Setting objectives

Setting objectives is important. Objectives communicate to employees what is a priority and what is expected of them.

Managers usually set between five and seven goals per employee, including: 

• activity-based objectives (for example, number of sales calls per week)
• outcome-based measures (for example, closed sales in dollar amounts) 

When completed at the individual level, managers may add more objectives specifically designed to maximize team efforts. The goal is to achieve quantity and quality of effort between individuals and the team.

Every objective should be a S.M.A.R.T. objective. This means it must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

How to measure your objectives 

A multitude of measurable categories may be selected, such as:

• quantitative vs. qualitative objectives
• financial vs. non-financial objectives
• objectives targeting shareholders, clients, the community or the whole team 

Here is an example of weekly objectives identified for a financial planner selling a wide range of investment products. The goal is to motivate existing clients to transfer new money currently held at other investment houses to the planner’s firm. The most impactful activity is a face-to-face meeting with the client  and the driving process is a financial planning exercise.