Performance objectives are the spine of the appraisal cycle: written at the start of the period, checked at mid-year, appraised by the employee, rated by the manager, calibrated across the team and carried forward or replaced in the outcome. An objective that is going to make that journey has to be written so that every stage can use it without rewriting it. This page follows performance objectives through the cycle and shows what each stage needs from them, gives performance objectives examples and performance objective examples written to survive the journey, and ends with performance management goals examples for the people who run the cycle, because HR and managers have objectives for the process too.
What each stage needs from an objective
Setting needs a result, a target and a measure, and a date. The mid-year check needs to be able to say on track, at risk or missed from the measure so far. The self-appraisal needs the employee to be able to show the evidence and rate themselves against it; the free self-appraisal worksheet on this site does that from objectives set and met. The rating needs the manager to mark missed, met or exceeded from the same measure. Calibration needs the objective to be comparable with peers' objectives of the same kind. The outcome needs to know whether to carry it forward, adjust the target or replace it. One sentence with three parts serves all six.
Examples written to survive the journey
Keep receivables over sixty days below a set share of the ledger through the period, read monthly from the ageing report: checkable at mid-year, self-appraisable from the report, ratable from the same, comparable with the other clerk's, carried forward with the share adjusted. Ship the customer reporting module by the end of the third quarter, read from the release: on track or at risk at mid-year, self-appraised from the ship date, rated from the same, comparable with other project objectives, replaced next period by the next module. Hold monthly check-ins with each of six reports, read from the calendar: the manager's own objective, and the one most often missed.
Objectives for the cycle itself
HR's objectives: the cycle opened and closed on the published dates; every employee has objectives on the record within a month of the period starting; calibration held for every manager group; outcomes exported to payroll by the pay date. A manager's: check-ins held on schedule; the team's self-appraisals submitted on time; the team's reviews written before calibration; the team's ratings defended with evidence at calibration. Those are performance management goals examples in the literal sense, the goals of managing performance, and they are rated like any other. Reviewvo Pro keeps them on the manager's record beside the team's.
Questions people ask about performance objectives
What are performance objectives?
The three to six results an employee is rated against for a review period, each with a target, a measure and a date, set at the start and carried through the self-appraisal, the rating and the outcome.
How do performance objectives differ from goals?
In an appraisal cycle they are the same thing under two names. Some companies use objectives for the rated results and goals for development; whichever word is used, each needs a result, a target and a measure.
Should managers have objectives for the review cycle itself?
Yes: check-ins held on schedule, reviews written before calibration, ratings defended with evidence. Running the cycle is part of a manager's job and is rated like the rest of it.