Goals For Performance Review Templates: How To Write & Examples

Setting clear, measurable goals is essential for driving employee performance and ensuring alignment with overarching business objectives. Thoughtfully crafted goals transformed into templates empower managers to have more effective performance review conversations.

This guide covers goal setting best practices for reviews along with actionable examples managers can reference to write, structure and phrase performance goals tuned to their teams. Templates and advice align evaluations to individual development needs while cascading top priorities.

What are Performance Review Goals?

Performance review goals outline expected outcomes and results over a set period of time, usually annually or biannually. Well-defined goals enable tangible assessment during reviews to identify achievement, growth opportunities, calibrate ratings and align development plans.

There are two types of performance goals:

1. Task Goals

• Measurable, specific activities employees must accomplish

2. Development Goals  

• Building skills, knowledge and behaviors to drive growth

While task goals evaluate workload execution, developmental goals elevate competencies for future roles. Reviews inform goal setting So updated objectives fuel continual improvement.

Why are Performance Review Goals Important?

Performance review goals serve several functions:

Provide Clarity on ExpectationsClear goals eliminate confusion on workload priorities, targets and development areas to build.

Enable Progress Tracking Goals make it easy to spot goal attainment vs. shortfalls during review cycles.

Guide Rating DecisionsGoal achievement levels directly feed into performance rating decisions and promotion readiness.

Inform Development PlansShortfalls prompt targeted skills building and training plans for growth.

Focus Efforts on Organizational Priorities
Cascaded goals synchronize all efforts on the vital few company-wide priorities required to hit objectives.

Well-crafted goals transformed into templates boost review effectiveness and goal setting consistency across the organization.

Best Practices for Performance Review Goal Setting

Align goals to business objectives supporting overall prosperity.

Here are goal setting best practices:

1. Create Relevance

Link goals directly to stakeholders each employee interacts with and essential priorities supporting the business strategy.

2. Establish Quantitative Metrics  

Include measurable targets like percentages, scores, dollars, levels, volumes or frequencies that make tracking achievement effortless.

3. Outline Qualitative Outcomes  

Capture observable behaviors demonstrating enhanced competencies like communication, decision making and leadership.

4. Emphasize Growth

Urge acquisition of advanced skills accelerating career mobility aligned to aspirations.

5. Inspire Motivation

Emotionally compelling goals intrinsic rewards like pride and satisfaction boost drive.

6. Assign Realistic Timeframes  

Right-size goals to available hours so employees feel empowered vs overwhelmed.

7. Continually Evolve Goals  

Revisit evergreen expectations while pivoting short-term goals as conditions warrant to nurture agility meeting changing needs.

Now let’s explore goal examples across core performance categories.

Performance Review Goal Examples

Well-articulated goals clearly convey expected results. Categories typically covered include:

Individual Task GoalsSpecific workload metrics an employee must achieve independently that ladder up into team targets.

Team Goals Shared metrics a whole team endeavors to hit collaboratively by specified deadlines to garner rewards.

Leadership Competencies GoalsEvolving manager capabilities like strategic thinking, decision velocity, and talent development.

Career GoalsMastery objectives aligned to 3-5 year advancement aims within or across departments.

Company Value Goals
Advancing initiatives cultivating organizational culture like diversity, equity and inclusion or sustainability.

Here are examples across each category converted into templates leaders can adapt:

Individual Task Goals Examples

Consider independent metrics vital to overall prosperity personalized to each employee’s role and level.

Customer Support

• Achieve 90% first contact resolution rate
• Earn 95% positive ratings on quality surveys

Marketing

• Acquire 5000 newsletter subscribers  
• Generate 75 new leads through content promotion

Technology

• Complete migration to new CRM platform by December  
• Uptime meets 99.95% monthly standard

Operations

• Fulfill 450 client orders error-free weekly
• Reduce defects to less than 2% through implementing QA protocols

Finance

• Provide revenue analysis reports within 3 days of quarter close  
• Ensure 100% expense reports submission compliance with 2 day approval SLA

Human Resources

• Lead 5 lean process improvement workshops achieving 25% increased hiring efficiency  
• Coordinate 35 professional development sessions aligned to succession plans with 85% satisfaction

Sales  

• Generate $1.2M in new logo acquisition closed-won revenue
• Achieve 105% attainment of quarterly sales quota

These examples demonstrate how leaders can define metrics and results tailored to specialty areas at proper growth levels for each employee’s experience.

Team Goals Examples

Team goals instill collaborative accountabilities, ownership and unified efforts toward shared metrics.

• Reduce average resolution times by 20% responding to highest priority customer tickets
• Achieve $550K in upsell revenue through cross-selling complementary solutions  
• Realize 105% of departmental expense budget through diligent variance tracking
• Delivery zero defects for upcoming enterprise product launch spanning 12 sprints  
• Limit consultant spending to 10% of budget through mentoring junior staff via stretch assignments
• Raise Associate participation in Regional Conference to 90% showcasing 5 innovative best practices

Reinforcing interdependence through common metrics builds trust and connectivity while streamlining efforts on collective priorities.

Leadership Competencies Goals Examples

Expand skills transforming managers into higher caliber leaders able to handle evolving challenges.

• Demonstrate strategic thinking rigors leading annual planning workshop synthesizing 5 competitive factors into cohesive roadmap vision
• Accelerate innovative culture through launching magazine showcasing 12 peer ingenuity stories inspiring others to ideate
• Sharpen financial acumen via mentoring with Finance leader mastering variance analysis, budgeting and forecasting to inform smarter resource allocation tradeoff decisions
• Upskill virtual presentation efficacy conveying complex messages crisply via quarterly townhalls and high-potential program workshops  
• Magnify creative output through bi-weekly imagination sessions producing 45 novel prototypes tackling customer friction points or enhancement possibilities  
• Amplify emotional intelligence through training on mindfulness, empathy and conflict resolution achieving 95% engagement during periodic pulse surveys

Positioning leaders to handle unfamiliar responsibilities masters transferable abilities to flex as organizational needs change.

Career Goals Examples

Career goals empower professional growth and retention by outlining advancement paths aligned to employee aspirations.

• Progress technical mastery attaining Tableau Associate Certification by Q2 to prepare for Data Scientist career trajectory
• Expand entertainment industry expertise via rotation on Video Production team learning emerging Tik Tok and Instagram Reels content skills to equip transition into Social Media Marketing Manager role within 2 years  
• Develop change management competencies through volunteering for Merger & Acquisition integration team to gain Program Management career path visibility  
• Enrich retail operations capabilities by shadowing Store Managers 20 hours weekly over 6 months to build toward multi-site leadership opportunities  
• Accelerate software engineering breadth across full stack through pairs programming with Back End Architects using Golang to elevate Full Stack Engineer impact over 18 months
• Amplify data storytelling and visualization skills via virtual Nobias education modules to qualify for Director of Business Intelligence promotion upon completion

The most effective companies proactively grow talent equipping high performers with capabilities to continually expand contributions.

Company Value Goals Examples

Reinforce cultural cornerstones through measurable initiatives symbolic of shared beliefs.

Diversity & Inclusion

• Actively recruit from 3 underrepresented campus groups through participating in fall hiring fairs to secure 6 diverse interns
• Spearhead launch of Manager Inclusion Learning Series achieving 95% participation rate strengthening equitable hiring and talent development capabilities

Social Good

• Coordinate month-long donation drive securing 500 units of excess inventory for underprivileged schools  
• Chaperone company coordinated builds of 3 homes for at risk families via Habitat for Humanity partnership

Sustainability  

• Slash paper consumption 45% through enabling electronic invoicing and payroll default selections  
• Reduce air travel 20% through incenting virtual meetings and training coupled with carbon offset purchases

Living values outwardly conveys authenticity attracting, engaging and retaining top talent seeking purpose beyond profits.

Now let’s see examples structured as templates for easy goal setting replication, saving leaders time while boosting consistency.

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Performance Review Goal Setting Templates

Standardized templates structure objectives uniformly across the organization enabling enterprise alignment.

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Here is an individual contributor performance goal template managers can replicate:

Employee Name: Jane Smith  

Current Role: Marketing Manager

Rating Period: Q1 2023

Goal Description  
Expand industry expertise through self-directed learning to accelerate subject matter credibility with sales teams to boost funnel conversion rates by 15%.

Attain Certified Professional Marketer status via American Association of Inside Marketing by end of Q2. Demonstrate expanded marketing thought leadership conversing confidently with various vertical sales specialists on targeted campaign approaches, objections and competitive differentiators. Apply enriched industry acumen to create 3 new personalized nurture streams for key segments achieving 70% Sales Qualified Lead rates.

Measurement:
- Completion of CPMM Course Modules
- Hours Spent Shadowing Vertical Sales Teams
- Quantity and Performance of Segment Nurture Campaigns
- Sales Qualified Lead Rates Achieved  

Supports company growth priority accelerating inside sales revenue through increased funnel productivity and conversion velocity.

This template captures all components required for an actionable, measurable development goal including:

• Objective aligned to organizational priority  
• Skill/knowledge area for improvement
• Attainment plan details with milestones
• Metrics demonstrating achievement
• Business impact linkage

Managers can easily replicate this structure across any skillset or priority area and swap in employee specifics to create aligned goals efficiently.

Here is another template for team goals:

Department Name: Customer Support

Rating Period: FY 2023

Goal Description
Elevate premier customer experience through timely inquiry resolution and proactive communication.

Achieve 90th percentile customer satisfaction score (CSAT) ratings across support cases by increasing first contact resolution to 75% and overall response velocity to <2 hours for high priority inquiries. Proactively inform customers of issue remediations through personalized notifications.

Measurement
- First Contact Resolution Rate
- Average Initial Response Time by Priority  
- Customer Satisfaction Scores
- Quantity of Proactive Resolution Updates  

Enables organization-wide focus on maximizing retention via world-class support elevating expansion opportunities.

With these templates, managers can easily cascade shared metrics down to all customer service team members fostering ownership of collective goals supporting company prosperity. Format streamlines effective goal setting so leaders can rapidly define objectives aligned to strategic priorities and replicate for consistent deployment across departments.

Tips for Writing Strong Performance Review Goals

Here are additional recommendations for crafting high impact goals:

1. Collaborate on Goal Creation

Involve employees in co-developing goals so they take ownership executing what they help define.

2. Set Goals Early  

Outline objectives well before rating cycle kickoffs allowing time for progress and mid-course correction.

3. Limit Quantity  

Define 3-5 significant goals optimizing focus on the vital few drivers versus overwhelming with too many.  

4. Align Language  

Phrase goals consistently using action verbs like “Drive”, “Implement”, “Launch”, “Spearhead”.

5. Benchmark Goals  

Compare targets to relevant industry standards or historic performance baselines.

Well-constructed goals within standardized templates enhance review effectiveness, inspire engagement executing priorities supporting enterprise prosperity and fuel professional growth through continual skills expansion.