How to Write Goals key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) for Sales, Marketing, HR, IT, and Finance

While used interchangeably (and incorrectly), there is often a confusion between the terms Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs), Key Performance Indicators( KPIs), and Goals. To clarify this, let us define these first.

Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs)

Each employee has responsibilities based on their job role. These responsibilities are called KRAs and are described in the employee’s Job Description document. In other words, KRAs, also known as key result areas, are typically broad and qualitative, defining what an employee is expected to do but do not specify specific targets or metrics. As a result, it helps employees to align their roles with those of the organization.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

To begin with, KPIs are specific, measurable indicators used to gauge how well a Business Unit or Organization is doing. For example, common KPIs include: Revenue, Profitability, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, Net Promoter Score, and many others.

Goals

Now, let’s look at goals. An employee is expected to perform their duties based on their job role. In addition, their work should be aligned to the needs of their organization. While the Job Role identifies the employees’s KRAs, and the Organizations define the KPIs. Consequently, mapping the KRAs to KPIs as quantifiable statements gives employee goals.

In summary, Goals provide a strategic direction, while KRAs and KPIs provide the means to measure progress and success toward those goals.

To further clarify these definitions, let us look at a specific goal of an HR Manager who is responsible for hiring

• – Goal: Hire 5 sales executives in this quarter
• – KRA: Recruitment and onboarding of suitable candidates
• – KPI: Top-line growth

As illustrated above, the goal defines what needs to be achieved. The KRA specifically outlines the area of responsibility, and the KPI connects performance to a measurable business outcome.

Benefits of defining KRAs

Key Result Areas (KRAs) offer several benefits to individuals, teams, and organizations when effectively implemented in performance management processes. Specifically, here are some of the key advantages of KRAs:

• – Firstly, they allow linking of each job role to the business strategy
• – Additionally, they ensure alignment with the organization’s strategic goals and objectives
• – Moreover, they reduce ambiguity and provide clear and specific objectives
• – They also focus on priorities, thus impacting the organization’s success
• – In addition, they support need based coaching and counseling
• – As accompanied by KPIs, hence allows for quantifiable assessment of performance and progress towards goals
• – Furthermore, they serve as a framework for performance evaluations and appraisals, facilitating  fair performance reviews
• –They help make individuals and teams accountable for their areas of responsibility 
• –In turn, this motivate employees by giving them a sense of purpose and direction 
• –They also help identifies areas where employees need to develop specific skills or competencies to excel in their roles
• – Regularly reviewing and updating KRAs promotes a culture of continuous improvement by regularly reviewing and updating KRAs
• – Lastly, achieving KRAs can be tied to recognition and rewards systems

While most managers are aware of employees’ job responsibilities, they particularly find it difficult to articulate employee goals in a written form.

Hence we are first sharing the approach to write SMART Goals using Job Descriptions (KRAs) and organizational KPIs.

Next, to illustrate the concept further, we are using three common job descriptions: Sales Manager, HR Manager and IT Manager. Using three  KPIs (New customer acquisition, Profitability and People development) to convert KRAs of each of the above job descriptions to SMART employee goals.

How to WRITE SMART Goals using Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs)?

To begin with, here are the 7 steps to help you write employee Goals from Job Descriptions (KRAs).

1. Firstly, identify the appropriate Organization KPIs where the employee can contribute meaningfully. It is important to note that all KPIs are not applicable to each employee.
   
   
2. Next, document the responsibilities of the employee in relation to the work they are doing. Although, for the same Job Description, different employees may have different work responsibilities.
   
   
3. Then, shortlist the KRAs for this employee using the unique responsibilities identified in step 2. Map these to the department or organization KPIs.
   
   
4. Now, categorize the employee’s expected achievements into 2 different areas viz
   
   
   1. Measurable: Those achievements that are measurable in numbers, percentages or yes/no answers. For example: Number of Hires, Number of Trainings Conducted, Number of New Customers, Percentage Increase in Revenue, Number of Customer Calls Handled
      
      
   2. Non-measurable: Those achievements that cannot be measured easily. For example: Brand value, NPS, Productivity, Employee engagement
      
      
5. After categorizing, write each Goal accordingly, making sure you clearly articulate the statement, have a measurable target and a realistic timeframe. Moreover, try to focus on the measurable goals first.
   
   
6. Once goals are drafted, ultimately discuss the goals with the employee and thereafter take their acceptance.
   
   
7. Finally, review the goals and achievements on a quarterly basis. Organization needs (KPIs) evolve and hence the employee goals should be changed too.

Let us now look at writing goals for the three Job Descriptions.

Goals Using Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) for a Sales Manager Position

Goals Using Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) for Human Resource Manager

Goals Using Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) for IT Manager

Conclusion

As can be seen above, the same set of Organization KPIs are applicable to each job description but the goals vary based on the role of employee.

By linking SMART goals to job description based KRAs and the organizational KPIs, employees can therefore stay aligned with the organization’s needs. Moreover, using well-defined job descriptions helps managers set up a goal setting process that aligns employees’ tasks with organizational needs through clearly outlined key responsibility areas (KRAs).

Frequently Asked Questions