5.1. Identify and understand where expectations exist for that position.

• Formal: Job descriptions, organisational standards, project plans, programme goals, supervision requests
• Informal: Feedback, meetings, discussions, organisational culture

5.2. Key Result Areas (KRAs)

Key result areas are the major functions or areas of accountability that the person is responsible for accomplishing throughout the year. Within each KRA there are a set of specific job duties and tasks that need to be accomplished to achieve the desired result.

5.3. Develop Goals for the Work Plan

• Goal are specific achievements or personal development objectives assigned for a given time period (monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually) and, if applicable, given a priority or weight relative to other assigned tasks.
• Goals help every employee in an organisation to understand what is expected of them to be successful in their job. The goals that an employee and their manager create are specific objectives relevant to the job and are designed to help employees grow in their career. During performance reviews, employees are evaluated and rated on these goals to determine how successfully they’ve met performance expectations.

• Goal Examples:

• Ensure targets are achieved.
• Improve overall performance of employees.
• Ensure all staff are participating in training courses offered during the year.
• Attend Conflict / Strategic Thinking Programme (current quarter).
• Create a draft work plan for developing a new performance evaluation by a set date.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

SMART goals clarify what and when, not how or why. They clarify roles and responsibilities so everyone who reads the goals can fully understand the scope and accountability. They identify accountability for task completion. Every SMART goal should have the following five characteristics.

The following goal meets all five criteria:

Within the review period every year, provide every employee with her / his completed correctly documented performance evaluation that is mutually agreed to by supervisor, employee, and management team.

1. Specific:

Goals should be straightforward and emphasize what you want to happen. Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do. Specific is the What, Why, and How of the SMART model:

WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as direct, organize, coordinate, lead, develop, plan, build etc. WHY is this important to do at this time? What do you want to ultimately accomplish? HOW are you going to do it?

To set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions:

• Who: Who is involved?
• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• Where: Identify a location.
• When: Establish a time frame.
• Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
• Why: Specific reasons, purpose, or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

2. Measurable:

A measurable goal tells the employee exactly what is expected so there is no opportunity for confusion. Words such as better, excellent, or high-level are not measurable. Your definition of these words may not be the same as others’. There are two ways to measure whether a goal has been met: quantity and quality.

Quantity: Quantity indicators include hard figures such as numbers of youth enrolled, or funding in rand or percentages. Quantity measurements may be expressed in one of the following ways:

• As a known standard, such as monthly reports due 2nd of each Month.
• As a comparison, as in “15% increase over previous year,” or “not to exceed 5% over previous years’ budget.” Be sure to include the comparison indicator with a percentage or ratio (such as “reduce operating expenses by 15% compared to last year”).
• As a ratio or percent that can be tracked over a given period, such as “Greater than 95% ”

Quality: These are conditions that indicate a result has been achieved. You can use either a comparison or a known standard. To decide whether to use a quality measurement, ask how will I know when it is achieved? An example of a quality measurement is complying with all conditions as outlined in the organisational employee handbook or treating all clients and staff respectfully and compassionately as defined by organisational principles.

3. Attainable:

Both the supervisor and the employee must agree that this goal is reasonable and within the employee’s job description.

You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them.

It’s unlikely you will commit to achieving goals you set which are too far out of your reach. Although you may start with the best of intentions, the knowledge that it’s too much for you means your subconscious will keep reminding you of this fact and will stop you from even giving it your best.

A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you. The feeling of success that this brings helps you to remain motivated.

4. Relevant:

To be relevant a goal must represent an objective that you are both willing and able to work towards. The goal must be within the employee’s control and ability to influence the outcome. The goal should be aligned with the organisational strategic goals and the employee should understand how his / her goal contributes to organisational success.

5. Time-bound:

Time-bound goals include a target date or a specific time period in which to meet the goal.

Examples include:

• By the end of the review period
• By the end of the quarter or year
• Every month
• Every time
• On an ongoing basis