How Do You Know Company-Appropriate Goals?

In the first 30 days of a job, goals are limited. Thirty-day goals relate to establishing yourself
at the company,
including learning policies and procedures, meeting other staff, establishing goals with the
supervisor,
getting to know the market, and learning about other departments.
Within the first 60 days, goals are broader but also limited in scope. Goals depend on the
level of the position,
with lower levels having more concrete, task-related goals and higher-level positions having
more assessment
and strategy-development goals. For example, an entry-level person might be learning how
to use
various computer systems, whereas a higher-level person might be reviewing a
department’s strategic direction
and performance.
Goals also depend on the profession. For example, in the first 30 days a salesperson might
have the goal of
learning sales strategy and tools, whereas a project manager might have the goal of
developing a complete
understanding of current projects. In 60 days, the salesperson might want to analyze
competitor strengths
and weaknesses, whereas the project manager might want to prepare a software-
development project plan.
Base the goals you choose on your knowledge of the profession, your job level, and the
position. Establishing
30- and 60-day goals is not difficult if you use your knowledge of the industry and the job,
keep the goals
limited, and present them as suggested goals rather than as final goals.
110
Active Interviewing: Branding, Selling, and Presenting Yourself to Win Your Next Job
What If You Have the Wrong Goals?
So far, none of my clients has had a wrong set of goals—not surprising, given that
developing a set of
accurate goals is not difficult. Some are more accurate than others, but all goals have been
realistic and
appropriate and have impressed the interviewer. Consider this: You know your profession,
you know the
job to which you are applying, and the goals are not highly specific and detailed. In addition,
the goals
are presented as your thinking based on what you know now and are open to change as
you learn more
about the job.
Candidates introduce their strategic action plan by saying, “I’m really interested in this
position [reinforcing
their motivation and interest in the job], and I want to add value to your company quickly. I
have developed
a set of goals that I think I can accomplish in the first 30 and 60 days, and I want to share
them with
you. Obviously, these goals are subject to change when I know more about the job, but they
are my goals
at this point.” So far, every interviewer has been very interested in hearing a candidate’s
strategic action
plan. Again, not surprising—why wouldn’t they be interested in how a person is going to
provide value to
their company?
It’s a Conversation
The best interviews are conversations. Your challenge is to actively create a conversation in
your interview
and not fall into the broken question-and-answer cross-examination format.
Presenting a strategic action plan creates a conversation. First, hiring managers are
intrigued when a candidate
mentions a strategic action plan and are eager to learn more. Second, discussing job goals,
how you
chose them, and how you will accomplish them provides a great deal of rich information for
the hiring manager.
This rich information typically generates questions that you are well prepared to answer,
given that
they are about your goals, knowledge, and thinking.
I’ve heard of several interviews where candidates have presented a strategic action plan,
and the interviewer
has responded by saying, “Those are good goals; however, we have a few fires going on in
the department
that need to be put out. How would you deal with…?” This is a great question elicited by the
strategic action
plan. As a candidate, you can then talk about your approaches to putting out these fires. My
clients would
not have learned about the fire had they not had a strategic action plan to which the
interviewer could
respond.
Be S.M.A.R.T. with Your Goals
Coined by George T. Doran in the November 1981 issue of Management Review,
S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym
for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. A S.M.A.R.T. goal
is a well-defined
goal. You probably won’t have all the information you need to develop comprehensive
S.M.A.R.T goals for
your interview, but you should try to come as close as possible. Also, questions interviewers
ask are typically
related to S.M.A.R.T issues, so you will be prepared to answer the questions.
111
Chapter 12 Your Strategic Action Plan
Specific
You’re more likely to accomplish a specific goal than a general one. To set a specific goal,
answer the six “W”
questions:
• Who? Who is involved?
• What? What do I want to accomplish?
• Where? Where is the location?
• When? What is the timeframe?
• Which? Which requirements and constraints do I need to consider?
• Why? What are the specific reasons, purposes, or benefits of accomplishing the goal?
For example, a general goal would be getting to know the customers. A specific goal would
say, “Within the
first 60 days, schedule a customer meeting at our headquarters location with the top 10
revenue-producing
customers.”
Measurable
Establish criteria for measuring progress toward attaining each goal you set. When you
measure your
progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the achievement that
motivates you to
continue the effort required to reach your goal.
To determine whether your goal is measurable, ask questions such as how much? How
many? How will I
know when it is accomplished? For example, meeting with the top 10 revenue-producing
customers in 60
days is a measurable goal. Becoming 100 percent proficient on company-specific
information systems in 30
days is a measurable goal.
Attainable
Attainable goals are achievable, acceptable, and action-oriented. As a strategy for your
strategic action plan,
focus on smaller attainable goals rather than larger, more audacious goals. For example,
restructuring the
department’s workflow is probably too large, but identifying and fixing one workflow
bottleneck is not.
Also, be sure to make your goals active rather than passive. For example, reach out to
customers as opposed
to waiting for sales numbers to be reported.
Realistic
A realistic goal is one you are willing and able to work toward. The goal is probably realistic
if you truly
believe you can accomplish it. Also, you know your goal is realistic if you have
accomplished something similar
in the past; ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal. For
example, if you
have been able to implement a new training program or you participated in a training
program that had a
positive impact in a prior position, implementing that program in a new position may be a
realistic goal.
112
Active Interviewing: Branding, Selling, and Presenting Yourself to Win Your Next Job
Timely
A goal should be grounded within a timeframe to give it urgency and “trackability.” When
you have a timeframe,
it focuses the goal and makes progress measurable. As suggested earlier in this chapter,
the recommended
timeframes for strategic action goals are 30 days and 60 days. These timeframes will make
your
goals timely. For example, “In the first 30 days, I will meet with all the department heads
that this position
supports and identify their most critical needs.”
Simple Beats Bold
Some of my clients want to use the strategic action plan to impress the hiring manager with
bold goals that
will leave the hiring manager dying to hire them. For example, “Within the first 60 days, I will
implement a
plan to increase shareholder value by 27 percent while increasing revenue by 40 percent
and reducing product
error rates by 60 percent.” Small, attainable goals are more realistic in a short timeframe,
and they portray
you as a more conservative, well-grounded employee.
No company wants someone—even a CEO—shaking up the company in the first 60 days.
A good 60-day
goal for any level of position is “listen 80 percent and speak 20 percent.” (Some candidates,
particularly
entry-level ones, actually put this goal in their interview presentation. Hiring managers like
junior employees
to be aware that they need to learn a lot.) Also, one of the primary objectives of the strategic
action plan
is to create a goals conversation. Goals do not have to be big, bold, and risky to stimulate a
conversation—
small realistic goals work just fine.
Strategic Action Plan Goal Examples
I have included some examples of goals broken down by professions. Just as they would be
listed in an interview
presentation, the goals are just “headlines,” and you would add the S.M.A.R.T. detail during
the interview
conversation.
General management position goals:
• Listen, observe, and ask questions.
• Review people’s workloads, priorities, and demands.
• Schedule meetings with key decision makers.
• Ask people what they need.
• Review the departmental budget.
• Build internal credibility.
Marketing position goals:
• Identify critical industry trends.
• Initiate advertising agency review.
• Read competitors’ annual reports.
• Review performance indicators.