[5 Tips] Setting SMART Goals for Career Success at Your Credit Union

Setting SMART Goals for Career Success

Staffing firm Accountemps recently surveyed more than 1,000 workers across the country, and 93 percent said goal setting is important to their on-the-job performance.

While more than half of professionals (51 percent) discuss goal progress with their manager at least monthly, 11 percent never broach the topic.

Younger employees place more emphasis on work-related performance goals, the research found.

More men (60 percent) than women (40 percent) discuss performance goals with their manager at least monthly.

Additionally, 17 percent of female workers never bring up the subject, compared to just five percent of their male counterparts.

Accountemps offers five tips for setting — and achieving — professional goals:

• Retreat and Refocus.

• Get Detailed. 

Identify only a small number of goals to tackle at once. As you settle on objectives, make sure they are specific, quantifiable, realistic and timely. Always set a deadline to keep yourself on track. 

• Go Long, Then Short. 

Start with the destination and then work backward. First determine your long-term goals, and then establish a series of smaller tasks to help you reach them.

Think of starting with 12 month goals and then chunk them into 60-90 day periods where you can hit smaller benchmarks on your way to success.

1. Enlist Your Manager's Help. 

Employers want their employees to achieve professional success and job satisfaction. Partner with your boss to set goals that align with department and company objectives, and discuss career paths and next steps during your regular meetings.

Managers, consider hopes and dreams of each person as well when helping them chart their career path, and we also suggest that you encourage staff to take alloted time off as a necessary recharge. 

• Put Your SMART GOALS in Writing. 

Take some time to relax over the holidays, then resolve to set – and discuss – your goals for the New Year.

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