Employee performance goals are set in a meeting at the start of the review period between the manager and the employee, and the quality of that meeting decides whether the review at the end is a reading of evidence or an argument about memory. The manager brings what the role must deliver and the company's priorities; the employee brings what they can commit to and what they want to grow into; the goals that come out have a result, a target and a measure each. This page sets out how that meeting is run, gives employee performance goals examples and performance goals for employees examples of what it produces, lists employee goals examples and goals for employees examples by seniority, gives sample goals for employees in their first year, and shows employee goal setting examples of the conversation itself.
The goal-setting meeting
Forty-five minutes. The manager opens with the role's standing measures and the company's priorities for the period; the employee responds with what they can commit to and where they see risk. Together they write three to six goals, each with a target and a measure, and they agree how each will be read at the check-ins. The employee proposes at least one goal, usually from the last review's development plan. The goals are written down in the meeting, dated and filed on the employee's record, not sent afterwards from memory. The free self-appraisal worksheet on this site is what the employee will use against those goals at mid-year and year end.
Examples by seniority
New in role: the standing measures at a learning target for the first half and the full target for the second, plus completion of training by a date. Established: the standing measures at the full target, a project or process goal for the period, and one development goal from the last review. Senior: the standing measures for the team rather than the person, a goal that changes how the team works, and a goal about developing someone else. A manager: check-ins on schedule, reviews completed by the cycle date, the team's calibrated ratings defended with evidence, and one of the team cross-trained or promoted. The shape is the same; the scope grows.
The conversation, worked
Manager: the role's measure is invoices issued within three days of delivery; last period you averaged five. Employee: the delay is the delivery confirmations reaching me late; if I can pull them from the system myself I can hit three. Manager: then the goal is three days, measured from the invoice log, and a second goal is the confirmation process documented by March so the pull is yours. Employee: and I want to take on the two largest accounts' month-end queries. Manager: agreed as a development goal, measured by the queries coming to you from April. Three goals, three measures, written and dated. Reviewvo Pro keeps them on the record until the outcome.
Questions people ask about employee performance goals
Who sets employee performance goals, the manager or the employee?
Both, in one meeting: the manager brings the role's measures and the priorities, the employee brings what they can commit to and what they want to grow into, and at least one goal is the employee's proposal.
What are good performance goals for a new employee?
The role's standing measures at a learning target for the first half and the full target for the second, plus training completed by a date. The scope grows with the second review.
How should employee goals be recorded?
Written in the goal-setting meeting with target and measure, dated and filed on the employee's record for the cycle, where the mid-year check and the year-end review will be written against them.