90% of HR leaders say that they are willing to allow the employees to work remotely even after things go back to normal according to a poll conducted by Gartner. But remote working does not seem to be a viable option to many business leaders due to the productivity and engagement challenges the model poses. 

This can be changed by finding a middle ground that works for each company. Remote working or in-office premises working or hybrid model, whatever it is, decide upon the one that works both for your employees and your company post-COVID. The working model plays a vital role in the employee satisfaction rate and also the growth of your business. To find out which model works for you, do a survey within the company and also research like which method brings the best out of your employees. 

And, if you are striving to set effective performance goals in this vaccine-found normal, where the hybrid model is followed in a few companies to bring back the familiar normal soon or the same remote working is followed and planning to be implemented forever, here are five tips for you. 

Set Clear Objectives for the Company 

Before setting individual goals, be clear with the overall objective of the company. The objective should be aligned with the mission and vision of your company. Leverage the power of Objectives and Key Results (OKR), which makes Goal-Setting more agile, and alignment is easier with the OKR framework.  

Answer the following questions to know whether your company’s goal is the right one. 

1. Is it aligned with your company’s mission statement? 

2. Does it take you a step forward to your goal of how you want the company to look in 10 years? 

3. Is it relevant to the current business scenario? 

If yes, then you can proceed with communicating the business objective to all the department heads. 

Communication is Pivotal 

Once the business objective is decided, it should be communicated to all the employees of the company. The meeting should explain why these objectives were selected and how they are going to impact the company’s growth. If the employees are aware of what is expected out of them and how they are contributing to the company’s development, they tend to be more innovative and hard working. Effective communication is capable of building mutual trust and loyalty between employers and employees.  

The business leaders should conduct a separate meeting with the department heads to make them understand more about the Objectives and the operations across different business units. This approach makes the department heads capable of clarifying the Whys of the employees. 

Take the Employees’ Inputs 

Employees are always the frontline soldiers of a business because they know more about the customers and the demands in the market.  For small businesses, taking the inputs of employees in setting company-level objectives would work miracles, but this is hardly possible for large businesses. In those cases, autonomy should be given to the employees in setting their individual goals or the managers should consider their inputs before setting every employee’s goals for the year or a month. 

Regular Meetings 

An effective performance goal is set. What next? Either you forget your path and move on with your regular activities or you stand stuck not knowing what to do. At the end of the month or year, the employees develop a defensive attitude to justify their actions. This is completely the fault of the team leader. The team leaders should conduct frequent team meetings to remind the employees what is expected out of them and check the progress of the employees toward their individual goals. 

Regular meetings reinforce the quality of teamwork and boost the morale of the employees.  

Continuous Check-ins 

Feedback is absolutely essential to produce quality work within the stipulated time. In this remote working scenario, employees feel isolated, and that greatly impacts the overall productivity and quality. Continuous check-ins help in identifying the distresses of the employees and addressing them. In addition to that, with continuous feedback, an employee can work on his/her skills and always stay on the right track to his/her goals even when he/she works remotely.  

Research suggests that 43% of employees who are highly engaged receive feedback from their managers at least once a week.  And four out of ten works are completely disengaged as they received no feedback.  

These tips can help you set effective goals as well as achieve them with flying colors. 

A happy new year and wish you all success. 

HANDPICKED RELATED LINKS: 

• How to Set SMART Goals That Actually Work for Everyone
• Employee Goal Management for Millennials: Tips & Tricks
• How Does Employee Goal Management Drive Business Outcomes?