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How I'm Managing Employee Performance Goals (Free Tool Included)

How I'm Managing Employee Performance Goals (Free Tool Included)

Learn how we set annual performance goals w/ staff and how we manage to them.

Brandon Hall
February 11, 2023

Hey 👋 - Brandon here.

Happy Saturday to 780 growth-minded accountants.

Here’s one growth tip for you and your firm.

Today’s issue takes less than 10 minutes to read.

(I have two free bonuses for you in Step 3 of this newsletter)

Today I'm going to explain how we set employee performance goals and track progress.

Our methodology ensures alignment throughout our firm which helps us achieve our firm's strategic plan. Additionally, this method should save a ton of time at the end of the year as it will replace the traditional performance review.

Unfortunately, while setting goals is great, they won't be achieved if you don't manage them consistently.

What doesn't get measured, doesn't get done

Many firms don't set employee performance goals because:

They don't understand the value of doing so
They don't have time to facilitate the process of goal setting
They don't know how to manage to performance goals on an ongoing basis

But after reading this newsletter, you're going to be one of the few firms that helps your employees set performance goals.

Here's how, step by step:

Step 1: Goals Should Be SMART

Setting goals that are clearly defined, measurable, and achievable is critical to success.

I use the SMART formula but put extra emphasis on "measurable" and "achievable" when goal setting.

For example, while we were goal setting, a manager's first draft of their goal was "deliver a world-class experience to all clients by 12/31/23."

I love the direction, but the goal isn't measurable.

So I asked the manager to imagine it's the last day of the year and to look back on all the work that has been accomplished. How do they know they delivered a world class experience? What specific wins did they have?

After working through this, the manager decided they would measure success based on the average score from NPS surveys.

And because this manager is a go-getter, they set the target NPS of 9/10.

I then asked "how do you know 9/10 can be achieved?" Because in reality, we had no prior NPS data related to this manager's business unit since we'd never sent an NPS survey to their clients.

So instead of locking in an arbitrary metric where we have no bearing on achievability, we decided to send 50 NPS surveys out during Q1 to see what the average score was and then improve that score by 10-15% by 12/31/23.

The manager's new goal: deliver a world-class experience by establishing a baseline Q1 NPS score and increasing that by 10-15% by 12/31/23.

Step 2: Goals Should Cascade

Now the manager had a SMART goal... but stopping there would ensure failure.

Next, we asked, "how will the manager's team help them accomplish this goal?" The same goal-setting process was then deployed to the seniors and associates on the manager's team.

When the entire team is aligned, the chances of success skyrocket.

Each person on the manager's team needed to have a goal related to the manager’s goal of delivering a world-class experience. After we went through the process, some staff had goals related to ensuring a certain number of NPS surveys were sent by the end of Q1.

But you can get creative with it too.

We started asking "what are the inputs to delivering a world-class experience." One of the staff decided it would be a good idea to send clients a business book with a handwritten note. So they ended up with a goal of sending 30 books with handwritten notes to clients.

And now we'll be able to see if the NPS is higher with those 30 clients than with others.

If you are wondering how your team will react to setting goals, they'll absolutely love it as long as they feel the goal is achievable and they have the support needed to accomplish it.

Here's proof:

Step 3: Monitor on an Ongoing Basis

The last step is to monitor progress on an ongoing basis.

A trap I have historically fallen into is setting goals at the beginning of the year and then failing to discuss them until the end of the year. Looking back, I don't know why I was so surprised our goals were never accomplished.

I realized I needed a way to facilitate ongoing goal accountability without creating a huge time suck for myself, my partners, or managers.

After consulting with a few industry experts, I developed this tracking tool (free download).

The idea behind it is to hold a 10-15 minute meeting once per month per employee with the only agenda item being an update on goal progress. My job as a leader is to help people stay on track by providing accountability to their ongoing milestones and helping to redirect their attention and efforts on an ongoing basis.

Here's a loom video I recorded for you that explains how to use the tracker.

That’s all for this Saturday.

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