Setting up SMART goals can help to improve business results in any area of the company. Where SMART recruiting goals can be particularly impactful is in supporting the HR department's talent acquisition team. SMART recruiting goals help to attract the right hires who will ultimately contribute to the organization's greater success.
SMART is an acronym that stands for five specific attributes as follows: "Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Oriented." In terms of goal setting, each attribute focuses on a different component to make achieving that goal more likely.
Incorporate smart Goals into your process
By using SMART goals as the foundation for your team's recruiting processes, you can ensure everyone involved in the recruiting effort (HR staff, new hires, hiring managers, etc.) is on the same page:
Specific
You know what specific job candidate attributes you are looking for and how to identify those attributes.
Measurable
You have the measurement tools in place to quantify how well your recruiting method is delivering the desired results.
Achievable
Your recruiting method is designed to work using the resources and tools you currently have in place.
Relevant
Your recruiting goals relate directly to the short and long-term productivity and developmental goals of the company itself.
Time-Oriented
You have a detailed timeline that defines both important tracking milestones and a target completion date.
get started using these SMART Goals
It can be helpful to utilize a SMART goals template to organize your thoughts. Using a template can also help to transcend any misunderstandings of language or meaning that often arises when working with different corporate cultures.
In a way, a SMART goal functions similarly to a press release. A press release is designed to answer basic questions (who, what, why, when, where, how) about a specific topic.
Here is one sample SMART goal template you can modify as needed:
“Our specific goal is to achieve this relevant result by this particular date. Here is how we will measure our success in achieving this goal.”
Here is the information you have gathered from the IT and/or Marketing supervisors:
“There is an open position for a new hire with IT and/or Marketing expertise to oversee your company's social media platforms. Pay is $50,000+ and requires a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.”
So your SMART goal template might read:
“Our specific goal is to hire a recent college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or Marketing within the next 45 days. The right candidate will have a passion for developing social media communities as a sales and marketing tool. Our goal is to have at least 10,000 active followers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest by the end of the first 12 months of employment with a corresponding increase in online sales of 10 percent in the same time period.”
In this SMART goal, you can see how each of the five attributes is addressed in turn:
| Specific | Hire a recent college graduate with a Bachelor's degree in IT or Marketing. |
| Measurable | Here are the 5 social media platforms we want to focus on and the sales increase we want to see by building an active, engaged online community. |
| Achievable | Here is what we have to spend on salary and benefits ($50,000+). |
| Relevant | Our company wants to become more visible on social media and increase online sales. |
| Time-Oriented | We want to have the new hire in place within 45 days and results measured within 12 months following the date of hire. |
By gathering all of this SMART-based information in advance, you will be able to pinpoint any areas where the job request may not be achievable at this current time, for instance, if the budget for the new hire's salary and benefits does not match the desired level of education and previous job experience.
About author: With spending her years working in management, Riya is very delighted to work with aspiring small business owners. She is also a freelance writer at Zealifi, an Australian Consulting and Training Solution for the Hospitality Industry, providing a mandatory course like RMLV and offering a number of courses at convenient locations throughout Brisbane, Gold Coast and all across Regional Queensland. Check out her Twitter.
