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SMART Goals

For Municipal Offices and Public Safety Teams

Megan Johnson

Last Update hace un mes

By Mike Linstroth -- SHRM-SCP, VP of Business Development

Most of us do two things at the start of each year: set personal goals, and give up on them. Survey after survey finds more than 90% of people throwing in the towel during the month of January. The second Friday in January even has a nickname: Quitter’s Day. And we don’t do any better as organizations: 9 out of 10 companies in one Reflektive report consistently fail to reach their organizational goals.
When it comes to reaching goals, setting them well makes the difference. We recommend SMART goals to municipal offices and public safety teams looking to hit the bullseye across the board this year and every year.

What Do We Mean by SMART Goals?

In case you need a refresher, here’s what makes a goal SMART:

Using these criteria avoids vague goal setting: one of the main reasons departments aren’t hitting their benchmarks. Yes, everyone wants to provide better service to their community. That’s the heart of why you do what you do as municipal employees, firefighters, police officers, or EMTs.  But it doesn’t help you make (or stick to) a practical, workable plan. SMART goals define how (and how soon) you’ll achieve your purpose. They keep things on track and in focus.  

Setting SMART Goals: Examples and Tips

Let’s improve a sample goal for a municipal offices using the SMART framework.
  • Goal: Resolve more calls successfully this year. 
  • Identify Gaps: This goal doesn’t tell us how “successfully” is measured, and there’s nothing to shoot for beyond “more”. It needs to be more specific and measurable.
  • SMART Goal: Resolve 25% more calls successfully this year by getting all required information and confirming with callers that their problem was solved. 
Now let’s try a sample police department goal.
  • Goal: Complete more community outreach this year.
  • Identify Gaps: Again, “more” is good, but how much more? How will the officers in this department know they’ve met their goals? Let’s give them specific ways to measure and evaluate their progress.
  • SMART Goal: Complete ## food or clothing drives per quarter for a total of ## per year.
In each example, SMART goals give employees and leadership something tangible to aim for, and a way to do it, as well as a deadline for reaching their goal. This way they know how to set their priorities throughout the year, and what they’ll be evaluated on during their year-end performance review. 

Document the Details, Connect the Dots 

One of the most important steps you can take when setting smart goals is documentation. Log and store goals for everyone in your office or department in one place. Make it clear how each person’s performance impacts their team, and how each team’s goals directly impact department and city-wide milestones.
Be sure everyone can track and document their progress, note any problems, and make adjustments when it’s time to pivot. There’s no need to reach the middle of the month, or quarter, or year, confused about how well things are going, or where you’re falling short.
 

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