How to use SMART targets in HR and People Teams?

What are SMART targets?

SMART targets are a way of constructing target that ensures they are clear, realistic and convey the necessary urgency, be it urgent or not. The acronym stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. 

• Specific: Goals should be clear and not ambiguous. 

In an HR team this would mean something like changing the target of "improve employee engagement," to "increase employee engagement by implementing quarterly feedback surveys” since this conveys how the goal will be achieved

• Measureable: The outcome of a goals should be able to be measured objectively. This way you know when it has been achieved or how far away your remain from it.

In an HR team this would look like enriching the above example to the following: "increase employee engagement by 10% through implementing quarterly feedback surveys" 

• Achievable: While it’s important to set ambitious goals to drive performance, they should also be realistic. Unrealistic goals can actually have the counteractive affect of driving performance, being demotivating and leading to burnout.

 From the above example we might adjust the target from a 10% improvement to a 5% improvement in a year.

• Relevant: Every goal should align with the broader objectives of your HR department and organization. 

Let’s say for the our above example that we already identified across all org units in our organization that employee engagement was a key area for them.

• Time-bound: A goal needs to have a target date when it should be achieved. This helps set the intensity and focus of the team. Think about running a race without knowing how many kilometres it is. You’d have no idea how you should pace yourself.

To round off our example, we can add that we want to complete it in a year.

In Summary

SMART targets are a powerful tool in HR, enabling you to set clear, actionable goals that drive results and contribute to the overall success of your organization. By using SMART targets we have been able to change our initial goal into something much more usable and objective. Going from: “improve employee engagement” to “increase employee engagement by 5% through implementing quarterly feedback surveys by the end of next year”