Managers should be interested in understanding their co-managers style, reasoning, and processes to become more effective leaders. Employees look to the management chain to not only see how they should act and react but as a goal for their own professional development within your organization.

This means managers and supervisors are never exempt from professional development conversations focused on advancing their careers, improving their communication, and reviewing their goals.

Some organizations choose to use the SMART method for setting individual goals aimed to hone in on performance and development goals for each employee, including managers and supervisors. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Based goals.

Regardless of how your organization comes by their manager and supervisor goals, it is most important that your leaders are driven by goals that highlight their competencies, attitudes and behaviors, employee management skills, and areas for opportunity.

• Improved Communication: Most companies receive complaints about the lack of communication. If there is an announcement that is going to be released that directly affects your manager’s team, the managers should be made aware and prepared to answer questions accurately and effectively. This goal should be used to show an enhanced investment in consistent, clear, and concise communication in face-to-face interactions or written messages.
• Employee Coaching and Core Management: Does your manager lead by motivation, positive reinforcement, or fear? This goal should be used to identify opportunities for managers and supervisors to provide constructive, valuable, and timely feedback to employees on a regular basis, or on-the-spot.
• Productivity: Goals in this area should highlight the manager’s ability to successfully close projects within a set time and budget. Hard numbers drive this goal and can be checked regularly.
• Training: Successful managers and supervisors should never shy away from management training. If made available through your organization or in your local area, manager/supervisor training is an effective way to help the team improve as a whole. Managers should attempt to attend at least one professional improvement training session (e.g., leadership, management, review process, coaching, etc.) each year, using this goal to track the gained skills and knowledge from the course.

Professional manager development does vary slightly from that of non-manager level employees. Goals like those outlined here help to secure a manager’s confidence and core management skills that make the most sense for the success of the organization. Each manager may require separate goals as their strengths and areas of opportunity will likely differ. Effective goal setting is a useful way to train and motivate managers or supervisors and get a good feel for the company’s trajectory toward achieving corporate goals. Contact Vensure for support in helping your managers become superior leaders.