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Creating SMART Goals and Objectives
for an Employee Reward and Recognition Program

The primary purpose of an employee reward and recognition program is to motivate your employees to do what your business needs them to do. The challenge is identifying the circumstances that will effectively stimulate your employees to produce long-term, measurable benefits for your business. The accomplishment of the desired results depends on your ability to define precisely what you are trying to accomplish and why it’s important.

When designing an incentive program, it’s virtually impossible to know how to target your effort and energy until your strategic goals and objectives have been established. First, use your overall business objectives as the foundation of any incentive program you are considering initiating. These objectives will provide the infrastructure for all the other components of your program. The bottom line is that well-defined objectives will ensure you stay on track. The following are five essential tips for developing incentive program objectives:

1. Gain a complete understanding of the current performance environment, and identify the primary causes of performance shortcomings.
2. Substantiate business priorities and determine where incentives will have the greatest impact.
3. Explicitly identify what needs to be accomplished and why that is important (to the company and the participants).
4. Ensure consistency with the organization’s vision and values.
5. Confirm that results will be measurable and objectively evaluated.

Frequently, companies launch an employee reward and recognition program by simply announcing them. This doesn’t help employees understand how the program and their resulting actions will enhance overall business goals, and why those actions are so critical for the improvement of the organization.

Developing goals for an incentive program isn’t easy, a common approach to gain focus is to use the acronym SMART for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Tangible. Numerous sites on the Internet refer to SMART Goals and many of them are variations of the same content. The acronym will be useful to you and members of your organization as you begin to brainstorm and develop goals for your particular employee reward and recognition program.

Essentially, developing SMART goals involves the following key points:

Specific – Because a specific goal has a much higher probability of being accomplished than a general one, it is important to answer the six “W” questions listed below.

For example, a general goal would be: "Get in shape." But a specific goal would be: "Join a gym, workout 5 days a week, including 3 days of cardio and 2 days of strength training."

Measurable - Establish concrete parameters for measuring progress toward the achievement of each goal you establish. To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as: How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable - You can attain nearly any goal you set when you develop an action plan wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to reasonably carry out those steps. Goals that may once have seemed unattainable eventually become reality because your employees grow and improve to meet them. When you list organizational goals, your employees will naturally develop the behaviors and standards that will allow them to be realized.

Realistic - To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you and members of your organization are willing and able to work for. A goal can be high and realistic at the same time—you are the only one who can determine just how high your goals should be set. Keep in mind that a high goal is often easier to reach than a low one because there is a greater motivational force associated with a high goal.

Tangible - A goal is tangible when it involves a sensual experience such as taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. You have a better chance of making a tangible goal specific and measurable, and therefore, attainable. Intangible goals are also vital for improving effectiveness and include such characteristics as personality traits and behavior patterns that must be developed in order to reach a tangible goal.

In summary, an employee reward and recognition program will be successful if your remember that:

• It is difficult to assimilate goals in a vacuum; use your organization’s available talents and resources wisely.
• You are more apt to be satisfied with your goals if they are SMART.
• Consider the big picture, and think globally about your goals.
• Record and organize your thoughts and ideas on paper, then set them in motion with your actions.
   

Incentives Marketplace is a performance improvement company devoted to providing clients with a single source for high quality, affordable incentives designed to achieve business goals.

Contact us today with your specific needs and put our incentive programs and experienced staff to work for you! Call 800-934-5474 or send e-mail to: Info@IncentivesMarketplace.com.

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