Motivation is crucial for successful learning, but this is often easier said than done. Where does the motivation actually come from? Learning goals often play a decisive role. In this article, you’ll find out how you can help your employees create the right sustainable and personal development goals from the start and ways to motivate them to follow and reach those goals.
Set Personal Development Goals with the SMART Method
“Only those who know their goal will find the path,” according to a quote by the Chinese philosopher Laozi. For employee development, it’s important for you and your employees to set a realistic learning goal that you want to reach and can achieve.
The SMART method can help you formulate strong goals that get results. Each letter in the word “smart” stands for a characteristic that should be part of your learning goal.
- S is for specific:
Make your goal as specific as possible so that it’s clear for what you want to achieve. “Learn a language” is a goal, but it’s not very concrete because the desired result and actions toward it aren’t precisely defined. - M is for measurable:
Your goal should be measurable so that you can check if you’ve made progress while you’re learning. - A is for achievable:
A goal that isn’t achievable won’t motivate – it will just frustrate. - R is for realistic:
Consider the factors that your employees’ learning depends on. That way you can guarantee the goal is realistic. For example, if you’ve set the goal to learn French in one month from scratch, it’s not realistic – and also not achievable. To keep your employees motivated, the goals should be manageable, realistic, and achievable. - T is for time-bound:
Schedules and deadlines are an essential part of successful learning. It’s easy to lose sight of goals if they’re not part of a fixed schedule.
Examples of Personal Development Goals for Work
A SMART goal can be best illustrated with an example. Let’s take workplace language learning as a potential learning goal:
“I want to improve my English and study 15 minutes a day, five days a week. My goal is to talk to customers in English after three months.”
What are the advantages of this kind of learning goal? It’s clear and concrete. It’s time-bound and measurable because the learner can measure their progress in a customer conversation after three months. It’s also realistic and achievable.
How to Motivate Your Employees to Reach Their Personal Development Goals
You can let your employees formulate their own goals or help them by giving examples so that they can orient themselves. The basic guideline is to stick to manageable goals and then scale them up over time. Nothing is as motivating for future goals as achieving the first one.
If the personal development goal of your employees is learning a language, the first goal could be for them to introduce themselves in the language after three weeks. Many learners reach this goal even earlier, which motivates them to work toward a new goal.
Another driver for learning is tying a small reward to the achievement of a goal. How does this work? There are two kinds of motivation:
- Extrinsic motivation comes from the outside; for example, receiving a reward when you reach a goal.
- Intrinsic motivation comes from within, arising because achieving a particular goal has meaning for you personally.
Both kinds of motivation are important and actually serve to reinforce each other. So, while your employees connect with their own personal development goals, you can help by adding some extrinsic motivation, such as a small prize for the most successful learner.
Set Sustainable Development Goals
For the most effective learning, aim for sensible goals and realistic timetables right from the start. This way, your employees are likely to hit those goals and continue. You might even discover employees who are eager to support other learners, which will further ensure success. That’s how, together, you and your team will master new achievements and accomplish all of your personal development goals.
