Create a Goal

The article provides a comprehensive guide on creating and managing goals within BambooHR's Performance Management system. It covers the process of adding individual (private) and cascading (public) goals, including detailed steps for setting titles, due dates, descriptions, and milestones. Users can share goals with colleagues to enhance collaboration. The guide also explains how to enable cascading goals, which link individual efforts to broader company objectives. Additionally, it introduces AI-powered goal creation, offering personalized suggestions based on existing data. Users can manage goal notifications and download attachments, ensuring effective tracking and communication. The article emphasizes the importance of aligning individual goals with organizational priorities for improved performance.

  • May 12, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Create a Goal
Article Text
This feature is only included in the Pro and Elite Packages.

How do I create a new goal?

Purpose: To teach you how employees can add goals (public and private) in BambooHR® Performance Management.  

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Table of Contents

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If you are using the BambooHR mobile app, you can add goals through the app. Click here to learn more!

Create an individual goal (private)

Screenshot of an employee profile in BambooHR with the Performance tab open. The “Goals” subtab is selected, showing several goal cards. An orange highlight circles the “+New Goal” button in the upper-left corner of the goals list and the Performance tab in the navigation bar, guiding users to where new goals can be added.

On the Performance tab, click +New Goal under the Goals subtab and click individual goal (private).

  1. Title: Use this required field to name your goal or come up with a goal objective.
  2. Due Date: This is a required field. Set a due date for your goal.
  3. Description: Use this space to describe your goal.
  4. Use Milestones: Toggling on this option will allow you to add milestones for tracking key steps or results toward reaching the goal.
    • You can add up to 10 milestones.
    • Each milestone can have up to 100 characters. If you need to add more text, you can use the Short Description box.
  5. Attach File(s): You can upload supporting documents and files to your goal by selecting Choose Files.
  6. Share your goal: See Share A Goal below.
  7. AI-powered goal creation: This feature uses existing information in BambooHR to generate personalized goal ideas and guide you through building SMART goals.

The default view of the Goals subtab shows all goals that are in progress. To change the view to completed or closed goals, click on the Status dropdown menu and change your selection.

View individual goal (private) details

The Goals subtab organizes all goal cards based on the due date. Each goal card shows the goal name, with whom the goal was shared, the due date, and the progress tracker.

To view more goal details, hover over a goal card and click on the double arrow icon in the top right corner. Upon click, you will be able to view the goal description, progress tracker, due date, milestones (if applicable), comments, and any attachments.

Screenshot of the Performance > Goals section showing a goal card titled “Strategic Goal Team Culture”. The three-dot icon (⋮) in the top-right corner of the goal card is highlighted to indicate where to click for options such as Edit, Delete, or Close Goal. A confirmation dialog appears below asking “Are you sure you want to close this incomplete goal?” with green Yes, Close Goal and Cancel buttons.

Click the three-dot icon to edit, delete, or close your goal. If you close an incomplete goal, you will be prompted to confirm by clicking Yes, Close Goal.

Share an individual goal (private)

Often, goals are a shared effort. Therefore, sharing your individual goals in collaboration with coworkers allows you to unify efforts and complete your goals faster and better.

Screenshot of the Share this goal window in BambooHR. The current goal owner is shown under “Who has access.” A list of added coworkers (with profile images and names) appears in the Add People field. At the bottom, there are Cancel and Add buttons. The interface shows how an employee can share a goal with others who have access to BambooHR Goals.

Click Edit from the dropdown menu on a individual goal card and then click on the people icon ("Share Goal") to share a goal with other employees who also have access to Goals. You can only share a goal with a specific employee,* not a group of employees. Once you share a goal with the employee, they will receive an email notification. Your goal becomes one of their goals and will show up on their Goals tab under Performance. Also, it will show up in their Goals/Training/Benefits widget on Home.

*If you have access to the company directory, you can share a goal with any employee who has access to Goals. If you do not have access to the company directory but have access to other employees through an access level, you can share a goal with any employee you have access to. The employee needs to have access to Goals as well. If you do not have access via the company directory and an access level, you will not have the option to share a goal with the employee.

Screenshot of a shared goal card titled “Executive Performance Management Survey and Q+A.” The section “Shared with” is outlined in orange and displays profile thumbnails of collaborators. Below, a green progress bar shows 25% complete. A comment thread is visible below the goal with an employee comment reading “Great job!”

Next to the title of a shared goal, you can see with who the goal is shared. Hover over the image to view the employee's name.

Notice that the goal is now shared with Ashley and shows up on their Goals tab. When sharing goal, the employee will have the same access to the goal as the employee who created the goal. This access includes the following capabilities:

  1. View the goal on their Goals tab.
  2. Edit the goal (name, description, progress tracker, due date, attachments).
  3. Share the goal or remove others from the goal.
  4. Delete the goal.
  5. Close the goal.

Please note the shared individual goals will show for each employee with shared access on the Goals Status report.

Turning on cascading goals (public)

Cascading goals connect company goals to department and individual goals, so everyone can see how their work supports bigger priorities and larger-scale projects. This helps your team align efforts, track progress with confidence, and complete goals on time.

Screenshot of the Performance Management Settings page showing options for Goal Users and a toggle switch labeled Use Cascading Goals in Performance, which is highlighted in orange. The green Save button appears below the toggle. This screenshot indicates the configuration location for admins to activate cascading goals.

To enable cascading goals for your company, admins can go to Settings > Performance > Goals and toggle on the Cascading Goals toggle, and click Save.

Screenshot of a widget titled “What are you working toward?” featuring an icon of a target with an arrow. Below the message “Check out the cascading goals page to set your goals,” a green Cascading Goals button is shown. The widget serves as an entry point to the main cascading goals page.

Once turned on, cascading goals will show in the cascading goals widget for admins. Clicking Cascading Goals will bring admins to the main cascading goals page. If there are current cascading goals, you will see a snapshot of the goals in the widget.

Create a cascading goal (public)

Screenshot of the employee profile’s Performance > Goals section with an orange arrow highlighting the “+New Goal” button. The Performance tab in the header is also outlined. Below is the Create New Goal window showing the “Cascading goal (public)” option selected, with numbered fields for company-level goal, title, due date, milestones, and responsible employee.

On the Performance tab, click +New Goal under the Goals subtab and select Cascading goal (public).

Screenshot of the employee profile’s Performance > Goals section with an orange arrow highlighting the “+New Goal” button. The Performance tab in the header is also outlined. Below is the Create New Goal window showing the “Cascading goal (public)” option selected, with numbered fields for company-level goal, title, due date, milestones, and responsible employee.
  1. Company-level goal: Often called organization goals or top-level goals, anyone in the company can align their goal with a company-level goal. It will stay pinned to the top of the cascading goals page for easy monitoring.
  2. Title: Use this required field to name your goal or come up with a goal objective.
  3. Due Date: This is a required field. Set a due date for your goal.
  4. Description: Use this space to describe your goal.
  5. Use Milestones: Toggling this option on will allow you to add milestones for tracking key steps or results toward reaching the goal.
    • You can add up to 10 milestones.
    • Each milestone can have up to 100 characters. If you need to add more text, you can use the Short Description box.
  6. Who's responsible for this goal?: Select the employee who oversees this goal.
  7. Which parent goal does this support?: Select the parent goal this goal fits under. If there is not a parent goal you can also select "none".
  8. Attach File(s): You can upload supporting documents and files to your goal by selecting Choose Files.

If company-level goal is toggled on, the parent goal dropdown will be removed.

View cascading goal (public) details
Screenshot of the goal card “HR needs for 2026 roles” under the Performance > Goals section. A three-dot menu shows options for Edit, Close, and Delete. Below, a pop-up confirmation box titled “Just Checking” asks, “Are you sure you want to close this incomplete goal?” with Yes, Close Goal and Cancel buttons.

Click the three-dot icon to edit, delete, or close your goal. If you close an incomplete goal, you will be prompted to confirm by clicking Yes, Close Goal.

Screenshot of several goal cards under Performance > Goals, each with a small cascading goal icon (a network or hierarchy symbol) in the bottom-right corner of the goal card, distinguishing cascading goals from regular ones.

You'll also notice the cascading goal icon that differentiates which goal is a cascading goal.

View cascading goal (public) on the Cascading Goals page
Screenshot of a detailed cascading goal view for “HR needs for 2026 roles”. The section “Supports: Increase employment by 5% by 2026 (View in goal tree)” is highlighted in orange. A green progress bar shows 33% completion, with milestones listed below (e.g., “Meet with HR teams for role information”).

When you open a cascading goal, you will see which goal it is connected to and a link to see the goal inside of the goal tree by clicking View in goal tree. This will bring you to the Cascading Goals page.

Screenshot of the Cascading Goals page displaying a hierarchy. A top company goal labeled “Increase customer retention by 20%” appears under “Company Goals.” Below, a section labeled “All Other Goals” lists several connected goals with progress bars, showing each goal’s completion percentage and due dates.

The progress of the parent goal will be automatically tracked based on the progress of the goals connected to it. As you close the linked goals, the parent goal percentage will increase. If all the linked goals are completed, there will be a call to action on the details of the goal to mark it complete. This is the same for a company-level goal.

Screenshot of the Cascading Goals page showing an empty company goals section with a magnifying glass icon and the text “No company goals...yet!” Below, an All Other Goals section lists four active cascading goals with employee avatars, progress bars, and due dates.

You are able to include cascading goals without including a company-wide goal. The Company Goals tab will still show with All Other Goals shown below.

Creating a cascading goal from the Cascading Goals page
Screenshot of the Cascading Goals page with one company goal (“Increase customer retention by 20%”) and several listed goals below. A +New Goal button is highlighted in orange in the upper-right corner. Progress bars display various completion percentages, demonstrating ongoing goal tracking.

You can also create a cascading goal from the Cascading Goals page. Below is a chart of who can view and interact with the different options when creating a goal from Cascading Goals page.

Cascading View - Who can view cascading goal buttonsAdmins Managers Employee 
Who’s responsible?XX
This is a company-level goal toggle (must be able to create company-level goals) X 
What parent goal does this support? XX* Cannot create a parent goal but can select and align to current parent and company goals. 
“None - this is a new parent goal” dropdown optionXX
Goal title XXX
Due date XXX
DescriptionXXX
Use milestonesXXX
Attach File(s) XXX

If you are an admin and can create company level goals you will get this modal on the Cascading Goals page.

If you are a manager you will get this modal on the Cascading Goals page.

If you are an employee you will get this modal on the Cascading Goals page.

AI-powered goal creation and personalized goal suggestions

AI goal creation and AI goal suggestions help you quickly create meaningful, structured goals without starting from a blank page. This feature uses existing information in BambooHR to generate personalized goal ideas and guide you through building SMART goals.

To create a new goal with AI, navigate to Goals > New Goal. Then in the "Create New Goal" modal, click "Try it out" in the blue AI banner.

In the goal assistant, add the following information:

  • "What type of goal do you want to achieve?"
  • (Optional) "Any additional context?"

Click Generate Goal Ideas.

Select one of the suggested goals and click Confirm.

When you select a suggestion, BambooHR automatically populates:

  • Title
  • Due date
  • Description
  • Milestones

All fields remain fully editable before saving. Review the populated goal details, make any edits and Click Save.

On the Performance Tab > Goals you will see the AI goal suggestions. These are based on your existing activity and data based on:

  • 1:1 meeting notes
  • Assessments
  • Job title
  • Feedback (manager access only)

If you do not want to use the AI goal suggestions, click Dismiss All and the goals will be removed.

  • Please note that some suggestions are based on feedback and are only visible to users with permission and employees will not see feedback-based suggestions they do not have access to.

Important Notes About AI goals:

  • AI-generated goals follow the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable/Relevant, Time-bound).
  • Suggested goals may automatically include company core value tags, if they are set up.
  • Suggestions only appear when enough data is available (for example, 1:1 notes must contain content).
  • There is not a way to turn off the AI goals. However, it's not a requirement to use the feature when creating goals and goals can be edited even if AI assistant added content.

Downloading goal attachments

Screenshot of an Excel file preview titled “Performance Management QA.xlsx” with an orange highlight around the download icon in the top left corner of the preview toolbar, indicating how to download goal attachments.


To download an attachment, click on the file name to view it. If it is a PDF or .xlsx file, you can simply click the download icon that pops up on the preview screen in the top left corner. To download .jpeg or .png files, right-click and select Save to download the file.

Adding the Cascading Goals Widget

Once you've turned on Cascading Goals you can add the Cascading Goals widget to your homepage.

If you have appropriate permissions, go to your homepage and click Edit at the top of the page.

Under Add Widgets, you should see the Cascading Goals widget available to add. Select the Cascading Goals widget and click Save and it will show on your homepage.

Goal email notifications

There are multiple email notifications that will send for varying actions for both individual (private) and cascading (public) goals. Click here for a breakdown of all of the goal email notifications.

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