"First and foremost, our sales goals are the most important. The next focus is repeat business and the tasks associated with acquiring and retaining these loyal customers, such as emails, calls, cards, and other touchpoints. Finally, development goals, which look different for each employee. Some are on track to become a manager or shift supervisor, while some are just using this as a job with hopes of doing something else eventually. Either way, I set personal metrics associated with their growth opportunities. These tasks could be anything from merchandising to scheduling or learning how to create the budget. We review each of these goals in a formal setting each month and quarter, with informal check-ins daily."

"My sales team has different metrics they aim to hit daily, to meet their weekly and monthly targets. Those include calls made, talk time, and appointments set. Those are just the incremental goals to get us to our targets. As far as big picture goals, I set our financial targets for individuals and the team as a whole, growth goals to make up for any potential deficits in their current role or prepare them for the next role. Finally, I like to work with the team to come up with a personal goal they're working on, whether it is for proficiency with a particular product or talking point or public speaking, and do check-ins to see how their project is going."

"I like to set goals related to current projects and future projects. It's important, as an administrator, not to remain focused solely on the tasks in front of our noses. We also need to prepare for shifts in the business that may occur in the short or long-term future."

"It's important to have goals that focus on the client, the company, and the employee. I have set the following goals for my team: the number of happy clients, company profits, and employee professional growth. Each week I sit down one on one with my team members to determine what personal growth plan they are putting into motion. Every morning, I meet with the team to choose a client we can make the happiest that day. Then, we choose one activity that will add to our company's bottom line."

"I set a variety of learning goals for myself and my students each week. Once I have outlined the learning focus, I will ask my students what they think we can accomplish in the week. They will usually surprise me and set ambitious goals, such as reading an entire book or memorizing their nine times tables. For myself, I love to read books on professional development for educators, so I will share my goal of reading three chapters per night, for instance. The students like to see that I have 'homework' too."

The interviewer wants to know more about your approach to goal-setting. What types of goals are you most keen on setting for your employees? Talk to the interviewer about the kinds of goals you find most important to ensure your team is successful.

"I put my team's goals into three categories: financial targets, client acquisition rates, and professional growth plans. Financial targets focus on their commercial sales targets for the quarter. Client acquisition rates are the number of new client relationships that they generate. Professional growth plans focus on growing their knowledge base and confidence in a business topic of their choice."