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0% The Performance Agreement - Setting Your Objectives

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Once you

  • On the index, click on a section heading to move the page focus to that section. O

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Al the sections are contained on one page, with the index making navigation easier.

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Setting your objectives

 

What is your goal?

- Identify what you have to achieve and want to achieve in your job for the year ahead.

- Make sure your manager agrees with your goals.

- Make sure the way you formulate your goals (via its measures and targets) causes them to be easily measurable, trackable etc.

- Determine the relative importance of each goal

- Upload supporting documentation – if any

- Make sure 100%

- Send everything to your manager for approval

- All of this might take 1-2 months to finalise, unless you can start from a previous agreement

 

Good suggestions

  • Have an up-front discussion with your manager to talk about your goals, how to measure them etc.
  • Focus only on the key KPA areas of your job, not on everything. 5-8 KPAs should suffice for most jobs.
  • Have relevant documentation at hand.
  • Assume everything you list will have to be measured in some way.  Make it as practical as possible.
  • Use the Comments section to explain your reasoning and motivations for choosing/omitting certain objectives.  In a month or two you may have forgotten.
  • Don’t list too many KPAs, Competencies etc.  The burden of tracking them, checking-in on them is substantial.
  • If an objective is only going to become relevant in the next review period (e.g. after 6 months), list it now and get it on your agreement.  You can always exclude it when doing the ratings during the review.
  • When building a performance agreement, also see the bigger picture of an agreement that could very well be applicable for a number of years to come.
  • When doing the KPA and Stretch Target section, plan your Perspective-KPA-KPIs before loading them into the system.  Its easier to move things around in Excel or Word.
  • Don’t be in a hurry to submit for approval.  Sleep on your objectives and review them a couple of times before submitting.

 

An example

See below a fully populated KPA section.  Your Stretch Targets will have a similar layout, the other sections will be simpler.

 

We are going to plan your approach using the example as roadmap.

Let’s focus on the perspectives and collapse them.  Refer to the section AGREEMENT OVERVIEW for a bit of background

Click Add Perspective to open the list of available perspectives.

We select them from a fixed list.

Notice how their total adds up to 100%.

We suggest loading all your perspectives (if using them) first and assign their relative %.

Delete perspective

 

Expand the perspectives level

Now look at the KPAs under one Perspective.

Click Add KPA to add one.

Select from library, or click Own to type up a custom KPA.  We suggest carefully looking through the library for a suitable or at least similar. Easier than to compose your own KPA.

We added them one after the other (not yet focusing on the KPIs)

Make sure you load each KPA under its applicable parent perspective – you cannot move them later, you will have to delete and recreate them if needed.

Add relevant documentation.

Make comments in the Comment section for you reasoning why adding (or even omitting) a KPA.

Notice that all the KPAs under a Perspective add up to 100%

Delete KPA

 

Now expand the KPI level.

Several KPIs were added to indicate how the KPA will be actioned/supported/approached for the year.

Click Add KPI to add one.

Make sure you load each KPI under its applicable parent KPA – you cannot move them later, you will have to delete and recreate them if needed.

Select from library, or click Own to type up a custom KPI.  We suggest carefully looking through the library for a suitable or at least similar. Easier than to compose your own KPI.

Now is the time to start asking yourself if these KPIs are sustainable, measurable, achievable, reasonable and time-bound.

Again, remember to add suitable documentation and motivations when adding a KPI.

To make a KPI SMART, make use of the Measures and Rating/Target fields to explain how this KPI will help you achieve your objective.

Notice that all the KPIs under a parent KPA add up to 100%

Delete KPI

 

And this is the basic approach which you will repeat for every Perspective and its KPAs and KPIs.

 

Stretch Targets

Repeat the process.

Refer to Agreement Overview if you need background on this section’s purpose.

 

Company Values

The items in this section are added automatically.  Depending on company settings, you might be allowed to remove some items if they do not apply to you.

The system assumes their relative importance are the same for all Values.

Documents?

 

Leadership Behaviours

If you function as a manager, this section is automatically populated for you.

The system assumes their relative importance are the same for all Values.

Documents?

 

Key Competencies

This section contains one level of objectives – called key competencies.

Refer to Agreement Overview for background.

You should preferably make use of the standard library values and not add your own.

Consol?

Documents?

100%

This is not something you achieve, it is something you work towards, or develop, in order to fulfil your role.

 

Now do it

  • Add your perspectives one after the other.
  • Balance their %
  • For each perspective, add applicable KPAs.
  • Balance their %
  • For each KPA, add applicable KPIs
  • Balance their %
  • Add stretch targets in the same way
  • Review the Company Values
  • Review the Leadership Behaviours
  • Add the key competencies
  • Balance their %
  • Add documents and comments.

 

Wrapping it all up

  • Check the total of the section weights.
  • Check the total weight of each section’s items = 100%
  • All documents loaded?
  • All comments loaded?
  • Click SUBMIT
  • Email to your manager
  • Status is updated

 

What will happen next?

  • Manager will call for a meeting to discuss.
  • Manager will approve objectives.
  • You will get an email.
  • Status is updated.
  • Check-ins will become available
  • When the time arrives, the review will be enabled and available.

 

What is expected from you?

  • Regularly sit down for a check-in with your manager, to keep your objectives firmly in focus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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