Performance Goals
Performance goals are specific, measurable targets that define what an employee is expected to achieve in their role over a set period. They are agreed between manager and employee, tied to team or company priorities, and used to assess performance at review time. They focus on results in the current job, unlike development goals, which focus on growth.
Also known as: performance goal, goals at work, work goals examples, goals for a performance review
Reviewed
Key takeaways
- Performance goals are measurable targets for your current role, agreed up front.
- They are checked at review time, so the review is about evidence, not memory.
- Keep three to five per cycle, and pair every volume goal with a quality goal.
- They focus on results now, unlike development goals, which focus on growth.
At a glance
- What they are
- Measurable targets for the current role
- How many
- 3 to 5 per cycle
- Rule
- Pair volume with quality
- Related
- SMART goals, OKRs, professional goals
Why do performance goals matter?
Without written performance goals, a review becomes a debate about memory and impressions. With them, both sides know the standard in advance, and the review is mostly about the evidence.
15 examples by role
Sales: 1. Close $600k in new ARR this fiscal year. 2. Raise win rate on qualified deals from 18% to 25%. 3. Book 12 qualified meetings a month.
Customer success: 4. Keep gross revenue retention above 92%. 5. Run QBRs with all top-20 accounts every quarter. 6. Cut time to first value for new customers to 14 days.
Engineering: 7. Ship the billing migration by 30 September with zero data loss. 8. Cut p95 page load time below 1.5 seconds. 9. Keep change failure rate under 10%.
Marketing: 10. Generate 400 sales-qualified leads this half. 11. Publish 30 glossary pages by quarter end. 12. Lift demo-request conversion on pricing from 2% to 3.5%.
People managers: 13. Hold a 1:1 with every direct report at least every two weeks. 14. Raise team engagement score by 10 points. 15. Fill all open roles within 45 days.
How do you write performance goals?
Make each one SMART, keep three to five per cycle, and pair any volume goal with a quality goal.
Frequently asked questions
- Performance goals vs development goals?
- Performance goals are about results in the current role. Development goals are about skills and career growth.
- How many performance goals should an employee have?
- Three to five per review cycle.
- What are examples of performance goals?
- Raise win rate from 18% to 25% (sales), keep revenue retention above 92% (customer success), or cut p95 page load below 1.5s (engineering).
- How do you write performance goals?
- Make each SMART, tie it to team or company priorities, agree it up front with your manager, and pair any volume target with a quality one.
- What is the difference between performance goals and OKRs?
- Performance goals assess an individual's results in their role; OKRs align a team around a few ambitious, measurable objectives. They can coexist.
- Should performance goals affect pay?
- Often yes, as part of the review, but keep a quality counterbalance so people do not hit a number by cutting corners.
See it in practice
Compare OKR and goal-setting software
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