The workplace is evolving at a rapid pace – with hybrid working models, AI changing the nature of work, and shifting employee expectations redefining what high performance looks like.
Now is the time to focus on creating a working environment where people are enabled to grow, adapt and feel inspired to do their best work.
How well have you set up your employees to achieve your 2026 business goals?
As we head towards the end of the first quarter of the year, it’s a good time to reflect and ask yourself how well you have equipped your teams to deliver your business goals this year?
Employee performance is one of the biggest drivers of business success. That’s why investing time at the start of the year to set direction and agree on priorities is crucial for giving your teams the best possible start.
We also know that people feel more engaged and motivated at work when they understand how they contribute to business goals and achieving success, and setting objectives for the year which connect to organisational goals is a great way to help your team understand the important role they play.
Objectives – Are they a foundation for inspiring development……or a tool for managing performance?
The truth is – they’re both!
You may have team members who are naturally ambitious, seeking out opportunities for growth and learning. Others may be on succession plans for future roles or are critical to your business and you want to retain – either way, clear objectives help to guide, motivate and retain them.
By dedicating some time at the start of the year to talk about what they want to achieve, and what you need them to deliver, you have an opportunity to find out about what’s important to their development, but also to inspire them to take ownership of seeking out opportunities. Setting stretching objectives for the year is a great way to start individuals on the right path and inspire them to achieve more and reach their personal development goals whilst at the same time delivering for your business.
Setting clear expectations through objectives is also crucial for team members who need to improve their performance. So often we hear about a performance management process going wrong because there has not been clarity between manager and employee over the expectations of what they need to deliver and by when. This makes formal performance management processes much harder for everyone involved.
A simple first step of agreeing clear and measurable objectives with realistic timeframes creates the crucial initial opportunity to improve performance or tangibly measure delivery issues.
Inspiring growth and development every day
Personal development is no longer limited to formal training courses, and instead learning should be embedded into everyone’s everyday work.
Think about how you could shift your workforce into a learning culture:
- Personalised development – one-size-fits-all training is outdated. Tailored development plans, supported by regular discussions through the year drives engagement and ownership
- Integrate learning into daily work – microlearning, creating coaching moments, and project-based learning make development on the job practical and the norm
- Supporting career mobility – being creative about career paths within the organisation and creating development opportunities. Progression isn’t always about promotion – are there opportunities for sideways moves? Could there be transferrable skills between different roles or teams? How do you fairly open project opportunities to people?
A good question to ask yourself – are your people learning just enough to do their current job, or growing enough to take on the next one?
The Manager’s role – from supervisor to coach
Managers as ever need to be ready to adapt to the changing workplace and employee needs, and their role may become less about oversight, and more about enablement.
Consider what your expectations are of managers within your business – how could you enable them to:
- Have frequent, meaningful conversations with team members – not just check ins or task list reviews
- Help their teams to connect their work to the bigger organisational goals and see the role they play
- Actively help to remove blockers rather than assigning tasks
- Encourage experimentation and create a test and learn culture to learn from failures
- Move towards coaching employees rather than controlling
Practical action points for 2026
- Set clear, measurable and realistic objectives with employees that connect individuals to the goals of the business
- Establish a feedback relationship with employees – provide regular, in the moment feedback and be open to listening to feedback in return
- Encourage employees to take ownership of their own development, and create individual bespoke development plans which feel relevant and achievable
- Train managers to coach, not just manage
- Celebrate early wins to build momentum
If you need support in reviewing your existing performance development processes and approach, get in touch with our experienced HR team at info@mcleanhr.co.uk
