Developing Successful Objectives for Employees to Thrive

Holly Metzger-Brown, the learn and play director at the York JCC, shares how to develop successful objectives for employees to thrive.  

As a supervisor it is crucial to work with your team to set manageable and retainable objectives to strive for throughout the year. These objectives point to a clear vision for both departments and individuals. The objectives should align with the department’s mission and vision as well as the employees’ strengths and passions to guarantee the most productive and enjoyable career journey.

Start by meeting with your team members to discuss the department and their personal goals to measure and monitor their progress throughout the year. People are the happiest when they are progressing toward a goal (Fox, 2005), so having a plan guided by objectives will provide motivational and productive experiences for team members and a measuring tool to highlight employees’ department and individual achievements.

Learn More: 3 Ways to Become Employee-Centric and Retain Staff

Department and individual goals are equally important; therefore, you must create your departmental goals together as a team while taking time for individuals to develop their yearly goal with your guidance and expertise.

The following is an example of a department objective:

The department’s goal is to increase girls’ participation in sports programs throughout the year by 5%. During the month of November 2022, coordinator will develop a contact list with families who have daughters ages three to nine. The coordinator will develop four new sports programs designed for girls by May 2023.

By December 2022, coordinator will develop and send an email to families focusing on all the benefits of girls participating in sports and regular physical activities. Coordinator will create a girl-in-sports flyer to distribute to families and community members by January 2022 to advertise the girls’ programs throughout the year. Starting December 1, 2022, and continuing until August 2023, coordinator will post on social media outlets once a week regarding the benefits of girls participating in sports.  

Coordinator will offer an all-female event to highlight National Girls & Women in Sports Day in February 2023. Coordinator will offer a girls’ sports summer camp by August 2023. Success will be measured by collecting baseline data of girls’ participation from 2018 to 2022 and comparing this to 2023 girls’ participation data, which will show whether girls’ participation in sports programming increased by 5%.

Learn More: Supporting the Operational Health of an Organization

Creating objectives for the year can be a rewarding experience for team members when leaders effectively guide the development process in a motivating environment. It is important to develop objectives that align with your department’s mission and vision while focusing on the strengths and passions of your team members. Successful objectives provide an effective monitoring and measuring tool throughout the year for both departments and individuals to enhance their motivation through goal setting.

Reference:

• Fox, Allen, Ph.D. (2005). The Winners Mindset. Vista: CA. Racket Tech Publishing.