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Many of us have heard of the SMART acronym and can say what it stands for but probably don’t appreciate how much it ties into Behavioural Science. Research in this area has consistently shown that smart goal setting (and supporting this with feedback) is one of the most effective ways of achieving high performance in the workplace. Well defined goals provides clarity which correlates with employee engagement, increased motivation and accountability.
SMART goals should make it really easy to objectively track progress and evaluate an individual’s performance. They provide clarity for the individual and the line manager Imagine you are a manager taking over a team and evaluating success at year end. Using the SMART method effectively should make this relatively easy, even if you are unaware of the individual’s context or history.
Making a goal specific enables an individual to clearly understand what is expected of them, avoiding misunderstanding when evaluating success. Similarly, having a measure allows us to quantify success, this could be particularly important if this feeds into performance ratings. It is also more motivational if people have the opportunity to overachieve on a goal so avoiding a measure of 100% will seem more attainable, which is also important. Relevant, means aligned to the business goals or strategy as well as the individual’s role. This gives a goal meaning or purpose which is linked to employee engagement. Finally, time bound sets a clear deadline for the goal to be achieved by.
The SMART framework makes sense as outlined above, however we can take it a step further with the help of goal setting theory.
Goal setting theory shows that realistic goals that are seen as stretching are more motivational than an easily manageable goal that is perceived as easily achievable. Of course, as line managers we don’t necessarily know what our team member considers to be stretching but attainable which is why we should discuss and agree specific objectives as opposed to just set goals and impose them.
Finally, we can make our goals even SMARTER by making sure they are engaging – the individual wants to achieve it, again this requires discussion or even allowing the team member to propose their own goals. Finally, consider making long term goals easily reviewable, perhaps by agreeing milestones so you can assess progress along the way. This aligns really well with the movement towards continuous feedback and year round performance management which is so important in aligning individual and business success. You can read more about how Actus Software supports all these things here if you would like to know more.
So now we understand why SMART or SMARTER is useful, the challenge is to put it into practice and write SMART goals. Here is an example, do you think it is SMART?
“Increase Customer Satisfaction by 10% by the end of October”
If you were to take on the management review for this person, how confident would you be about evaluating success against this? This is quite a common example of something that looks SMART at first glance but really isn’t when you scrutinise it. Increasing satisfaction by 10% doesn’t define a clear output, it is more of a process and the end of October isn’t a specific enough completion date. Let’s look at an improved version.
So this is a much more specific goal, it is quantifying how many responses and it is being specific about which clients, which system as well and also has a clear timeline. Perhaps you can make it even SMARTER but it is certainly an improvement on the current approach.
So if you are trying to write a SMART goal this checklist may help improve the management and leadership skills of your colleagues. Remember that you can also use the SMART formula for personal goals to help you stay motivated.
Hopefully you found this introduction to SMART goals insightful. If you want to know more on this topic you can download one of our many available resources such as this free Whitepaper Guide on How to Write SMART Objectives or watch our videos on the topic here.
We have covered what the SMART acronym stands for, why it is important and how it is a really useful way of measuring progress. We have discussed that vague goals fall short for people and businesses which is why we need to focus on specific measurable achievable and relevant goals if we want to improve performance through actionable steps. Lets take a look at some less challenging goals and consider how to improve them.
It is surprising how often people think this is SMART just because it has a percentage, but in reality this only demonstrates the Measure and Achievable aspect of SMART. It isn’t specific about what type of stock which could be counterproductive if we reduce the wrong type of stock and it causes supply issues – hence it could be positive or negative to business strategy. Also over 6 months isn’t clearly time bound, it could be seen as ambiguous.
Now we are getting more familiar with this – I am sure that we can see that increasing my sales by £1000 per month really isn’t SMART even thought there are numbers and percentages here. Ask yourself, if you were a new sales manager who took over in July 2026, would you know clearly whether the goal had been achieved? Probably not because it doesn’t define a clear output and we don’t know whether it is realistic.
Now had this been specified as a target of Selling £250,000 of product X by 31st July 2026 you absolutely would be able to see evidence of this as it is a specific measurable goal. Remember to set SMART goals, we need to think about the “WHAT”. All too often we see the ‘HOW’ set as an objective, these are processes not outputs.
At this stage I am sure you are starting to realise that goal setting is something of an art and this is why many managers really should receive additional training in this area. But you really don’t need any specialist tools. You just need to educate people how to write SMART goals, track progress and provide feedback as needed to see an improvement. It is a skill that shouldn’t be restricted to line managers. The SMART method is a really effective project management approach. Having the ability to define specific goals, is really valuable for focusing project teams on what is most relevant to achieve, what resources are needed and helps to monitor progress and guide action plans.
Let’s take one final look at an example of a process goal as opposed to a SMART goal.
This vague goal would be very difficult to measure success against as we don’t have ownership – the call centre staff do, we may not have the skills and we don’t know what the issues are. This possibly a supporting action or a weekly defined ‘How’ for a bigger goal next quarter.
To set goals like this, we need to think about WHY we might want to have an action like this and chunk this up. It refers to customer issues so potentially something like this:
This is much more of a clear example of an objective although you could probably make it smarter by understanding which issues in particular you are working on. I am sure you can see it is actually quite a skill to set realistic, goals and it is all too common to write process goals instead. Be careful not to start objectives using terms like monitor, assist, continue, improve because these are not defining outputs.
Actus have lots of resources that can help you set SMART goals and avoid the many challenges outlines above. Take a look at our short video on ‘Avoiding Common Problems with SMART objectives’ here to learn more.
Hopefully, you can now see the absolute power of SMART Goals and Objectives whether at work or personal. You now understand how useful they are to bring focus and help people to achieve their absolute best. It has been proven time and time again that clear goals, supported by regular, specific feedback is one of the most effective ways of encouraging stretch performance, motivation and alignment with business goals. Clear goals are also empowering and a valuable tool for individuals to self manage – particularly relevant in a hybrid environment.
Hopefully, the examples outlined above, along with the examples and resources we have provided will help you to educate your line managers and other individuals in your organisation to achieve more while maximising job satisfaction. Do get in touch if you would like to access more of our resources on this topic. We offer white papers, videos, podcasts and virtual or face to face training. Not only that, but our software Actus is designed to enable SMARTER goal setting as it guides managers and individuals to break objectives down with time limited milestones. It enables both parties to capture comments and feedback that may clarify an objective and encourages ongoing performance conversations. You can find out more about how Actus works here:
Subscribe to the Actus YouTube channel for videos on SMART objectives and more…
Read more Blogs on SMART Objectives see here.
Listen to ‘The HR Uprising Podcast’ hosted by Lucinda Carney, which has a variety of informative topics in business and HR. Visit the HR Uprising website or download wherever you get your podcasts from (YouTube, Spotify, Apple etc).
For monthly updates on all things Actus Software and the HR Uprising Podcast follow our monthly newsletter ‘Actus Uprising’ on LinkedIn.
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