Goal-setting frameworks are everywhere. OKRs, SMART goals, annual plans. That part isn’t the problem.
The problem is review.
Behavioural science calls it the fresh start effect: temporal landmarks (new year, new quarter) give you a motivation spike to set goals. But motivation decays fast if it isn’t operationalised.
HBR research consistently shows that goals without regular review have dramatically lower follow-through.
One widely cited finding: people are 2–3× more likely to achieve goals when progress is reviewed frequently and publicly.
Cast your mind back a month or two.
Did you actively track your goals?
Or did you rediscover them later, buried in a doc, half-completed by luck while firefighting took over?
The fix isn’t better goals. It’s better infrastructure.
Here's what actually works:
1) Set a review cadence you can’t dodge
This is where most of your work should be focused, and it's a full team effort to bring something like this to fruition. Set a cadence that defines both what works needs to be accomplished, and reviews if it's on track. Something like this:
Quarter: What needs to be true for this goal to be accomplished? Where did things go right/wrong, what would we do different next time? Are there any carry over goals into next quarter?
Month: Are we on track to hit our quarterly goal? What are our priorities going into next month. Are there any big obstacles or absences we need to be aware of?
Week: What deliverables will move the needle this week? What did I get done vs has to be pushed or was stalled?
Day: If I could only accomplish three things today, what would they be?
Pre-schedule these reviews so they're protected time in your calendar (both info gathering for the session, and the session itself). If you rely on “when things calm down”, they won’t happen. Also consider how you can use AI to pull the information you need to streamline your review process.
2) Review relevance, not just completion
At each check-in, ask two questions:
Does this goal still support our top business priorities?
Has the environment changed enough that the goal should change too?
Holding onto outdated goals just means you're working on something that is no longer relevant to your business (bleh).
3) Build an intake for non-goal related work
Be realistic. The business doesn’t stop reaching out just because of your goals, so manage it.
Create a clear aperture for ad-hoc work:
How does it come in?
How is it sized?
Where is it tracked?
Then quantify it. If goal progress is stalling, or there's noise about your inability to support other parts of the business, you can show why — and either push back or justify more resource.
4) Make progress visible by default
Signpost your goals to the business. Share what you’re working on, what’s moved, and what hasn’t.
This does two things:
It creates external accountability.
It reframes HR from “busy but invisible” to delivering measurable outcomes.
For a function used to working quietly in the background, this is a power move.