Even though hiring more developers or BI analysts is probably what you want to do for the year, those are not goals, they are requirements, very obvious requirements. Your technical recruitment goals should be way more specific than just the positions you want filled.
Technical hiring can make or break your company. Hence, give it the attention it deserves and create very specific goals for it. Remember to work to achieve the goal by following certain principles. Here three mistakes you should avoid while setting the goal.
Setting unmeasurable goals
Sure, they all say aim for the stars and that the sky is your limit. However, once you start working towards your ambitious goal and see no growth or advance to it, you will be demotivated. For reaching an ultimate goal, you will have to work long and hard. When you are working towards achieving something but see no results, you will start doubting your ability to achieve and thereby bringing down your confidence immensely. Instead, try setting more achievable goals. Step by step when you see growth and getting closer to the goal, you will be more and more motivated to reach there. Also, avoid having intangible goals like “being the best” at something. Using vague adjectives to set goals is not specific and honestly, you will not be sure when you have reached your goal. Be very concise and quantify your goal.
Setting hiring goals that don’t align with your business goals
Make sure what your management needs and what you hire are on the same page. Just for the sake of it, do not hire people irrespective of how fiercely they are talented. Even if you were requested to hire a particular person, if it’s been a while, keep cross-checking with the management to see if the urgency is still there or if that person is still needed.
In a world where the market is spinning and changing faster than ever, you need to sit with the management every now and then to ensure you are on the same page and pace with them. Any changes in hiring priority should be under your nose in no time. Even if you were asked to hire someone and that person is still needed, you still might have to change the priority to some other recruitment as the urgency for that post would have come up suddenly in the management. Though your initial search is put on hold, the new recruitment is probably what will save the company.
Setting Goals Without Deadlines
After you have learned to set a very specific and achievable goal, your next step should be setting a deadline. A goal without a deadline is as good as a dart thrown blind. If you are working on completing step one towards your goal and you haven’t completed that in years, what is the problem? Technically you are still working towards your goal. However, is there a point in working that way? Will you ever reach your goal without having a deadline to each work you do?
When you set the deadline, set it in such a way that it creates a challenge for you but also it does not become too stressful that you have to work overtime to achieve the goal. Some recruitments take more time than others and hence, make the deadline after analyzing the situation well. A deadline also makes you think about the possible pitfalls and all the resources you’ll need to achieve your goal. It will be a well assessed and specific goal to achieve.