60+ SMART Goals Examples for Work Covering Various Roles

SMART is an acronym describing five aspects you should consider when setting performance goals. SMART goals seek to solve problems of clarity and confusion and enable individuals and teams to set effective and attainable goals.

We curated 60+ examples of SMART goals for employees in various roles and seniority levels.

SMART goals for IT roles

1. Migrate all internal email accounts from Microsoft Outlook to Google Workspace by December 31, 2024, ensuring zero data loss and confirming functionality within 48 hours of each migration.
2. Install new estimation software on all 150 sales department computers by September 30, 2025, with a troubleshooting guide provided to each user.
3. Upgrade the printers in department X to the new model, completing five upgrades per week until all 25 printers are replaced by January 15, 2025.
4. Create a folder on the shared server for each new employee within their first week of joining, ensuring at least a 95% completion rate by the end of each onboarding cycle.
5. Improve website page loading speeds by 20% by March 31, 2025, by testing and implementing new hosting options and consolidating image files and scripts.
6. Set up a disaster recovery plan for all company servers by January 15, 2024, ensuring data backup every 24 hours with an automatic failover solution.
7. Perform a cybersecurity audit on all systems by June 30, 2025, identifying and addressing at least ten critical vulnerabilities.

SMART goals for finance roles

1. Send a notice to all overdue accounts by April 30, 2025, ensuring that 100% of accounts older than 60 days have been contacted.
2. Audit all archived accounts over seven years old by December 31, 2024, to determine which records should be kept, with a report delivered to management.
3. Draft payroll checks one day early by Friday, December 22, 2024, and ensure 100% on-time payroll distribution.
4. Reduce operational costs by 5% across all finance functions by January 31, 2025, focusing on vendor negotiations and process optimization.
5. Create a 6-month financial forecast by November 30, 2024, based on historical trends and market analysis, with a focus on increasing liquidity.

SMART goals for marketing roles

1. Increase organic traffic to the main website by 10% within the next ten weeks, using SEO strategies and content optimization.
2. Cut the social media budget by 25% by December 1, 2024, by identifying low-ROI platforms and reallocating resources to more effective channels.
3. Increase conversions on Product X by 50% during Black Friday and Cyber Monday through targeted email campaigns and special promotions, achieving this by November 30, 2024.
4. Grow the email list by 100 new customers during the holiday season by December 31, 2024, using lead generation tactics on social media and the website.
5. Determine the best social media platform to build a presence on by November 15, 2024, by analyzing current engagement data and industry trends.
6. Launch a new product campaign for Product Y, generating 500 leads by January 31, 2025, using influencer partnerships and paid media.
7. Achieve a 20% increase in engagement rates on LinkedIn by October 31, 2024, through consistent posting and employee advocacy.

SMART goals for project managers

1. Calculate customer satisfaction rates for Team X by December 31, 2024, using surveys and interviews.
2. Estimate the completion time for Project X by December 15, 2024, using two employees from team Y, considering resource allocation and project scope.
3. Increase production output by 15% by the end of Q1 2025, prior to the renewal of Client X's contract, by conducting a detailed analysis of bottlenecks in workflows such as approval delays, resource allocation inefficiencies, and communication gaps.
4. Complete the final project phase for Client Y by November 15, 2024, ensuring deliverables meet all outlined specifications and deadlines.
5. Hold weekly status meetings every Tuesday, maintaining a completion rate of 90% on all action items by each subsequent meeting.

SMART goals for graphic designers

1. Present three logo concepts to Client Y by end of month, with printed and digital versions ready for feedback.
2. Add watermarks to all demo images for Client Z by November 8, 2024, ensuring consistency in branding and image quality.
3. Become proficient in Software X by December 31, 2024, by completing a training course and applying the software to two client projects.
4. Create a new social media template for marketing materials by October 1, 2024, with a focus on increasing brand consistency.
5. Revise 10 current website images by October 31, 2024, optimizing them for faster loading times and improved visual appeal.

SMART goals for HR roles

1. Reduce employee turnover by 10% by June 30, 2025, by implementing retention strategies such as exit interviews and career development plans.
2. Complete compliance audits for all departments by December 31, 2024, ensuring that 100% of records meet legal requirements.
3. Revamp the onboarding process by October 31, 2024, ensuring that new employees complete their first week with at least a 90% satisfaction rate in onboarding surveys.
4. Implement a new performance review system by November 30, 2024, training 100% of managers on how to use it effectively.
5. Conduct diversity training for all employees by December 15, 2024, with 80% participation.
6. Improve employee engagement by 15% by February 28, 2025, through regular pulse surveys and engagement initiatives.
7. Update job descriptions for all departments by March 31, 2025, ensuring alignment with current organizational needs.

SMART goals for sales roles

1. Increase sales revenue by 15% in Q4 2024, through new client acquisition and upselling to existing customers.
2. Close 10 new accounts by November 30, 2024, generating at least $50,000 in new business.
3. Improve lead conversion rate by 10% by October 31, 2024, through targeted follow-up and improved pitch strategies.
4. Attend two industry networking events by December 15, 2024, with the goal of generating at least five new leads per event.
5. Complete CRM training by October 15, 2024, and integrate it into daily sales activities, achieving 100% utilization.
6. Reduce the sales cycle time by 10% by December 31, 2024, through more efficient lead qualification and closing techniques.
7. Generate $100,000 in upsell revenue from existing clients by March 31, 2025, focusing on cross-selling additional services.

SMART goals for engineering roles

1. Complete the redesign of Feature X by November 30, 2024, ensuring the new version improves efficiency by 20%.
2. Fix 95% of all critical bugs identified in the last release by October 15, 2024, maintaining zero major issues after deployment.
3. Automate the testing process for Module Y by December 31, 2024, reducing manual testing time by 30%.
4. Improve system uptime to 99.9% by January 31, 2025, through server optimization and monitoring enhancements.
5. Complete security audit and resolve 100% of identified vulnerabilities by December 15, 2024.
6. Attend three technical training sessions by February 28, 2025, to improve proficiency in new technologies used by the team.
7. Increase code efficiency by 15% in Module Z by October 31, 2024, reducing load times and improving overall performance.

SMART goals for new hires

1. Submit all new employee handbook documents to HR by Day 30 to ensure compliance with onboarding policies.
2. Rate onboarding experience categories (e.g., training, culture) on a 1-10 scale within two weeks, to provide feedback for process improvement.
3. Set 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month goals by your first employee review to establish a clear development roadmap.
4. Introduce yourself to all coworkers via chat by November 30, 2024, to foster team collaboration before the company outing.
5. Set up your email and company login by December 8, 2024, ensuring access to all relevant tools and systems.
6. Complete the initial product training module within the first two weeks to understand the core offerings and value proposition.
7. Attend a minimum of three team meetings within your first month to understand workflows and team dynamics.

SMART goals for senior employees

1. Train the new salesman to autonomously place orders from Supplier X by March 31, 2025, ensuring zero errors in the process.
2. Coach new hires on 360-degree feedback processes by December 31, 2024, preparing them for the next review period.
3. Update the employee manual with new protocols after each safety meeting, ensuring all changes are implemented within two weeks of each meeting.
4. Mentor your assistant in your critical job duties by October 15, 2024, ensuring smooth operations during your vacation.
5. Document your daily tasks and industry knowledge within 30 days of resigning, creating a comprehensive training guide for your replacement.
6. Develop a succession plan for your role by January 31, 2025, identifying at least two potential successors.
7. Lead quarterly strategy sessions with your team, with the first session scheduled by November 1, 2024, to align on departmental goals.

How you can help your employees reach their SMART professional goals: Best practices

Part of the purpose of SMART goals is to provide clear and achievable objectives. However, there are some things you can do as part of people operations to assist your employees further.

1. Document the goals

Documenting SMART goals is helpful for both management and employees with assigned tasks. Plus, having a record of goals will help with progress tracking.

2. Align the entire team

Specific goals and assignments should align the company to an extent, but you can go beyond that.

It is helpful if team members can see who is responsible for which objectives so they can communicate and work together when sensible.

3. Encourage goal sharing across teams

SMART objectives, professional development goals, and individual development plans shouldn't be kept private.

4. Make goals easily accessible

As with documentation, making SMART goals and other business objectives centrally available allows everyone to track progress, see who is working on what, and understand the big picture.

You can make goals more easily accessible through a goals management system, shared spreadsheets, or similar methods.

5. Conduct regular check-in meetings

Use regular check-in meetings to assess progress and address challenges. Discussing successes and struggles in one-on-one meetings can shed light on new ideas and facilitate better cohesion among teams and company-wide.

6. Collect feedback from multiple perspectives with 360-degree appraisals

360-degree appraisals provide feedback from multiple perspectives. Input from various perspectives can strengthen teamwork and motivate employees to succeed with their SMART goals.

Performance management software with 360 feedback modules makes it easy to manage feedback from multiple employees, with an option to do so anonymously.

Effective teams set SMART goals with Deel Engage

Deel Engage’s talent management suite can streamline SMART goals setting and tracking by:

• Customizing the platform to fit the structure of your goal-setting framework
• Defining parent goals and sub-goals so that every individual, manager, and department stays accountable
• Assigning timeframes to each goal
• Using employee goals to add more context to 1:1 meetings and performance reviews
• Managing all employees’ goals from a centralized location

Additionally, Deel HR, our truly global HRIS solution, is always included for free.

Book a demo today to see how our solutions will help you build a high-performance workforce.