performance objectives are the foundation of
effective management. By planning to use performance objectives as part of a structured
management approach you make the whole issue of managing peoples performance (and
improving their job satisfaction) much easier
But of course, we are still left with the issue of the amount of time, effort and energy it
takes to identify and write performance objectives. Lets move on to look at my top tips for
Saving time
Saving effort and energy
You can find out how to monitor and measure performance against objectives and how to
provide on-going, regular and specific feedback on performance in my e-book titled
Instant Performance Objectives by visiting www.performance-objectives.com
Tip #1: Only use performance objectives that will significantly improve
performance
Many managers and business owners make the
mistake of assuming they have to be applied to each
and every part of the employees job role.
They dont in fact; the best way to use
performance objectives is to focus only on those that
will improve employee and business performance.
Heres a way to identify those objectives:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Follows procedure
Meets deadlines
Accurate work
Team worker
Open to change
Good time management
Solution focused
Creative
Step #2
Now make a list for each one of your employees and delete any attribute the employee is
already demonstrating to the standard you are satisfied with.
Step #3
You should now be left with the list of he attributes your employees are NOT currently
demonstrating. In short, you need something from your employee that they are not
currently giving you.
Step #4
For each attribute left on your list ask yourself this question, Have I clearly described to my
employee what I mean by this attribute?
Say, for example, you still have Good interpersonal skills on your list
for a particular employee, you need to ask yourself if you have
clearly described to him/her what you mean by good interpersonal
skills?
If you still have Meets targets on your list, have you specifically
described those targets?
Lack of clarity could be the problem
Lack of clarity on expectations is the single most important reason why employees dont
perform to the standard their managers require.
This is why writing and agreeing performance objectives for these attributes are so vital
when you are seeking to improve employee performance.
Now you have identified those attributes you are not seeing demonstrated by the
employee.
You can use specific performance objectives to clarify your expectations with them and to
seriously improve their performance. Lets look at an example.
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Preparing for team meetings and events reading the agenda, looking for areas where you
can contribute to the discussion, researching (if appropriate) e.g. looking for data the team
would find useful
Contributing to team meetings and events talking through ideas at the appropriate time
(when the agenda item is reached or when asked), making points clearly, checking that other
team members have understood what has been said
5. You take action to identify ways in which the team can work together more effectively
6. You identify and share knowledge and expertise that other team members can use to improve
performance
7. Effective use of team resources time, knowledge, expertise, physical resources (materials,
equipment etc.) AND WHEN
8. Any feedback from your team members is positive
Can you see the difference having team work described as a range of performance
objectives can make? How you can achieve the level of clarity with your employee that
improves performance and satisfaction?
Do you see how you can use a range of objectives to make the discussion with your
employee a collaborative one?
Its a common misunderstanding that you need to impose performance objectives you
dont - if you have a range of objectives you and your employee can work with (see Tip 3 for
more information on this).
The simple principle here is that your employees cant give you what they dont know you
want. The whole purpose of performance objectives is to ensure that your employees know
exactly what they need to do.
You can find a full, comprehensive list of over 200 Performance
Objectives (describing attributes) in my instantly downloadable eBook
Instant Performance Objectives by visiting: www.performanceobjectives.com which includes a wide range of objectives for:
Change management
Client management
Interpersonal skills
Management skills
Organisational skills
Personal Effectiveness
Recruitment Skills
Team Work
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Tip #2: Use what you have already (stop reinventing the wheel!)
Im guessing by now youre really seeing the benefits of describing to
your employees what you want and need as performance objectives,
right? So, youll know if you want your employees to be more open
to change you need to describe, specifically, what open to change
looks like in practice.
If you want them to be more creative you need to describe what
you want to see them doing (because performance objectives are all
about describing what you want your employees to do, remember?)
But where do you get these descriptions from?
Now, you could sit down and ask yourself the simple question what does it look like?
So, what does open to change look like in practice? What does creative look like? How
about solution focused? or interpersonal skills?
Can you imagine how long its going to take you to write, edit, and re-write your
descriptions as performance objectives and clear, action focused descriptions?
Too long!! I know you just dont have time to do this
So thats why I suggest you take a good look at the resources you already have in your
business that describes the behaviors you want your employees to demonstrate (and more
importantly, you can easily edit into performance objectives).
Ive prepared a list for you of examples of resources managers typically use:
Resources to help you write performance objectives
Job descriptions
Person specifications
Performance standards
Competency descriptions
Handbooks (e.g. staff handbook)
Guidance notes
Training manuals
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If you DONT already have these resources in your business then take a look at my e-book
Instant Performance Objectives. 200 Performance Objectives and How to Use Them by
visiting: www.performance-objectives.com
a) Its so much easier to write a performance objective by editing someone elses work.
After all, who has the time and energy to start from scratch and begin with a blank page?
b) All the objectives in my e-book are based on best practice research. For example, the
objectives written for Team work are based on extensive research on what effective teams
do. The objectives related to Effective Time Management are based on extensive research
on best practice in time management.
This means that the objective your employees come up with will be based on best practice,
and thats got to be a good thing!
Alternatively, you could give them the documentation youve found using Tip 2 and ask
them to write an objective using based on that.
Introducing the idea of your employee writing the performance objective(s)
It goes without saying; youll have to explain to your employee why you want them to write
the objective (s). Youll need to explain the purpose of the performance objective and why
its important to the business that the employee achieves the objective (which gives you an
added bonus of meeting an employee job satisfaction need because we know from research
that employees want to connect their efforts to the mission and purpose of your business)
In short, they want answers to the questions: Why am I doing this? How does my work
help our business be successful?
Take a look at Tip 1, Scenario Two and youll see how I demonstrated this:
weve got some big challenges facing us as a business including increasing our client
retention rates. It seems to me that if we can improve the way we work together as a team
we can improve our efficiency so that we improve the service we give to our clients, and so
improve retention
I explain in depth in my e-book Instant Performance Objectives how to communicate
objectives in a way that motivates our employees to meet those objectives. I also explain
what to do if your employee writes an objective that you dont agree with! Find out more at
www.performance-objectives.com
Tip 4: Use the performance objectives again, and again, and again!
Typically we use performance objectives for improving employee performance (and they
certainly do!). Did you know you can also use performance objectives:
To make career development discussions much easier and more effective?
As an employee training tool?
As a process improvement tool?
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For b) the easiest way to explain what you mean by, for example, a high level of proficiency
in client servicing is to use performance objectives.
This is simply because performance objectives describe in clear, action - focused language
what effective performance looks likes.
So you can then go on to say let me explain exactly what I mean by client servicing using
these performance objectives
Overleaf youll see a range of objectives you could use (taken from my e-book Instant
Performance Objectives):
EXAMPLE PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES for CLIENT SERVICING
Consistently demonstrate:
1. A full understanding of the clients business
2. A breadth and depth of knowledge of our services / products
3. Applying sound professional practices (as agreed / set down in ...)
4. Providing advice which peers / manager would consider appropriate
5. Producing accurate advice / strategic plans that address the clients needs
6. Applying a range of strategies which have contributed to developing long-term
relationships with clients
7. Effectively using time and resources so that commitments made to the client are achieved
and deadlines met
And when
8. Any client feedback is that they are highly satisfied with the service you have provided
Step 2: Evaluation
You can now ask your employee to evaluate themselves against the objectives that you have
decided describe effective performance in the job the next level role. You may need to ask
them for evidence of their assessment examples and samples.
So if they say they can apply a range of strategies for developing long term relationships
with clients but you have seen no evidence of them having done that you would simply ask
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the employee for some examples or samples. You may also need to give your feedback,
again with evidence
Step 3 Identifying the gaps
Together you can now identify the gaps between where they are (based on their, and your,
evaluation) and where they need to be (the objectives)
Step 4 Identify and plan the development
Now you and the employee would identify 2 or 3 things they can begin improving on and
how they will do this
As an Employee Training Tool
Lets assume you want to train some of your employees in how to network more effectively.
Lets also assume you have a copy of my e-book Instant Performance Objectives (or some
other competencies or performance objectives describing effective networking).
You could simply use the Networking performance objectives as the objectives for the
training session.
Heres an example:
SAMPLE PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES for NETWORKING
Consistently demonstrate:
1. Identifying the objectives for networking e.g. meeting prospective clients / media
contacts / volunteers / employees
2. Planning network activities to meet the identified objectives
3. Attendance at networking events
4. Prepares for networking events by a) researching event attendees and identifying
network opportunities b) defining objectives for the event e.g. to collect contact details /
agree a meeting with identified prospects
5. Achieving the objectives identified
6. Using a system to record and manage contact details obtained
7. Using a planned approach to contacting prospects
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You can then simply design and deliver your training to meet the training and performance
objectives
The added benefit of using performance objectives as a training tool
One of the key challenges in employee training is ensuring the learning from the training
transfers into the workplace and that employees actually do something different as a
result of the training. A neat way to manage this is to hold a meeting with each employee
following the training in which you a) agree the performance objectives and b) how you and
the employee will monitor performance against the objectives
Process Improvement
Lets say you have decided to use the performance objectives from my e-book Instant
Performance Objectives for Managing employee performance with your team leaders. You
know that these objectives are based on best practice research and you see that one group
of objectives focus on the quarterly review meeting:
SAMPLE PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE FROM MANAGING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
Holding quarterly review meetings with each employee during which;
The employee is invited to review their performance against the agreed objectives
The employees job satisfaction is discussed and any areas for improvement
identified and, where possible, actions agreed
So you simply decide to incorporate quarterly review meetings into your performance
management processes.
In short, you can evaluate any number of your processes against the performance objectives
in the e-book in order to make improvements and bring your processes in line with best
practice
Summary
1. Research shows that;
Having clear objectives with effective measures improves performance by over 30%.
What difference would 10, 20 or even 30% improvement in performance make to
your results, your team, your business?
Teams who say that they know what was expected of them are found to be both
more productive, more profitable and had higher satisfaction ratings than those who
didnt. Performance objectives are the easiest way to help your employees
understand what is expected of them.
Employees who say they lack any real commitment to their job give one of the key
reasons for that lack of commitment as not knowing what was expected of them.
Performance objectives for the quantifiable - the quantity, quality and time elements of
the job such as:
o Money
o Deadlines
o Accuracy
o Speed
That you can cut, paste, easily adapt and use today
Performance objectives for those attributes you want and need your employees to
demonstrate. Imagine being able to improve your employees performance by having
at your fingertips clear, action focused descriptions - in areas such as:
Coaching
Delegation
Managing staff performance
Assertive behaviour
Dealing with requests
Receiving feedback
Effective telephone communication
Communicating change
Managing reactions to change
Being open to change
Presenting a case for change
Not only will you have 200 Instant Performance Objectives but Im going to show you
exactly how to these performance objectives to improve employee performance and
satisfaction and business performance. Ill show you;
How to identify which of these 200 performance objectives
will give you the best possible results in improving
performance
How to discuss the performance objectives with your
employees in a way that gains their total commitment to
achieving the objectives
How to monitor and measure actual performance against the
performance objectives
How to give the type of feedback on performance that your
employees want and need and that seriously improves
performance
Instant Performance Objectives 200 Performance Objectives and How To Use Them
To ORDER TODAY and get started visit: www.Performance-Objectives.com
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