This article is for employees, US contractors, and managers. Goals are available for companies on Plus and Premium plans. If you think your company should have this feature, but you cannot access it, reach out to your admin. They can upgrade the plan at any time.
Use Gusto’s goals feature to set, track, and update individual and team goals. You can also view goals during performance reviews.
Here’s a quick overview of how goals work in Gusto:
You or your manager can add goals in Gusto.
As an employee or US contractor, you can add individual goals.
Managers can assign goals to themselves or to their direct reports.
Track progress over time.
You and your manager can provide regular updates on your goals.
If you have direct reports, access your dashboard for real-time insights on your team’s progress.
Get update reminders.
Admins can turn on automatic monthly email reminders for you and your team to update goals to keep information current.
View goals while completing performance reviews.
When filling out reviewer or self-evaluations, you can view your goals.
If someone writes a review about you, they can also view your goal information while writing their review.
You can create goals for yourself or, if you manage people, assign goals to your direct reports.
To create a goal:
Go to Performance.
To the right of Goals, click Go to dashboard.
From the My goals tab, click Create a goal.
Name the goal. It should be specific, measurable, and attainable.
Choose a start date and due date.
We’ll email the goal owner a reminder three days before the due date so they do not miss the deadline.
Add any extra details.
Select an owner. We set you as the owner by default, but if you have direct reports, you can assign the goal to them here.
You can change the owner of a goal later if needed.
Click Save goal.
Each goal has an activity log that shows all changes made to it over time.
To view goals and their activity logs:
Go to Performance.
To the right of Goals, click Go to dashboard.
You’ll find a list of goals, which you can search by title.
To view a direct report’s goals, toggle to the My team tab. Select a timeframe to find goals from the past one, three, six, or twelve months. You can also click All to view all goals.
Click the title of a goal.
Scroll to the Activity section to find all changes made to the goal.
You can update a goal’s status at any time to reflect current progress.
To update a goal’s progress status:
Go to Performance.
To the right of Goals, click Go to dashboard.
Click the title of a goal.
You’ll find a list of goals, which you can search by title.
To view a direct report’s goals, toggle to the My team tab.
Add a note about what’s changed.
Select whether the goal is:
On track
Progressing
Off track
Click Post update.
When a goal is completed, or if it will remain incomplete, click End goal.
To delete a goal that’s no longer relevant, click Archive. Once you archive a goal, it will no longer appear in your dashboard.
You can update a goal’s title, description, start date, due date, or owner (if you have direct reports).
To edit a goal’s details:
Go to Performance.
To the right of Goals, click Go to dashboard.
Click the title of a goal.
You’ll find a list of goals, which you can search by title.
To view a direct report’s goals, toggle to the My team tab.
Click Edit goal to change the title, description, start date or due date, or owner (if you have direct reports).
When you fill out a review as a reviewer/manager or a self-evaluation as an employee, click View goals on the right side of the page.
You’ll find a list of goals for the person being reviewed or yourself, if it’s a self-evaluation. Select a timeframe to view goals from the past three, six, or twelve months.