Your team set SMART objectives in January, you file them away, and by July half of them are pointless. Sound familiar? We are pulling apart the real reason performance reviews feel tense in so many small businesses: SMART goals quietly turn into paperwork, and the gap between “formal objectives” and “what actually gets rewarded” starts eroding trust.

We talk through why objectives matter more in an SME than in a corporate. When everyone is wearing six hats and priorities shift fast, a good objective is simply a shared picture of what success looks like for this role and this quarter, written in plain English. We also share the numbers that explain the mess: most SMEs set objectives, few review them more than once a year, and hardly anyone feels the process improves performance.

Then we get practical with three failure modes we see all the time. The unrevisited objective that becomes unfair after a pivot. The manager who gives everyone a four out of five because they hate difficult conversations. The “Tom” problem: a top performer who hits every target while being painful to work with. Our fixes are specific and doable: diary quarterly reviews, kill dead objectives fast, run a simple annual calibration meeting, and write every objective with a “what” and a measurable “how” so behaviour counts, not just output.

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If you're not sure how your HR is really holding up, take the free HR Health Check. It's short, jargon-free, and gives you a clear score on what's working and what could do with a bit of love.

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Got a question or need actual HR support? Find Kate at kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email [email protected], or follow along on social.

Until next time, keep buzzing, and take care of your people.