Learning and Development is no longer optional. In today’s workplace, where skills are the new currency, L&D sits at the center of how organizations retain talent, innovate, and stay competitive. But demonstrating the impact of L&D requires more than reporting course completions or satisfaction surveys.
The LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report 2024 highlights the urgency of this challenge. Aligning learning programs to business goals remains the top priority for L&D leaders for the second year in a row (LinkedIn, 2024). Yet fewer than 40% of organizations surveyed say their L&D initiatives are actually aligned with business objectives.
The message is clear: leaders believe in L&D, but they want proof. This guide lays out a step by step approach to defining the right success metrics, covering training, digital skills programs, and coaching
Step 1: Anchor Metrics to Organizational Goals
Metrics must begin with business strategy. Without a direct link to organizational priorities, measurement risks being overlooked.
Stakeholder questions to ask
To executives: What are our top three business goals this year. Which of these depend most on workforce capability.
To business unit leaders: Where are performance gaps holding you back? If developing your people could fix one issue, what would you choose?
Example If retention is a top priority, success metrics might include voluntary turnover among trained compared with untrained groups, engagement survey results, and retention of high performers. For coaching initiatives, this can extend to retention of leaders who receive coaching compared with those who do not.
Step 2: Clarify Learning Objectives
Once goals are clear, define what the program is meant to achieve for learners or coachees.
Stakeholder questions to ask
To L&D designers: Which specific skills, behaviors, or mindsets should participants develop. How will we measure mastery?
To line managers: What observable changes would you expect in your team after this training or coaching?
Example A sales program focused on objection handling might track test scores, cross sell attempts, and average deal size. For a coaching program, objectives could include increasing leadership confidence, improving decision making, or preparing leaders for stretch roles.
Step 3: Balance Leading and Lagging Metrics
Leading metrics provide early signals such as participation or engagement. Lagging metrics capture long term results such as productivity, retention, or revenue. Both are necessary.
Stakeholder questions to ask
To HR analytics: Which measures can we track in real time, and which will take months to show impact?
To executives: Do you want early indicators of progress, or only hard business outcomes?
Example LinkedIn reports that learners who set career goals engage with learning four times more. That is a strong leading metric. For coaching, leading measures might include program enrollment, number of coaching sessions completed, or coachee satisfaction. Lagging indicators could include promotion rates of coached leaders, engagement scores in their teams, or higher retention of high potential employees.
Step 4: Apply Frameworks like Kirkpatrick Thoughtfully
The Kirkpatrick model is valuable if you apply all four levels. The levels are: Reaction, Learning, Behavior, and Results.
Stakeholder questions to ask
To learners or coachees: Was the training or coaching relevant and engaging. What new skills or perspectives have you gained?
To managers: Have you observed employees applying new skills or behaviors? Can you share examples?
To executives: Which business outcomes should we connect this initiative to?
Example In cybersecurity training, employees might rate the course highly for relevance, score better on phishing tests, click fewer phishing emails in simulations, and cause fewer actual breaches. In coaching, coachees might describe sessions as highly relevant, report greater self awareness and leadership growth, demonstrate more effective delegation, and strengthen succession pipelines.
Step 5: Tailor Metrics to Stakeholders
Executives, managers, and learners value different outcomes. Success metrics should reflect those perspectives.
Stakeholder questions to ask
To executives: Which KPIs would convince you L&D is delivering value.
To managers: What changes in your team would prove that training or coaching worked.
To learners or coachees: What outcomes would make this program worthwhile for your career.
Example LinkedIn reports that helping employees develop careers is now the fourth most important L&D priority. That makes metrics such as internal mobility, promotions, or career plan adoption especially relevant.
Step 6: Leverage Technology and Data Integration
Measurement depends on reliable data. This often means integrating learning systems with HRIS, performance management, and even sales or customer data.
Stakeholder questions to ask
To IT and data teams: Which systems can we connect to track performance impact. How do we ensure data accuracy and privacy.
To L&D operations: What metrics can be captured automatically, and what requires input from managers or employees.
Example For compliance training, LMS completions and quiz scores are important, but the real outcome is fewer breaches, which are tracked in compliance systems. For coaching, HR data might show whether coached leaders are promoted faster, retain their teams longer, or deliver higher performance ratings.
Step 7: Balance Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence
Numbers are essential, but stories and context bring them to life.
Stakeholder questions to ask
To learners or coachees: Can you describe a time you applied what you learned or a coaching insight in your role.
To managers: What changes in behavior, confidence, or collaboration have you seen.
To executives: Would real life stories of employee impact help you trust the metrics.
Example After a digital skills program, data may show that most employees improved proficiency, while feedback reveals greater confidence experimenting with AI tools. After coaching, participants may share stories of handling conflict better, making more strategic decisions, or leading with greater empathy.
Step 8: Build a Success Metrics Framework
All of this should be pulled together in a framework that connects goals, learning objectives, metrics, and business outcomes.
Stakeholder questions to ask
To executives: Does this framework provide the visibility you need into impact.
To HR partners: Are these metrics aligned with other talent measures.
To L&D: Do we have the capacity to track and report these consistently.
Example For a retention initiative, the goal might be reducing attrition. The learning objective could be strengthening manager coaching skills. Learning metrics might include completions and practice assessments. Behavioral metrics might include frequency and quality of feedback sessions. Business outcomes would be lower turnover and higher engagement scores in those managers’ teams.
Performance goals are the cornerstone of organizational success. For department heads and executives, setting the right goals is about more than just improving output, it’s about aligning individual and team efforts with the broader business strategy.
With clear, measurable, time bound goals, leaders can drive accountability, foster growth, and ensure that individuals and teams work toward the organization’s mission.
In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn how to define, implement, and track effective performance goals. We’ll explore goal-setting frameworks, provide real-world examples by department, and share strategies to avoid common pitfalls.
Performance goals are specific objectives set for an individual, a team or organization to achieve within a defined time frame. These goals serve to clarify expectations, align efforts, and measure success.
There are three types of goals to set:
Individual performance goals: Tied to personal performance and role expectations.
Team performance goals: Tied to the team’s purpose and guide collective efforts toward achieving strategic results.
Organization performance goals: These are broad, measurable objectives that reflect the overall priorities of the business and serve as a roadmap for departments and teams to align their efforts toward shared success.
Why Performance Goals Matter for Executives and Department Heads
For department heads and executives, performance goals are more than operational metrics, they’re strategic levers. When crafted with clarity and intent, these goals become tools for aligning teams, directing resources, and tracking progress toward results that have a direct impact on business objectives. Setting meaningful performance goals fosters a culture of ownership, responsiveness, and continual improvement.
Actionable performance goals should:
Align with strategic priorities: Ensure every action supports broader company objectives.
Drive accountability: Make responsibilities and expectations explicit.
Support decision-making: Provide data-driven insights for resource allocation, compensation, and succession planning.
Enable agility: Help departments pivot quickly by tracking real-time progress.
Key Characteristics of Effective Performance Goals
Well-crafted performance goals typically follow the SMART framework which is used at fortune 500 companies like Apple, Google and Amazon. SMART goals are defined as:
Specific – The goal is clearly defined with a concrete outcome.
Measurable – The goal is quantifiable or trackable over time.
Achievable – The goal is realistic given the resources and timeframe.
Relevant – The goal is aligned with business strategy and the team’s function.
Time-bound – The goal has a pre-defined deadline.
All performance goals should follow the SMART framework as the bare minimum, but if you want your goals to bring real impactful to the organization and follow your north star metric, the goals you set should also be:
KPI-aligned: Every performance goal should map to one or more key performance indicators (KPIs) assigned to the person, team or department delivering them to foster ownership and accountability.
Connected to OKRs: Performance goals should equally connect to Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to ensure strategic alignment with key results.
The main difference between performance goals, KPIs and OKRs is that performance goals are measurable by outputs or deliverables over a short to medium time frame, whereas KPIs are measured relative to trends or targets and are ongoing, and OKRs are measured by outcomes over a specific period.
Difference between performance goals, OKRs and KPIs
Understanding the difference between performance goals, OKRs, and KPIs is key to managing performance. While all three are tools for driving results, they serve distinct purposes. Knowing how they differ, and how they work together, helps organizations create focus, alignment, and accountability at every level.
Performance Goals
Performance goals are the individual or team targets that define what success looks like. They provide focus by outlining the key outcomes and behaviors expected within a set timeframe. Unlike broad company objectives, performance goals are personal and actionable, helping employees grow their skills while contributing to business results.
What are performance goals: Individual or team targets tied to job responsibilities or development. Purpose of performance goals: Define what success looks like for someone in their role. Scope of performance goals: Usually personalized, set annually or quarterly.
Examples:
“Close $2M in new sales this year.”
“Deliver at least 3 client workshops that have a rating of “Excellent”.”
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
KPIs are the critical metrics used to track ongoing performance and monitor the health of a business. Unlike short-term goals, KPIs provide continuous visibility into how well strategies and processes are working. By focusing on quantifiable data, such as revenue growth, customer retention, or efficiency, KPIs help leaders make informed decisions and course-correct when needed.
What are KPIs: Metrics that track ongoing business performance. Purpose of KPIs: Monitor whether we’re healthy and on track. Scope of KPIs: Continuous measurement, not tied to a single goal cycle.
Examples:
Monthly churn rate (%)
Average deal size ($)
Time to resolve support tickets (minutes)
OKRs (Objectives & Key Results)
OKRs are a goal-setting framework that connects individual and team efforts to the company’s overall strategy. They consist of ambitious objectives paired with measurable key results, ensuring everyone is aligned on what matters most. OKRs are designed to stretch teams beyond the status quo, fostering focus, alignment, and accountability across the organization.
What are OKRs: A structured goal-setting framework that aligns individual/team objectives with company strategy. Purpose of OKRs: Stretch goals that inspire progress and keep teams aligned. Scope of OKRs: Company-wide, cascading down to teams/individuals.
Examples:
Objective: Become the leading SaaS provider in our market.
Key Results:
Increase ARR by 30% by Q4
Acquire 50 new enterprise clients
Boost NPS to 70+
How to Involve Stakeholders when Setting Performance Goals Performance goals are most powerful when they’re not created in isolation. Involving stakeholders, whether that’s managers, HR, peers, or even clients. It keeps goals aligned, realistic, and supported. When stakeholders have a voice in the process, employees gain clarity, leaders build trust, and the organization moves forward in sync.
Here’s how to make stakeholder involvement a natural part of setting performance goals:
1. Start With the Big Picture
Before diving into individual targets, revisit the company’s strategic priorities. Stakeholders need to understand the broader vision so that performance goals contribute to something larger than day-to-day tasks. This alignment keeps everyone pulling in the same direction.
2. Bring the Right People to the Table
Performance goals don’t just affect an employee and their manager—they often touch multiple teams. Consider inviting cross-functional leaders, HR, or even external partners to weigh in. A wider perspective helps spot blind spots and ensures goals reflect the realities of how work gets done.
3. Make It a Two-Way Conversation
Instead of handing down goals, facilitate a two-way discussion. Ask stakeholders:
What outcomes matter most for your team?
Where do you see opportunities for growth?
What would success look like in six months?
This collaborative approach not only improves the quality of the goals but also boosts buy-in.
4. Balance Business Impact with Development
Stakeholders often focus on business outcomes, but performance goals should also nurture employee growth. This is important to future proof your operations. A strong balance might look like:
Performance goal: Reduce customer response time by 15% this quarter.
Development goal: Build advanced conflict resolution skills through training and application.
By addressing both, you create goals that are motivating and sustainable.
5. Define Success Together
Clarity is key. Work with stakeholders to agree on measurable success indicators—what will be tracked, how progress will be reported, and when results will be reviewed. This shared understanding prevents confusion and strengthens accountability.
6. Communicate and Document
Once goals are finalized, share them transparently with all relevant stakeholders. Clear documentation ensures that everyone knows what’s expected and how they can support the employee in achieving success.
7. Keep Stakeholders Engaged
Stakeholder involvement shouldn’t end once the goals are set. Build in regular check-ins, monthly or quarterly, to review progress, adapt to changing priorities, and celebrate wins. This ongoing dialogue keeps goals alive and relevant.
Involving stakeholders in performance goal-setting isn’t just about collaboration. It’s about creating alignment, clarity, and shared ownership. When goals reflect both organizational priorities and individual growth, employees are more motivated, stakeholders are more engaged, and the business is better positioned for long-term success.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Set Performance Goals
Setting performance goals using the SMART framework works best when your decisions are backed up by data. Data-backed goals make onboarding your teams onto the goals smoother and more meaningful, showing how everyone’s contribution aligns with the company’s goals.
1. Start with strategy
Review your company’s strategic priorities. Begin with high-level business goals, such as entering a new market, increasing revenue, or improving retention.
For example: if the company goal is to grow revenue by 20%, a department like marketing might aim to generate 30% more qualified leads if there is capacity and more attractive cost of customer acquisition.
2. Analyze past performance
Before setting new goals, assess historical performance metrics to identify the areas of improvement. Look at quarterly reports, dashboards, or performance reviews to identify trends, bottlenecks, and outliers.
For example: if customer churn increased in Q2, the Customer Success team might focus on increasing renewal rates or implementing early-warning churn notifications.
3. Involve your team
Engage department leads or direct reports in co-creating performance goals. This creates ownership and accountability.
For example: a sales director working with regional managers to set region-specific quotas. The more collaborative the process, the more likely teams will feel invested in the outcomes.
4. Define outcomes
Every goal should have a measurable outcome.This makes performance measurable and the results scalable.
For example: instead of “Improve onboarding,” define it as “Increase onboarding CSAT to 85%.”
5. Set the right cadence
Choose timelines that make sense for your business rhythm—quarterly, biannual, or yearly. Fast-moving teams like product or sales may set quarterly objectives, while compliance might use annual targets.
For example: Set frequent goal progress check-points to detect issues and change course of action early to hit the goal despite obstacles that may arise.
How To Onboard Your Team Onto New Performance Goals
Onboarding your team onto performance goals starts with clarity. Employees need to see how their goals connect to the bigger picture. Framing goals within the larger mission makes them feel purposeful, not just like tasks to check off. This context builds motivation and helps everyone understand the “why” behind what they’re working toward.
Making goal-setting collaborative and practical deepens your team’s understanding of the goals. Rather than simply handing down targets, involve your team in shaping them. Break goals into smaller milestones so they feel manageable and achievable. To set your team up for success, focus on:
Clear success metrics: define what “good” looks like.
Support and resources: provide training, tools, or coaching.
Regular check-ins: create space for progress updates and adjustments.
Finally, keep goals alive through ongoing conversations and recognition. Instead of revisiting them only at performance reviews, weave them into weekly or monthly discussions. Celebrate wins, big and small, so your team feels valued and energized. When employees see progress being acknowledged and linked to growth, they’re more engaged, more motivated, and more likely to deliver on their performance goals.
How to set and track performance goals in Sama
Sama is a people development platform that helps you set and track performance goals across departments at all levels of seniority. Each team member you add to Sama gets matched with a coach who guides them towards achieving their individual goals.
Here’s how goal tracking works in Sama:
1. Sign up to Sama
Singing up to Sama takes less than 5 minutes: you’ll be asked 5 questions that help Sama match you with a performance coach who has experience in your area of work.
2. Get matched with a coach who focuses on performance
Sama’s AI matching algorithm will take in your personal preference as well as your professional background and match you with a coach that will guide you in setting, tracking and improving your performance goals.
3. Identify performance goals during your first session
After scheduling your first session, your coach will ask you about your goals, help define them, make them SMART, make sure they are aligned with your company’s long term objectives, and segment them into easily trackable check-points that you can then insert directly into Sama.
4. See goal progress of your team on your Sama dashboard
Leaders can see their organization’s goal progress at scale on Sama’s dashboard. The dashboard keeps track of performance improvement as well as goal progress.
Centralizing your performance data ensures clarity, transparency, and actionability.
Project Management Tools (e.g., Asana, ClickUp, Monday.com): Ideal for tracking task-based goals and initiatives.
Performance Management Systems (e.g., Lattice, 15Five, Leapsome): Track OKRs, facilitate check-ins, and automate review cycles.
CRM & Sales Tools (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot): Great for tracking pipeline velocity, conversion metrics, and revenue targets.
Engineering Tools (e.g., Jira, Linear): Use for sprint completion rates, bug counts, and cycle times in technical teams.
Data Dashboards (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, Looker): Combine data across platforms for custom executive dashboards and real-time visibility.
Tip: Automate reporting as much as possible. Use integrations or APIs to sync your systems and avoid the trap of outdated manual updates.
2. Weekly & Quarterly Reviews
Cadence matters. Choose a rhythm that encourages accountability without causing burnout.
Weekly Syncs: Review immediate progress, blockers, and priorities. These are great for short-term tactical adjustments.
Monthly Deep Dives: Examine KPI trends, discuss resource needs, and review project health.
Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs): Tie progress back to OKRs and strategic goals. Use these to celebrate wins, recalibrate targets, and reprioritize.
3. Increase Transparency
The more visible your goals and progress are, the more aligned your teams will be.
Goal Dashboards: Make OKRs, KPIs, and status updates visible to leadership and team members.
Cross-Functional Sharing: Encourage departments to present their goals and progress in all-hands or leadership meetings.
Public Progress Tracking: Use leaderboards, project completion rates, or milestone visuals to celebrate movement and build momentum.
Executive Tip: Avoid hidden work. Integrate progress tracking directly into the tools your teams already use, like Slack updates, automated Jira syncs, or Asana checklists. The easier it is to update, the more likely it is to stay current.
Navigating change in the workplace is a critical skill that must be mastered to ensure personal growth and organizational success.
Whether you’re dealing with new technology, merging, shifts in market dynamics, or doing a career change, these strategies can help you effectively manage and thrive through change.
1. Embrace a growth mindset
Adopting a growth mindset is crucial when facing change. Viewing challenges as opportunities for development rather than obstacles helps you embrace the unknown as a chance to learn new skills and expand your professional capabilities. According to research by Carol Dweck, individuals with a growth mindset are more likely to embrace challenges, leading to increased resilience and a higher likelihood of achieving success (Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, 2006).
2. Focus on what you can control
Change often brings uncertainty, but focusing on what you can control helps maintain a sense of stability. Identify the aspects of the change that are within your influence and take proactive steps to manage them. This approach can help reduce anxiety and improve your adaptability.
3. Build a support network
Having a strong support network is vital during times of change. Colleagues, mentors, and coaches can provide valuable guidance and emotional support. Engaging with others who are also navigating change can offer new perspectives and solutions.
4. Enhance your communication skills
Effective communication is crucial for navigating change in the workplace. Clearly expressing your concerns, asking questions, and actively listening to others fosters a collaborative environment. Transparent communication builds trust and helps address any uncertainties that arise during transitions.
5. Stay informed and proactive
Keep yourself informed about industry trends and internal developments. Being proactive in seeking out new knowledge and skills prepares you for upcoming changes and positions you as a valuable asset within your organization. Staying ahead of the curve reduces the impact of unforeseen changes.
6. Manage your emotions
Change can be emotionally taxing. Practice self-awareness to manage your emotional responses effectively. Techniques such as mindfulness and stress management can help you stay grounded and maintain a positive outlook during transitions. Explore this resource on communicating with emotional intelligence on LinkedIn Learning for further guidance.
7. Develop resilience
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from setbacks. Building resilience involves developing coping strategies and a positive attitude towards change. Viewing change as a natural part of your professional journey helps you stay flexible and adaptable. Check out this mini-course on LinkedIn Learning for more in-depth insights.
8. Seek out training and development opportunities
Investing in your personal and professional development is crucial during times of change. Take advantage of training programs, workshops, and coaching sessions to build the skills needed to navigate new challenges. Continuous learning ensures you remain competitive and competent. According to the Harvard Business Review, companies that invest in employee development are 2.9 times more likely to be viewed as leaders in their industry (You Need a Skills-Based Approach to Hiring and Developing Talent, 2021).
9. Focus on self-care
Prioritizing your well-being is essential when dealing with change. Ensure you maintain a healthy work-life balance, exercise regularly, and practice self-care routines to manage stress. A healthy mind and body are better equipped to handle the demands of a simple or career change.
The role of coaching in navigating change
Executive coaching plays a pivotal role in helping you manage change. Sama’s coaching platform is designed to unlock individual potential by providing personalized guidance and support. Our coaches help employees develop resilience, adaptability, and leadership skills, enabling them to thrive in a changing environment.
How many times do you think you’ve heard the phrase “we’re living in unprecedented times” in the last couple of years? Is it starting to sound meaningless?
For many, the immediate sense of the pandemic threat has passed as people return to the office, travel, dining out and sporting events. What weighs on people’s minds today is the current state of the economy with surging inflation and a looming recession. This leads to a sense of uncertainty and potential instability for teams and leaders alike.
Unique circumstances call for a unique management approach for teams to thrive – which is an essential metric in the new world of work.
What exactly does it mean for an employee to be thriving? Managers should care whether their team is thriving. A study shows that thriving employees miss less days in the office due to stress and have lower rates of burnout and health problems. Thriving employees have a positive outlook, are happy and energetic. A thriving employee is more productive.
4 Pillars to ensure your team is thriving
Create Purpose Binding your team members through a common sense of purpose can help them find meaning in their work. Microsoft has found meaningful work to be one of the key components of thriving employees. No one wants to feel like another cog in the machine. When people understand why their work matters and how it fits into the bigger picture, they feel like they are part of something larger and are motivated to do their best work.
Offer Ownership If the massive rise in the number of participants in the freelance, creator, and gig economies has anything to teach us, it’s that a sense of ownership is more important than ever to employees. No one wants to feel like “just an employee”. Good managers find opportunities to offer autonomy and ownership to team members. Holding your team members accountable is a powerful way to build a sense of ownership. Set clear expectations about the results you want and give them the freedom to achieve their targets in their own ways. It can feel scary for a manager to let go of that sense of control, but when it leads to thriving employees, the effort gives back tenfold.
Supercharge Learning and Development An important step to creating a thriving team is to offer generous opportunities for growth and development. A recent LinkedIn report found that 59% of respondents see professional development opportunities as one of the top areas to invest in to improve company culture. Helping your team members learn and grow is a great way to ensure they have the skills to respond to challenges and evolve with changing times.
Create a Sense of Community Belonging is a basic human need. People who have a sense of community at work are 58% more likely to thrive at work, 55% more engaged, and 66% more likely to stay with their company. There are simple ways you can create opportunities for connection. Dedicate the first few minutes of your team meeting catching up with each other on non-work related topics. Organize social activities such as team quizzes and virtual bonding sessions for everyone to get to know each other.
Your company is only as strong as your people. Thriving employees persist and succeed in the face of uncertainty and can help you generate a competitive advantage to stay ahead of the curve.
There’s a handwritten sign on the door of the fast-food restaurant that shares a message with entering customers: “Short staffed! Please be kind to those who showed up today.”
If you’ve seen that image circulating on social media recently, you already have some understanding of the dilemma many managers are currently facing. The amount of work that needs to get done hasn’t changed, but on some days a manager’s team of 10 may actually be a team of seven, five, or even less. This is something we have seen happen during the last recession.
It’s easy to turn to those who are working and expect them to pick up the slack, but this approach is now more likely to backfire than succeed. The pandemic has led to a new kind of working culture and employee expectations surrounding work performance, compassion, loyalty, and trust in the workplace.
What changed? The pandemic created a unique confluence of factors that led many mid-career employees to reevaluate their priorities. Confronted with the feeling that their literal lives were on the line, many people started questioning their loyalty to work. The short, precious nature of humanity decreased their tolerance for burnout, and remote work gave many people a sense of what’s possible with more ownership of their time, like being more present with family or using a side hustle to pad their savings. During this time many new and younger workers sought entrepreneurial opportunities or joined the creator economy, starting their careers by working for themselves and failing to “buy in” to traditional workplace culture.
This shift is reflected in another social media trend garnering notice in recent weeks: the concept of “quiet quitting.” Except it’s not actually quitting at all, but a term coined to represent employees coasting by on the bare minimum, refusing to put forth any effort beyond what’s absolutely required.
How to Improve Work Performance The good news is that managers can adopt compassionate tactics that rebuild positive relationships with employees while also creating a culture of high work performance. Being compassionate doesn’t mean you can’t hold boundaries; it means there are clear expectations and open conversations that take place within a result-oriented work environment.
Make learning and demonstrating compassionate tactics a priority. Building a compassionate work environment that will improve work performance requires ongoing education and trial and error. “Build in public” and let employees know you’re specifically working on better understanding how to compassionately meet their needs.
Don’t make assumptions about what matters to your team. As a part of that learning, make an effort to have individual conversations and collect assessable data about what actually matters to your team. Don’t just assume you know what compassion means to them, or you could end up making unilateral moves that are a sacrifice on your part and don’t even make your employees feel seen and heard in the right way.
Collaborate with individuals to create solutions that work for everyone. When you have an employee in a difficult situation, the best way to offer a compassionate response that drives their best work performance is to create a solution together. Rather than pushing a basic work performance plan, sit down and really talk to that person. Understand what their needs are, present the needs you have to ask of them, and figure out the way forward together.
Acknowledge your own humanity, and you will foster honesty and transparency in return. If you don’t know the answer, or aren’t sure of the best way to handle a situation, be open about that rather than pretending or blustering. Revealing your humanity to your employees in appropriate ways builds an environment where they feel like they can be transparent in return. And if an employee tells you something difficult or lets you know about a personal hardship, ensure you offer a compassionate response that makes them feel rewarded for being open with you rather than keeping things secretive.
Becoming a more compassionate leader requires managers to strike a cautious balance between care for the employee as a person and commitment to institutional goals. While driving high work performance may be challenging, it is possible with the right training and approach, and worth it for the rippling benefits it brings to leaders, employees, and companies alike.
How team performance can supercharge your company’s growth.
Have you ever wondered what highly successful teams look like? How do they come together and work in ways that maximize companies’ growth?
Building high performing teams means bringing together individuals with complementary strengths and skills. Such teams are committed to a common purpose and share accountability for a set of objectives. This leads to better problem solving, innovative ideas and increased productivity.
How can you create teams that are greater than the sum of their parts? As a leader, you have to ensure that the right elements are in place to enable team members to reach their full potential.
How to build a high performing team
Align your teams around shared values and purpose When building high performing teams, align your teams around shared values and purpose. Characteristics of high performing teams include being united by their company values and purpose. Shared values and purpose help teams adapt and thrive in uncertain situations. To create alignment, first identify, define and agree on the core set of values. Then consider how behaviours will follow the values you establish. Continuously recognise and celebrate behaviours and actions that demonstrate the values and bring you closer to fulfilling your purpose, both as a team and organisation.
Set SMART objectives The most effective teams are able to translate their overall purpose into specific team performance goals. Setting SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound – are a great way for teams to achieve both big and small wins that help them pursue their broader purpose. SMART goals help facilitate clear communication, keep track of progress and hold each team member accountable. You can also include some stretch goals that drive teams to accomplish more than they initially set out to achieve, which sets the stage for high performance.
Focus on continuous development Gallup’s research shows that companies that invest in developing their teams report 11% greater profitability and are twice as likely to retain their employees. One-on-one coaching, which takes a hyper-tailored approach to development, is the most powerful resource that you can provide to your teams. Coaches engage with team members to help them map out their unique strengths and improve their self-awareness. This results in better team collaboration, communication, engagement and performance.
Set up shared leadership Shared leadership is when every team member is empowered to make decisions and take actions that impact their own work as well as their team’s. Influence and power are distributed across the team. Research has shown that teams where leadership is shared, rather than vested in the hands of a few, have improved performance. There are a few ways you can lay the foundations for shared leadership. One way is to give your team members enough autonomy on how they plan and work on their tasks. Another way is to cultivate a climate where people feel free to take initiatives. Empowering people to take ownership of their work creates a greater sense of commitment and increases performance.
Make open dialogue the norm In order to perform at the highest level, teams should feel safe to express their ideas and views candidly, and to constructively challenge one another. Cultivating psychological safety is key. Research shows that this promotes creativity and constructive conflict which leads to innovation and better performance. As a team manager, you are responsible for creating a safe space where your team feels comfortable with conflict and debate. You can create a climate that is safe and conducive to high performance by ensuring that every team member has value and a voice, and that differences of opinions are shared respectfully.
Foster personal connections Fostering personal bonds at work helps team members establish deep connections that make your team more cohesive, engaged and collaborate better. Studies suggest that high performing team members spend time exchanging on personal interests and non-work related matters. There are a few ways to encourage your teams to build authentic connections. Schedule team-wide breaks or lunches during the week to come together. If your team is remote, schedule regular virtual bonding sessions.
Building high performing teams can provide a powerful competitive advantage. You can lay the foundations of building such teams by uniting members through a common purpose and goals, introducing and promoting a culture of healthy dialogue, fostering deep connections as well as committing to continuously developing teams. This inspires high team performance and motivates the team to continuously succeed.
