Rigid goals leave Do you feel trapped in out-of-date goals by the end of the quarter/year? employees feeling trapped. 12% Yes. My goals are always irrelevant by the end of the period. 36% Somewhat. Some goals do become less relevant over time. If goals are critical to understanding individual and overall business 25% No. My goals rarely need to change. performance, and achievement 27% No. My goals can be updated as needed to keep pace with change. and recognition are essential for employee engagement, then As business circumstances change and new priorities are introduced, employers should be alarmed that many employees are left tied to goals that no longer matter — making the traditional performance evaluation process even less useful, and providing an inaccurate assessment of the impact of an individual’s performance. Conversely, in a program that’s optimized for engagement, goals are 昀氀exible and employees have the ability to set their own goals against the company’s guiding objectives. In addition, employees are 48% of employees feel trapped empowered to update them when they’re no longer relevant. And by out-of-date or irrelevant when employees feel like their work directly impacts organizational outcomes, they tend to feel more satis昀椀ed with their work and goals by the end of companies. But goals can back昀椀re when they’re not 昀氀exible or a quarter or year. aligned with the work employees are actually focused on day-to-day. How Goal-Setting Drives Employee Engagement and Retention