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Performance reviews - employee guidance:

3.Future work goals and objectives

On this page:

    Introduction

    Once you’ve finished the first part and reviewed your performance over the past year, you need to move on to part two. For this you’ll need to start thinking about the year ahead.

    At your performance review meeting, you and your manager will talk about, and record, your goals and objectives for the next review period. Your manager may have some suggestions based on the service plan, and your team’s priorities, but since you’re the one who knows your role best, its important that you share your ideas and that you agree any future plans together.

    What you need to do

    Work through these steps so you are ready to discuss your future plans and objectives with your manager.

    1
    Prepare some ideas

    Make a list of the things you want to achieve over the next year. Consider any:

    • work you are currently involved in
    • future projects you are aware of, and what you want to achieve with them
    • ideas you have to make improvements either within your team or to a service you offer.

    2
    Familiarise yourself with your team and service plans

    You may find it useful to look at your team plan and/or service area plan. These documents provide a strategic framework aligned to wider organisational goals and objectives

    Think about any goals you can set yourself that will directly contribute to the overall success of the council.

    3
    Break down your list

    Now look at the things you want to achieve. These are likely to be fairly broad goals - things you can achieve over the next year.

    Take some time to break down each of these goals into a set of objectives. These are the specific tasks you set yourself to achieve them. Make sure the objectives follow the SMART framework.

    We appreciate it is not always easy to think in terms of goals and objectives, so we have given you an example below. We have also created the goals and objectives explained section to help you.

    Goals and objectives explained

    Quite often the terms ‘goals’ and ‘objectives’ are used interchangeably, but in the context of your performance review they have distinct meanings.

    Goals:

    • are the big things you aim for, like overarching ambitions that you want to achieve
    • usually take a while to achieve, so they are long-term
    • are more about the direction of your work, meaning they can’t be measured.

    To reach a goal, you need to establish at least one objective, but probably more.

    Objectives are:

    • smaller, more defined steps you take that move you towards your goal
    • short-term and have more immediate deadlines
    • a way of breaking down a goal to make it more achievable and help you remain focused.

    Any objectives you set should follow the SMART framework.

    It may be easier to understand if you think of it this way....

    Goals are your big dreams or destinations. They're like the exciting places you want to visit someday. For example, imagine your goal is to travel the world, this is the big, overarching thing you're aiming for in the long run.

    Objectives are like the smaller, practical steps you take to reach those big dreams. They're the little pit stops or landmarks on your journey. So, if your goal is to travel the world, your objectives could be things like saving money, planning your itinerary, or learning a different language.

    SMART objectives

    When you are setting objectives, it’s best to use the SMART framework. SMART stands for:

    • Specific
    • Measurable
    • Achievable
    • Relevant
    • Time-bound.

    With SMART objectives, you make clear, understandable targets that are easier to reach. Now, let's look at each part:

    Each service plan explains how their service area is working to achieve the goals outlined in the council business plan, and includes:

    • what the service does and how it is structured
    • a summary of the service area’s budget
    • a review of what the service has achieved and the challenges it has faced
    • key deliverables they must meet to align with council priorities
    • specific operational tasks that are critical to delivering services effectively
    • details of how the service is working towards business change, and embracing digital and agile ways of working
    • a review of current and future workforce needs and how they will be met
    • plans on how the service will contribute to corporate equality objectives
    • strategies for supporting the environment and dealing with the effects of climate change
    • an overview of strategic risks, including a service risk register
    • a roadmap for their service over the next three years.

    All service plans are reviewed and updated towards the end of each year.

    Find the service plan for your service area

    Team plans

    A team plan provides clarity on the team’s purpose, mission and objectives. It may also include mechanisms for monitoring progress and evaluating performance. There isn’t a standard format so your team’s plan could be defined in a word document, project planning software or something else.

    If you are not familiar with your team plan, talk to your line manager who should be able to share it for you.

    Service plans

    Example work goal and objectives

    Here’s an example of a work goal and the objectives you could set to meet it:

    Goal:
    Encourage more customers to use an online form to access a service.

    Objective 1:
    Within the next two months, review the online form to make sure it is well-structured, user-friendly, functions efficiently, and provides an excellent end-to-end customer journey.

    Objective 2:
    Within four months, test the online form to make sure it is compatible with all web browsers and accessible across a range of devices, such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones.

    Objective 3:
    Within six months, update the website content to make sure customers understand when and why they should use the form, and make it easy to find on the website.

    Objective 4:
    Within nine months, work with other services to increase awareness of the online service. This could be done through marketing campaigns, social media, and promoting the service through staff at customer service centres.

    Specific

    Make sure your objectives clearly say what you want to achieve. Unclear objec­tives can lead to confusion and leave you uncer­tain on how to proceed.

    For example, instead of having an objective to ‘raise more money’, your objective could be to ‘raise £20,000 by the end of the year’. This gives you something more specific to work towards.

    Measurable

    It's important that you can measure your progress towards your objectives so you know how you're doing. Ideally you should look for quantifiable results that can be expressed in numerical terms.

    For example, if one of your objectives was to organise a community event, you could agree with your manager that it was successful if 100 or more people attended.

    Achievable

    Make sure the objective is challenging but also realistic. Take into account the resources you have available. It's important to push yourself, but don’t set the target to be so difficult it discourages you.

    Relevant

    Your objectives should connect directly to your goal, so your efforts count towards something important.

    Time-bound

    Setting deadlines for your objectives helps you stay on track and focused, making it more likely you'll reach them on time.

    Employee confidential helpline

    0330 380 0658

    Speak to fully qualified counsellors and support specialists at any time, 365 days a year.

    Use code 107574 to access the online resources.

    More about the employee assistance programme

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