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Keep it Simple: How to Actually Set Goals and Manage Performance in 2025

17 Jan 2025

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As we kick off a new year, many business owners, leaders, and HR professionals are ready to roll out their annual strategic plans, goal-setting sessions, and performance reviews. But let’s face it – these processes can be haunting, leaving many Leaders not knowing where or how to start!

Here’s the truth: the fancy frameworks and jargon-heavy models aren’t what drives real progress, engagement and change. In 2025, let’s focus on simplicity, clarity, and consistency. Let’s break down how to approach goal-setting, strategic planning, and performance management in a way that’s practical and effective.

 

Why Overcomplicated Goal-Setting Doesn’t Work

Have you ever come across a goals document that reads like a legal contract? Packed with acronyms, detailed milestones, and countless interdependencies, it’s no wonder these goals often fail. Research backs this up: according to a study by the Harvard Business Review, only 10% of employees feel that their company’s performance management process is effective. Why? Because complexity creates confusion, and confusion kills execution.

Instead of overcomplicating things, try this: simplify your goals. Focus on what actually matters and ensure that everyone understands the “why” behind them.

 

How to Set Goals That Work in 2025

  1. Start With the Big Picture
    Before diving into individual goals, align on the larger purpose. What’s the one thing your company must achieve this year? What is your theme this year – Innovation? Growth? Quality? – Distill it down to a sentence or two that anyone in your organization—at any level—can understand.
  2. Use the Rule of Three
    People can’t focus on 20 priorities. Choose 3 key objectives for your organization, department, or team. This rule isn’t new—books like Essentialism by Greg McKeown and The One Thing by Gary Keller emphasize the power of less. 3 impactful goals that lead to success, engagement and drives performance,
  3. Make It Personal
    Translate company objectives into personal, meaningful goals for employees. For example, if  the company goal is to improve customer retention by 15%, a marketing team member’s goal might be to create a new loyalty program.
  4. Focus on Behaviors, Not Just Outcomes
    Outcomes are important, but they’re not entirely in our control. Instead, set goals around behaviours. For example, instead of “Increase sales by 20%,” focus on “Have 10 meaningful conversations with prospects weekly.”

 

The Simplified Approach to Strategic Planning

Strategic planning doesn’t have to be a multi-day offsite with whiteboards full of post-it notes. Here’s a quick way to approach it:

  1. Ask the Right Questions
    What went well last year? What didn’t? What are our biggest risks and opportunities? A few well-chosen questions can spark meaningful discussions without unnecessary complexity.
  2. Document the Essentials
    You don’t need a 50-page plan. Instead, outline your mission, top priorities, and key actions in one or two pages. Tools like Traction by Gino Wickman and OKRs by John Doerr offer simple frameworks for this.
  3. Review Quarterly—Not Annually
    Annual plans often become obsolete by Q2. Be aligned break your strategy into 90-day chunks and commit to regular reviews.

 

Performance Management That Actually Works

Traditional performance reviews are broken. They’re time-consuming, overly formal, and dreaded by managers and employees alike. Let’s review ways to refresh the dreaded annual performance review process:

  1. Make Feedback Continuous
    Don’t wait until the end of the year to tell someone they’ve been underperforming. Frequent, informal check-ins (even 10 minutes bi-weekly) can address issues before they snowball and keep employees aligned with their goals.
  2. Focus on Strengths
    Research shows that employees who use their strengths daily are six times more engaged. Instead of nitpicking weaknesses, identify what someone does well and align their role accordingly.
  3. Simplify the Review Process
    Ditch the lengthy forms and ambiguous rating scales. A simple structure like:

    • What’s going well?
    • What needs improvement?
    • How can I (Manager) support you? Do you have the tools, training and resources required to successfully perform?
    • What are the next steps?
  4. Tie It Back to Development
    Employees don’t just want to hit targets; they want to grow. Include a discussion about development goals and how the company can support them (training, mentorship, stretch assignments, etc.).

 

Ready to Shake Things Up in 2025?

Here’s a simplified approach:

  1. Audit Your Current Processes
    What’s working? What’s not? Be honest.
  2. Streamline Your Goals
    Use the Rule of Three and focus on behaviors as well as outcomes.
  3. Adopt a Quarterly Rhythm
    Set aside time every quarter to review and adjust your strategy and goals.
  4. Reinvent Performance Reviews
    Make them simple, ongoing, and tied to development.
  5. Invest in People
    Whether it’s leadership training, team-building sessions, or external HR consulting, prioritize employee growth.

 

Resources to Dive Deeper

Here are a few resources to keep you inspired and on track:

  • Books: Essentialism by Greg McKeown, Measure What Matters by John Doerr, Radical Candor by Kim Scott
  • Tools: Simple goal trackers like Trello or Asana
  • Technology: HR Tech platforms like Humi for HRIS and performance management to streamline your processes

 

How MaxPeople Can Help

Still, feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where or how to start? This is where we come in. At MaxPeople, we’re your trusted HR experts, dedicated to driving impactful results for your organization in 2025. Whether it’s streamlining processes, aligning goals across your organization, training your teams on how to conduct performance reviews and provide feedback or providing hands-on HR support, we’re here to help you make 2025 your best year yet.

 

Reach out to us today and see how we can support your HR and performance management needs. Let’s make things simpler, clearer, and more effective—together.

For more information about fractional HR services, email [email protected] or call 1.888.709.1236

 


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