Career & Leadership | Managing My Career

CREATING SMART ER DEVELOPMENT GOALS

PROCESS: Purpose: To provide you with some guidelines and a thought process for creating truly
1. Leader provides SMART development goals, and then discussing them with your leader and getting
copies of this document his/her support.
to all team members.
Mastering new skills that will drive your success at work, begins with setting SMART
development goals.
2. Leader reviews tool
with direct reports (in SPECIFIC—Development goals should be specific concerning observable actions,
a team meeting) and behaviors or business outcomes you are trying to achieve.
asks them to use the
process to prepare for Because outcomes are often harder to capture in a development setting, there is a
their Development Goals tendency to focus on developmental processes. For example, attending a class on
Conversation. mentoring is part of the process. The outcome, getting new employees up to speed faster,
is much more important, and should be the focus of the goal.
3. Leader meets with MEASURABLE—Given our understanding of outcome-oriented objectives, we need to
each individual to focus on how to measure the correct application of skill. In most cases, this means that
discuss her or his we will be measuring a person’s improved behavior or increased ability to achieve work
development goals. outcomes:
•B
 ehavior can be observed by other people. Accordingly, one way to measure a
development objective is to have it verified by an informed observer who is looking for
pre-defined behaviors or actions. (See example # 3 on the next page.)
•A
 bility can often be measured in terms of specific task or project outcomes.
(See example #2 on the next page.)
“Whatever you
can do, or dream ACHIEVABLE WITH CHALLENGE— Acquiring new habits or mastering new skills is
not realistic unless one has the necessary support. This support could include the time
you can . . . begin
and access to appropriate training opportunities. More importantly, this support needs to
it; boldness has include opportunities to practice and receive feedback. And the best way for individuals
genius, power and to secure this support from management is to show the link between their development
magic in it.” goals and specific outcomes that matter to the business. In addition, development goals
Johann von Goethe are not usually relevant if they fail to build on your talents and passions.
To understand what “challenge” means in terms of development goals, we need to
distinguish between knowledge and skill. Knowledge comes from traditional development
processes such as taking a class or reading articles. Skill is the ability to apply that
knowledge in ways that lead to effective decisions, appropriate actions and better
business results. Skills, correctly applied, are the outcomes that we are seeking.
Developing skills requires significantly more effort and commitment than acquiring
knowledge. Applying the principle of “Learning by Doing” will help you write goals
that are more challenging. In addition, challenge requires that the development goal be
outcome rather than process focused. And finally, a truly challenging goal can probably
not be achieved without help from others.
RESULTS-ORIENTED—The goal must be aligned with short- or long-term business needs,
and with the career interests and development needs of the individual.
TIME-BOUND—As with business goals, development goals need to be supported with
specific action-steps and milestones, and a date by which the new skill is to be mastered.

Source: Targeted Learning


CREATING SMART ER DEVELOPMENT GOALS
CHECKLIST
SPECIFIC
Identify what you will do
clearly and without ambiguity,
i.e. observable, state outcomes
Start with an action word.
Clear to a third party
MEASURABLE
Depict the outcome in
observable terms, numerical
terms when possible.
Specify resources to be used.
ACHIEVABLE
Ensure the objectives are
realistic, but challenging.
Within accountability and
control (at least partly)
Supported (by leader and
others)
Breakthrough vs. incremental
Requires new skills/methods/
processes
RESULTS-ORIENTED
Describe an outcome, rather
than an activity. Focus on
something that will impact
your team, department or
organization.
Aligned with individual’s
interests and development
needs
TIME-BOUND
Have a deadline or target date
for achieving the objective.
Milestones
My Leadership | Managing My Career
Poor Examples:
1. D
 evelop technical expertise
in both the SAP Supply and
Distribution and the Materials
Management modules.
2. A
 ttend a marketing class oriented
to creating a customer focus and
achieve a B grade or higher.
3. A
 ttend a class on interpersonal
communication skills.
4. Improve my leadership skills.
SMART Examples:
1. D
 evelop technical expertise
in both the SAP Supply and
Distribution and the Materials
Management modules to
become the department power
user and trainer by the end of
the first quarter. Average trainer
ratings (using standard workshop
evaluation forms) to be 3.7 or
higher by the end of the 3rd
quarter.
2. D
 evelop and demonstrate
greater customer focus: attend
a marketing/customer service
class (1st quarter); create and
implement a plan that will reduce
overall complaints and returns
by 20 percent—by end of 3rd
quarter.
3. C
 onsistently demonstrate effective
interpersonal/listening skills
as rated by my fellow team
members. By August 1st, and
monthly thereafter, I should get
a 4 or better (on a 5 point
scale) as rated according to the
agreed-upon list of six specific
listening behaviors.
4. D
 evelop greater leadership
skills by recruiting at least 10
volunteers to work with me
on a United Way campaign
to raise funds for a homeless
shelter. Keep a daily journal
on my successes and failures,
and leadership lessons learned.
Financial targets and milestones
to be set by the team by the end
of March.
Source: Targeted Learning