[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).