When it comes to annual performance reviews at work a popular evaluation method is the SMART goal. But it turns out this common tool is pretty stupid.
Here’s Five Fast Facts on Workplace SMART Goals ……:
- 🧠 Duhhh? - SMART stands for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound. Organizations like it because it fully defines the goal and sets a timeline. It’s intended to keep employees on track.
- 🤪Silly - One of the major drawbacks is that it can cause employees to focus on a pass/fail mentality: they’ll focus on that goal and that goal only in order to achieve it. Worse yes, if they fail? Whoa nelly! There goes their self-confidence.
- 🤯 Major Anxiety - SMART goals are over complicated. Not only do you have to choose a goal, you have to figure out how to make it fit into those five requirements. Let’s see you figure that out in a few weeks while also getting your work done on time.
- 🏛️ Rigid - SMART goals will not work for everyone in the company. What will the receptionist do – answer phones faster? They also don’t account for process-oriented goals or goals that require building relationships instead of a specific outcome.
- ⏱️ Temporary - SMART goals don’t allow for long-term planning. It sets employees on a path for something that needs to be completed this year, rather than in five. They don’t build toward the future, just for the end of the year.
🔥Bottom line: SMART goals are another example of trying to apply something that’s one-size-fits-all to an organization that is anything but. Sure, it might have worked at a Fortune 500 Company, but does that mean it’s going to work on the factory floor or the construction site? If employers are going to want to hire and retain quality employees, they need to change the way they do things on a number of different levels.
Have you ever been stuck with SMART goals?
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