thrive at work/Performance goals examples
Examples · Goals
Examples of performance goals.
A good goal is specific enough that two people would agree whether it was met. These examples are written that way.
By Jerry Fiser, Founder & CEO · Reviewed by Marcin Bulik, Research Director · Updated November 8, 2026
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Performance goals worksheet
Goal examples, a goals table with measures and milestones, a workload check and check-ins.
Download (Word)Download (PDF)What are examples of employee performance goals?
Examples include "Reduce average ticket response time from 8 to 4 hours by the end of Q2", "Complete the data analysis certification by September" and "Run a monthly knowledge-sharing session for the team from March". Good goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
- Three to five goals per period is enough for most roles.
- Write SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound.
- Mix results goals with development and behavior goals.
- Check goals against capacity; too many goals means some will be missed.
Types of employee performance goals.
| Type | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Results goals | Deliver a measurable outcome | Increase repeat purchases by a set amount by year end |
| Process goals | Improve how work gets done | Cut invoice processing time by a quarter |
| Development goals | Build a skill | Complete a data course and apply it in a project |
| Behavior goals | Change how someone works with others | Share a weekly status update with stakeholders |
| Team goals | Shared outcomes | Launch the new onboarding program by Q3 |
Behavioral performance goals examples.
"Share project risks in the weekly meeting as soon as they appear." "Give each new team member a walkthrough of our tools in their first week." "Ask for feedback after every client presentation." Behavioral goals describe how work is done and suit areas where results are hard to measure.
Performance goals vs development goals.
Performance goals describe what someone should achieve in their current role. Development goals describe what they want to learn or become, often with a longer horizon. Most people need both: two or three performance goals to focus the year and one development goal to keep growing.
Team performance goals examples.
| Team | Example goal |
|---|---|
| Customer support | Resolve most tickets at first contact by the end of Q3, measured in the ticket system |
| Sales | Grow revenue from existing customers against last year, with quarterly account reviews for every key account |
| Engineering | Reduce critical defects after release, measured each sprint |
| HR | Shorten time to hire for priority roles while keeping first-year retention stable |
| Operations | Raise on-time delivery while keeping overtime within the agreed limit |
Employee performance goals examples by area.
- ProductivityOutput. Close 20% more support tickets per week by end of Q2 without lowering satisfaction scores.
- QualityAccuracy. Reduce invoice errors to under 1% by the end of the year.
- CustomerService. Raise the team's customer satisfaction score from 4.2 to 4.5 within six months.
- DevelopmentLearning. Complete an advanced Excel course and automate two monthly reports by June.
- CollaborationTeamwork. Set up a fortnightly sync with the product team and agree a shared backlog by Q3.
- LeadershipPeople. Hold a development conversation with each direct report every quarter.
- InnovationProcess. Propose and test one process improvement per quarter.
- SustainabilityWorkload. Bring regular overtime down to zero by redistributing two recurring tasks by Q2.
Performance goals examples by role level.
| Level | Example goals |
|---|---|
| Entry level | Complete onboarding training and handle routine requests independently by the end of month three. · Reach the team quality standard on 95% of cases by Q2. · Learn one new tool and share a tip at a team meeting. |
| Experienced professional | Lead one end-to-end project this year and deliver it on time and on budget. · Reduce rework on your area by agreeing a checklist with the team by March. · Mentor one new colleague to independence within six months. |
| Team lead | Hold a monthly one-to-one with every team member and agree a development step with each by June. · Keep team overtime within the agreed limit each quarter. · Improve the team’s survey score on clear priorities by the next survey. |
| Senior manager | Deliver the annual plan for the department and report progress monthly. · Develop two successors who are ready for a bigger role within two years. · Keep regretted turnover in the department below the previous year. |
Numbers in these examples are placeholders. Use figures from your own baseline so that goals are challenging and achievable.
Performance goals examples by department.
Sales
- Grow new business revenue in the assigned territory by an agreed percentage this year.
- Raise the proposal-to-close rate through better qualification.
- Hold quarterly reviews with the top 20 accounts.
Customer service
- Reduce average resolution time while keeping satisfaction at or above current levels.
- Resolve more issues at first contact by building a shared knowledge base.
- Personally review and act on every negative survey comment within two working days.
Marketing
- Increase qualified leads from organic search this year.
- Publish two in-depth guides each month on priority topics.
- Improve landing-page conversion through monthly tests.
Engineering
- Deliver the agreed release plan with no critical defects after release.
- Reduce build time so the team gets feedback faster.
- Review teammates’ code within one working day.
Operations
- Raise on-time delivery to an agreed level.
- Cut error rates in order processing by a quarter.
- Document and train the team on three core processes.
HR
- Reduce first-year turnover by improving onboarding.
- Run an engagement and capacity survey and agree team actions within a month of results.
- Train all managers in holding regular one-to-ones.
Managers
- Hold a one-to-one with every team member at least every two weeks.
- Improve team scores on workload and recovery by the next survey.
- Agree a development plan with each team member by Q2.
Writing SMART employee performance goals.
Specific: what exactly. Measurable: how you will know. Achievable: possible with the time and resources available. Relevant: linked to team and company goals. Time-bound: a clear date. Three to five goals per period is enough; more dilutes focus.
The CIPD factsheet on performance management discusses objective setting within performance management, and the SHRM toolkit on managing employee performance includes goal-setting tools.
A tip for writing SMART goals.
Write the measure first, then the goal around it.
A performance goal template.
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Goal | Reduce average response time to customer tickets |
| Why it matters | Customers wait too long; response time drives repeat complaints |
| Measure | Average first-response time in the ticket system |
| Baseline | Current average, taken from the last quarter |
| Target and date | A specific lower average by the end of Q2 |
| Actions | New templates, triage rule, weekly review |
| Support needed | Access to the reporting dashboard; template review by team lead |
| What stops or waits | Lower priority internal reports move to monthly |
| Check-ins | Monthly in the one-to-one |
Goal-setting frameworks: SMART, OKR and more.
| Framework | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| SMART | Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound | Individual goals |
| OKR | An ambitious objective with three to five measurable key results | Team and company alignment |
| KPI targets | Ongoing measures with a target level | Stable, repeatable work |
| Development plans | Skills and experiences to build | Growth goals |
OKR examples for employee performance goals.
| Objective | Key results |
|---|---|
| Make onboarding faster and friendlier | New hires work independently within six weeks · Onboarding survey score improves · Every new hire has a buddy from day one |
| Improve customer retention in our region | Renewal rate rises against last year · Every key account has a quarterly review · Complaints resolved within the agreed time |
| Protect the team’s capacity in peak season | Overtime stays within the agreed limit · Energy scores in the pulse stay stable · Every person takes their planned leave |
OKRs work best for direction and learning. Many organizations keep them separate from pay decisions so that people set ambitious goals instead of safe ones.
Weak performance goals rewritten.
| Weak | SMART |
|---|---|
| "Improve customer service." | "Raise our team’s customer satisfaction score from 4.1 to 4.4 by the end of Q2." |
| "Be a better communicator." | "Send a weekly project update to the project sponsors every Friday this quarter." |
| "Learn more about data." | "Complete an analytics course and build one team dashboard by September." |
thrive research found that people with the least capacity, meaning energy, focus, recovery and resilience, delivered 56% of priority work on time, against 86% for those with the most.
Turning vague performance goals into clear ones.
Start with the vague goal, ask what success would look like, name a measure and a date, and check that it is within the person’s control. "Be more proactive" becomes "Raise risks on your projects in the weekly team meeting, starting this month". "Improve quality" becomes "Reduce corrections on monthly reports to minor edits by Q3".
Balancing goals and capacity.
Ambitious goals only work if people have the time and energy to pursue them. Before agreeing goals, look at what is already on the person’s plate and decide together what will stop or wait. A goal added on top of a full workload is usually the first one to slip.
Check progress and energy together in monthly one-to-ones, and move deadlines openly when priorities change instead of letting goals quietly fail.
Goals that protect energy.
Include at least one goal about sustainable work, such as protecting focus time or planning leave.
Development goals examples.
| Area | Example development goal |
|---|---|
| Communication | Present the team’s results at two department meetings this year and ask for feedback each time. |
| Leadership | Lead a small project with two colleagues by September. |
| Technical skills | Complete the data analysis course and build one dashboard the team uses. |
| Collaboration | Set up a monthly exchange with the sales team to reduce handover errors. |
| Self-management | Protect two focus blocks a week and review in one-to-ones whether it helps. |
Reviewing performance goals during the year.
Goals set once a year and checked once a year rarely work. Review them every month or quarter in one-to-ones: Are they still the right goals? What is getting in the way? Does anything need to come off the list to make room?
When priorities change, change the goals and write it down, so the year-end review reflects what was actually asked. Check that the total load is realistic. A person with seven ambitious goals and no time to focus will deliver less than a person with three.
Seven common goal-setting mistakes.
- 1Too many goals. Focus disappears beyond three to five.
- 2Vague wording. "Improve communication" cannot be measured.
- 3Goals nobody controls. Set goals the person can influence.
- 4No link to team priorities. Goals should add up to something.
- 5Set and forget. Review monthly or quarterly.
- 6Ignoring capacity. Goals added to a full workload slip first.
- 7Only results, no development. People stop growing.
How to review performance goals mid-year.
A mid-year review checks progress, removes goals that no longer make sense and adjusts the rest. Ask three questions for each goal: Is it still relevant? Is it on track? What support is needed? Change goals openly when priorities shift. A goal kept on paper after it has stopped mattering teaches people that goals are a formality.
thrive at work measures engagement (purpose, leadership, connection, growth) and capacity (energy, recovery, focus, resilience) in one anonymous survey: the employee engagement survey.
Goal progress only tells part of the story when people are running low. thrive at work is a workforce performance platform: an employee engagement platform that measures capacity to perform (energy, recovery, focus and resilience) next to engagement, by team. Read more about employee capacity.
Sources.
- CIPD factsheet on performance management. www.cipd.org
- SHRM toolkit on managing employee performance. www.shrm.org
- thrive index validation study. thrive at work, 2025–26. Methodology.
Common questions
How many performance goals should an employee have?
What is a SMART goal?
What are examples of employee performance goals?
What are good professional development goals?
Should goals be set by the employee or the manager?
Why are performance goals important?
Goals only work with the capacity to reach them.
A 30-minute call covers what capacity measurement adds.