[jakub_g]

Have the same in $current_job and yeah it's annoying to come up with something that makes sense, is measurable and attainable but not too easy etc.

Part of the goals exercise is not the goals in themselves but to let you reflect "where do I want to go" and start the discussion with your manager because maybe they have no idea: do you want to become a staff engineer? A tech lead? Can they assign you more of certain type of work / expose you more to the upper mgmt to build the awareness of your work and help you get promoted?

Are there things that you're working on alone but are too complex for 1 person and you would like to have more people involved? Can you use that as an opportunity to mentor younger people in the team and grow soft skills? Etc etc

Another thing is to validate things you'd like to do: maybe you'd like to more of X but you're not sure if you're senior enough / will it be well perceived if you do it / is it valuable investment of your time. If you let your manager know and he approves, you can devote time to it with clear conscience when you notice an opportunity.

[wonderingdev]

My point is: do you need goals for that? People that want to grow into more senior roles just naturally do more.

It happened to me to have goals that were mere exercises: write a blog post, read that book, follow that course. I'd do those things anyway I really wanted. It doesn't make sense to push people to do that, IMO.

[pbronez]

If it's stuff you'd do anyway, then it benefits you by broadcasting that work to your management chain. Suddenly it becomes clear that you ARE doing that work... and perhaps other people aren't. Documenting that is good for you (because it advances your career) and good for your managers (because it helps them recognize your superior performance)

It also provides an opportunity for management to discuss the overall direction of these things. Maybe there's another book that would be more useful given how the business is expected to change that year. Maybe there's other people going to the same conference and you can get a bulk discount on tickets, etc.

[UncleMeat]

You don't need them. But they help. If I know that a report really wants to grow into a more senior position and an opportunity comes up that feels like it will give them a great stretch project, I'll let them know about it and see if they jump on it. Promotions are rarely about "doing more" but instead are about doing a different class of thing.

[wonderingdev]

In my company we have a different "trial period" for promotions and "role-shifting", outside the goals' framework. In my case that doesn't apply then, but I understand your point. You can as well put in place goals for the report in a private way (e.g.: discussions in 121s).