Effective goal setting is a crucial component of employee performance management, assisting organizations in aligning individual objectives with organizational priorities.

Workday simplifies this process with its intuitive goal-setting and approval functionality, allowing managers and employees to collaboratively set, track, and approve goals within a unified platform. By integrating goal management with broader performance and development initiatives, Workday ensures that goals remain transparent, measurable, and aligned with business outcomes.

This article explores how Workday streamlines the goal-setting and approval process, driving accountability, enhancing employee engagement, and fostering a culture of continuous growth and achievement.

Navigating the Job Responsibilities Worksheet (JRW)

Reviewing job responsibilities and setting individual goals often comprise the first steps of the performance review process, allowing employees and managers to set realistic performance expectations and ensure employee goals are met.

Job responsibilities typically involve the critical tasks and activities each employee is responsible for completing each day. Reviewing these responsibilities regularly ensures employees are assigned to relevant tasks for their specific positions and skill sets.

Setting Goals

Goal setting in the Workday ecosystem enables employees and managers to establish a shared set of expectations for each performance review cycle, ensuring individual priorities align with organizational objectives and changes over time.

Individual goals should be relevant to each employee’s core skills and competencies. Employees and managers should regularly review existing goals to ensure critical job responsibilities are accomplished and goals are achieved throughout each performance management cycle.

Entering Goals in Workday

After goals are agreed upon by both employees and their managers, they will be entered into Workday using the ‘Set Content’ prompt in the system. Here are the key steps in creating goals in Workday:

  1. Access the Workday Inbox and open the ‘Setting Goals and Expectations‘ item.
  2. Navigate to the Guided Editor and click the ‘Add‘ button to enter individual goals.
  3. Enter the Goal and Metrics for Success and select ‘Annual Performance Goal’ as the category.
  4. Select the target date for each goal within the performance review lifecycle.
  5. Click ‘Add‘ to create additional goals. Repeat until all goals have been added.
  6. Once all goals have been added, click ‘Next‘ to review and submit each goal.
  7. Managers will then receive an Inbox Task to approve their employee’s submitted goals.

Adding or Editing Goals

Once individual goals have been approved by the appropriate employee’s manager, employees can create additional goals or modify their existing performance goals. After each goal is modified and re-approved, manager approval is required. Here’s how it works:

  1. Navigate to the Workday Cloud icon and click ‘View Profile‘ to access your employee profile.
  2. Select ‘Performance‘ and navigate to the ‘Individual Goals‘ tab on the top menu.
  3. Click the ‘Edit‘ button to modify the selected progress goal. Click ‘Add‘ to add additional goals for the performance review year.
  4. Edit the relevant fields for each goal and click ‘Submit.’

Note: Goals may not be modified once the end-of-year review process has been initiated.

Approving Goals

Managers must approve any new or modified goals for each employee within the performance review process. Here are the key steps involved in reviewing, editing, and approving employee goals:

  1. Navigate to the Workday Inbox and click the ‘Manage Goals‘ item for each employee.
  2. Review each goal and determine any changes to be made.
  3. To make changes, click ‘Send Back‘ and use the comment box to guide the employee through each proposed change.
  4. To approve the goals, click ‘Approve’ and notify each employee of their approval.

How Can We Help?

While our team at Surety Systems doesn’t provide direct support for issues with setting goals in Workday or managing the review of job responsibilities for individual employees, we offer personalized consulting support for more significant objectives, like implementations, integrations, upgrades, and more.

From assessing your current Workday setup and identifying critical areas of improvement to navigating complex integrations between Workday and non-Workday systems and facilitating effective communication across project teams, our senior-level Workday consultants have you covered.

Contact Us

For more information about our Workday consulting services or to get started on a project with our team of expert consultants, contact us today.