Top 10 Tips for Improving Organizational Performance in 2009 through Successful Employee Goal Setting

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
As organizations prepare for annual employee goal setting sessions at the start
of the New Year, SumTotal Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUMT), the market leader and
global provider of talent development solutions, released the top 10 tips HR
managers can use to drive better organizational alignment for improved
performance across their company. Implementing sound, universally accepted goal
setting processes, coupled with the use of an effective system for managing and
tracking these processes is one of the best ways HR can contribute to an
organization`s bottom line.

"With the current economic forecast, it is now more important than ever to make
sure employees` goals reflect the organization`s overall goals to ensure
everyone is working toward the same mission," said Richard Oyen, director of HR
and Talent Development. "By helping to set organizational alignment, HR
departments have the ability to impact their company like never before and
create significant productivity improvements."

In an effort to enable HR departments to have a more profound impact on their
organization`s performance, SumTotal offers the following best practices for
employee goal setting:

1 Know the goals – HR should be involved with executives and
senior management as they plan organizational goals for the year ahead
to grasp the business issues and challenges which are driving the
goals.
2 Get buy-in – The executive team should support HR’s efforts to
align goals and help communicate the importance of the program so
employees understand the executive team stands behind it.
3 Cascade goals – Once the goals are set at the top of the
organization, they should work their way down in the organization.
4 Ensure consistency – As goals are being established further
down in the organization, HR can assist by creating standards for
goals and then monitoring for consistency.
5 Hold everyone accountable – A manager needs to make sure goals
are measurable with specific deadlines and then hold employees to
those dates and deliverables.
6 Reinforce through development – Ensure that employees have the
skills and tools in place to actually reach the established goals –
the best way to do this is through development plans, which HR can
monitor.
7 Work the gaps – While managers can work with employees
individually, HR should run company reports to monitor where the
organization is falling short at a high level. Address those needs
proactively by working with the Learning team.
8 Encourage year-long communication – It is easy for the manager
and employee to set up the initial goals and then not touch them
again. HR can leverage system technology to send reminders to
employees to update their goals and work toward instilling a culture
of frequent manager/employee communication.
9 Monitor compliance – Managers should be monitoring completion
and updates of employee goals, but HR should monitor overall progress
and provide reports to executives and department heads.
10 Measure twice, cut once – Goals should be a major component of
a company’s annual performance appraisal where employees are measured
and ultimately held accountable.

For additional insight on how to approach aligning an organization`s goals, a
full-length whitepaper on the topic is available for download.

About SumTotal Systems, Inc.

SumTotal Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUMT) is the market leader and global provider of
talent development solutions. SumTotal deploys mission-critical solutions
designed to drive learning, align goals, develop skills, assess performance,
plan for succession and set compensation. SumTotal`s solutions aim to accelerate
performance and profits for more than 1,500 companies and governments of all
sizes, including six of the world`s 10 biggest pharmaceutical makers, six of the
10 largest automotive companies in the world, four of the five branches of the
U.S. Armed Forces, three of the world`s top five airlines, five of the six
largest U.S. commercial banks and two of the world`s top five specialty
retailers. Mountain View, Calif.-based SumTotal has offices across Asia,
Australia, Europe and North America. For more information about SumTotal's
products and services, visit www.sumtotalsystems.com.

SumTotal and the SumTotal logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of
SumTotal Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other
countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Porter Novelli for SumTotal Systems, Inc.
Lauren Sell, 512-241-2246 (direct)
713-398-8700 (cell)
Lauren.sell@porternovelli.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009