By Holly Jones, JD, Senior Legal Editor
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But, what about your strategic HR housekeeping?
The New Year is also a great time to set a strategic resolution or two. Yet because strategic efforts are not regulated by mandatory compliance standards or new laws taking effect January 1, 2016, you may find it a bit more difficult to identify and narrow down strategic areas to tackle. So, let’s go over a few methods to help you adopt—and achieve—your strategic goals in the New Year.
Having trouble connecting with the c-suite? Start on Friday, January 22, 2016, with a new interactive webinar—HR’s Place at the Executive Table: Boost Your Stock When You Contribute to the Strategic Mission. Learn More
Get SMART—The Most Common Template for Setting Personal and Business Goals
You may already be familiar with the concept of SMART goals. Whether you’re working on business objectives, career development, health and fitness, financial growth, or any other area of improvement, the idea of SMART goals is a common and broadly applicable one.
SMART goals are goals that are:
Specific. The goal must be clearly defined and not subject to ambiguity or interpretation. For example, “decrease turnover” is more specific than “improve employee relations.”
Measurable. The goal must be able to be measured or tracked in some way. For example, “decrease turnover by 5%.”
Attainable. The goal must be realistic and achievable by the person setting it. This not only means setting attainable expectations for the measurement of the goal—for example, “eliminate all turnover” would not be an attainable goal—but it also means that the goal should be one within the authority and ability of the person making it.
If a goal is one that will require executive approval for every step of the process, then it may not be attainable enough to be your SMART goal. (This shouldn’t suggest that the underlying proposal wouldn’t be a great initiative to submit to your executive leadership; however, achievement of that initiative should not be your personal goal. Rather, proposal of one new strategic initiative to the executive team may be your goal.)
Relevant. The goal should be relevant to your role in the organization as well as to your organization’s mission and values.
Time-bound. Just as a goal must be measured or tracked in some way, there must also be a target date for its completion. So, “decrease employee turnover by 5% by December 31, 2016.”
SMART goals have helped numerous people and organizations increase revenue, lose weight, launch new careers, etc. But, some critics suggest that SMART goals are a bit dated when one considers the current business environment, which calls for adaptability, collaboration (both within and among departments), and strong personal investment, or the “why,” in helping a larger organization succeed.
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When SMART Goals Aren’t a Good Fit, Consider CLEAR Goals.
A recent INC.com article suggests the use of CLEAR goals instead of SMART goals. The concept of CLEAR goals comes from entrepreneur and former Olympic rower Adam Kreek.
These goals are:
Collaborative. Very few of us—especially in HR—work in a vacuum. So, developing goals that are not specifically intended to allow for or to encourage collaboration may be setting ourselves up to fail, despite all of our best efforts.
Collaborative goals not only encourage participation from multiple parties but they also may result in better solutions due to the diverse, varied perspectives and expertise on tap to solve the problem. Further, collaborative goals include peers who can keep each other—and you—accountable.
Limited. This element combines a couple of the key requirements of a SMART goal: that the goal be time-based and be attainable. Limited goals are those with clear parameters for both the scope of the goal and its duration.
Emotional. Think about something you do that you consider a hobby, then think about something you consider a passion. If you set a goal to pursue your hobby for 10 minutes every single day, how likely do you think you would be to stick with it? Would this change if your goal were in pursuit of your passion?
The difference between the two isn’t necessarily that one goal is more difficult or less attainable—after all, it’s only 10 minutes every day in each case. But, the greater emotional investment in the task that you are passionate about allows you to look forward to the daily goal and to pursue it with consistent energy and enthusiasm.
Goals with emotional investment are less likely to be forgotten or put off in favor of other tasks, so if you can set goals that stakeholders are passionate about and emotionally invested in achieving, then you’ll be more likely to maintain focus and attention on that goal for the long haul.
Appreciable. Appreciable goals are those that are broken down into smaller sub-goals that can be tracked and accomplished in a shorter time.
If you’re familiar with personal debt management, then you may have heard of the popular “snowball” method for paying off personal debt. This tactic advises individuals to start with the smallest debt, pay it off, and then use the momentum (and available cash) from that quick win to go after the next largest debt. Rinse and repeat. This method may not seem financially sound from the logical perspective of paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first, but it is still extremely successful.
The feeling of accomplishment of meeting a smaller goal sparks energy and excitement toward the next larger goal (while also driving stakeholders further down the path to achievement of the ultimate goal). If the only goal you set will not be realized, measured, or rewarded for a full year, then even the most enthusiastic participants may lose drive and passion a few months into the journey.
Tomorrow we’ll hear more from Jones about the “R” in CLEAR goal-setting, as well as setting strategic goals, plus an introduction to an interactive webinar, HR’s Place at the Executive Table: Boost Your Stock When You Contribute to the Strategic Mission.