Goal setting
Encyclopedia
Goal setting involves establishing specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted (S.M.A.R.T ) goal
s. Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it's an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants in a group with a common goal are clearly aware of what is expected from them. On a personal level, setting goals helps people work towards their own objectives—most commonly with financial or career-based goals. Goal setting features as a major component of personal development
literature:
Setting goals affects outcomes in four ways:
Managers cannot constantly drive motivation
, or keep track of an employee’s work on a continuous basis. Goals are therefore an important tool for managers, since goals have the ability to function as a self-regulatory mechanism that acquires an employee a certain amount of guidance Shalley, 1995 and Locke and Latham (2002) have distilled four mechanisms through which goal setting can affect individual performance:
While some managers believe it is sufficient to urge employees to ‘do their best,’ Locke and Latham have a contradicting view on this. The authors state that people who are told to ‘do their best’ don't. ‘Doing your best’ has no external referent, which implies that it is useless in eliciting specific behavior. To elicit some specific form of behavior from others, it is important that this person has a clear view of what is expected from him/her. A goal is thereby of vital importance because it facilitates an individual in focusing their efforts in a specified direction. In other words, goals canalize behavior (Cummings & Worley p. 368). However when goals are established at a management level and thereafter solely laid down, employee motivation with regard to achieving these goals is rather suppressed (Locke & Latham, 2002 p. 705). To increase motivation, employees not only must be allowed to participate in the goal setting process, but the goals must be challenging as well. (Cummings & Worley p. 369)
Goal commitment : People perform better when they are committed to achieve certain goals. Goal commitment is dependent of:
Feedback : Keep track of performance to allow employees to see how effective they have been in attaining the goals. Without proper feedback channels it is impossible to adapt or adjust to the required behavior.
Task complexity : More difficult goals require more cognitive strategies and well-developed skills. The more difficult the tasks, the smaller the group of people who possess the necessary skills and strategies. From an organizational perspective it is thereby more difficult to successfully attain more difficult goals since resources become more scarce.
Employee motivation : The more employees are motivated, the more they are stimulated and interested in accepting goals.
These success factors are interdependent. For example the expected outcomes of goals are positively influenced when employees are involved in the goal setting process. Not only does participation increase commitment in attaining the goals that are set, participation influences self-efficacy as well. In addition to this feedback is necessary to monitor one's progress. When this is left aside, an employee might think (s)he is not making enough progress. This can reduce self-efficacy and thereby harm the performance outcomes in the long run.
. Goal setting and feedback go hand in hand. Without feedback, goal setting is unlikely to work. Providing feedback on short-term objectives, helps to sustain motivation and commitment to a goal. Besides, feedback should be provided on the strategies followed to achieve the goals and the final outcomes achieved as well. Feedback on strategies to obtain goal is very important, especially for complex work, because challenging goals put focus on outcomes rather than on performance strategies, so they impair performance. Proper feedback is also very essential, and the following hints may help for providing a good feedback:
Goal-setting may have little effect if individuals can't see the state of their performance in relation to the goal. Note the importance of people knowing where they stand in relation to achieving their goals, so they can determine the desirability of working harder or of changing their methods.
Advances in technology
can facilitate providing feedback. Systems analyst
s have designed computer program
s that track goals for numerous members of an organization
. Such computer systems may maintain every employee’s goals, as well as their deadlines
. Separate methods may check the employee’s progress on a regular basis, and other systems may require perceived slacker
s to explain how they intend to improve.
may not align with the goals of the organization as a whole. In such cases, the goals of an individual may come into direct conflict with the employing organization. Without aligning goals between the organization and the individual, performance may suffer. Moreover, for complex tasks, goal-setting may actual impair performance. In these situations, an individual may become preoccupied with meeting the goals, rather than performing tasks.
Some people feel that one possible drawback of goal setting is that implicit learning may be inhibited. This is because goal setting may encourage simple focus on an outcome without openness to exploration, understanding or growth.
in 1935.
Edwin A. Locke
began to examine goal setting in the mid-1960s and continued researching goal setting for thirty years. Locke derived the idea for goal-setting from Aristotle
’s form of final causality. Aristotle speculated that purpose can cause action; thus, Locke began researching the impact goals have on individual activity of its time performance.
Goal
A goal is an objective, or a projected computation of affairs, that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve.Goal, GOAL or G.O.A.L may also refer to:Sport...
s. Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it's an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants in a group with a common goal are clearly aware of what is expected from them. On a personal level, setting goals helps people work towards their own objectives—most commonly with financial or career-based goals. Goal setting features as a major component of personal development
Personal development
Personal development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitates employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations...
literature:
- "Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose" (Goldstein, 1994, p. 96).
- "Goal setting capitalize on the human brain's amazing powers: Our brains are problem-solving, goal-achieving machines."
Concept
Goals that are difficult to achieve and specific tend to increase performance more than goals that are not. A goal can become more specific through quantification or enumeration (should be measurable), such as by demanding "...increase productivity by 50%," or by defining certain tasks that must be completed.Setting goals affects outcomes in four ways:
- Choice: goals narrow attention and direct efforts to goal-relevant activities, and away from perceived undesirable and goal-irrelevant actions.
- Effort: goals can lead to more effort; for example, if one typically produces 4 widgets an hour, and has the goal of producing 6, one may work more intensely towards the goal than one would otherwise.
- Persistence: Someone becomes more prone to work through setbacks if pursuing a goal.
- Cognition: Goals can lead individuals to develop and change their behavior.
Goal setting in business
In business, goal setting encourages participants to put in substantial effort. Also, because every member has defined expectations for their role, little room is left for inadequate effort to go unnoticed.Managers cannot constantly drive motivation
Motivation
Motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...
, or keep track of an employee’s work on a continuous basis. Goals are therefore an important tool for managers, since goals have the ability to function as a self-regulatory mechanism that acquires an employee a certain amount of guidance Shalley, 1995 and Locke and Latham (2002) have distilled four mechanisms through which goal setting can affect individual performance:
- Goals focus attention towards goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities.
- Goals serve as an energizer; higher goals induce greater effort while low goals induce lesser effort.
- Goals affect persistence; constraints with regard to resources affect work pace.
- Goals activate cognitive knowledge and strategies that help employees cope with the situation at hand.
Goal–performance relationship
Locke et al. (1981) examined the behavioral effects of goal-setting, concluding that 90% of laboratory and field studies involving specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than did easy or no goals.While some managers believe it is sufficient to urge employees to ‘do their best,’ Locke and Latham have a contradicting view on this. The authors state that people who are told to ‘do their best’ don't. ‘Doing your best’ has no external referent, which implies that it is useless in eliciting specific behavior. To elicit some specific form of behavior from others, it is important that this person has a clear view of what is expected from him/her. A goal is thereby of vital importance because it facilitates an individual in focusing their efforts in a specified direction. In other words, goals canalize behavior (Cummings & Worley p. 368). However when goals are established at a management level and thereafter solely laid down, employee motivation with regard to achieving these goals is rather suppressed (Locke & Latham, 2002 p. 705). To increase motivation, employees not only must be allowed to participate in the goal setting process, but the goals must be challenging as well. (Cummings & Worley p. 369)
Moderators
Through an understanding of the effect of goal setting on individual performance organizations are able to use goal setting to benefit organizational performance. Locke and Latham have therefore indicated three moderators that indicate goal setting success:Goal commitment : People perform better when they are committed to achieve certain goals. Goal commitment is dependent of:
- The importance of the expected outcomes of goal attainment and;
- Self-efficacy – one's belief that they are able to achieve the goals;
- Commitment to others – promises or engagements to others can strongly improve commitment
Feedback : Keep track of performance to allow employees to see how effective they have been in attaining the goals. Without proper feedback channels it is impossible to adapt or adjust to the required behavior.
Task complexity : More difficult goals require more cognitive strategies and well-developed skills. The more difficult the tasks, the smaller the group of people who possess the necessary skills and strategies. From an organizational perspective it is thereby more difficult to successfully attain more difficult goals since resources become more scarce.
Employee motivation : The more employees are motivated, the more they are stimulated and interested in accepting goals.
These success factors are interdependent. For example the expected outcomes of goals are positively influenced when employees are involved in the goal setting process. Not only does participation increase commitment in attaining the goals that are set, participation influences self-efficacy as well. In addition to this feedback is necessary to monitor one's progress. When this is left aside, an employee might think (s)he is not making enough progress. This can reduce self-efficacy and thereby harm the performance outcomes in the long run.
- Goal-commitment, the most influential moderator, becomes especially important when dealing with difficult or complex goals. If people lack commitment to goals, they lack motivation to reach them. To commit to a goal, one must believe in its importance or significance.
- Attainability: individuals must also believe that they can attain — or at least partially reach — a defined goal. If they think no chance exists of reaching a goal, they may not even try.
- Self-efficacySelf-efficacySelf-efficacy is a term used in psychology, roughly corresponding to a person's belief in their own competence.It has been defined as the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain set of goals. It is believed that our personalized ideas of self-efficacy affect...
: the higher someone’s self-efficacy regarding a certain task, the more likely they will set higher goals, and the more persistence they will show in achieving them.
Feedback
The enhancement of performance through goals requires feedbackFeedback
Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
. Goal setting and feedback go hand in hand. Without feedback, goal setting is unlikely to work. Providing feedback on short-term objectives, helps to sustain motivation and commitment to a goal. Besides, feedback should be provided on the strategies followed to achieve the goals and the final outcomes achieved as well. Feedback on strategies to obtain goal is very important, especially for complex work, because challenging goals put focus on outcomes rather than on performance strategies, so they impair performance. Proper feedback is also very essential, and the following hints may help for providing a good feedback:
- Create a positive context for feedback.
- Use constructive and positive language.
- Focus on behaviours and strategies.
- Tailor feedback to the needs of the individual worker.
- Make feedback a two-way communication process.
Goal-setting may have little effect if individuals can't see the state of their performance in relation to the goal. Note the importance of people knowing where they stand in relation to achieving their goals, so they can determine the desirability of working harder or of changing their methods.
Advances in technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
can facilitate providing feedback. Systems analyst
Systems analyst
A systems analyst researches problems, plans solutions, recommends software and systems, and coordinates development to meet business or other requirements. They will be familiar with multiple variety of programming languages, operating systems, and computer hardware platforms...
s have designed computer program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
s that track goals for numerous members of an organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
. Such computer systems may maintain every employee’s goals, as well as their deadlines
Time limit
A time limit or deadline is a narrow field of time, or particular point in time, by which an objective or task must be accomplished.In project management, deadlines are most often associated with milestone goals....
. Separate methods may check the employee’s progress on a regular basis, and other systems may require perceived slacker
Slacker
The term "slacker" is used to refer to a person who habitually avoids work. Slackers may be regarded as belonging to an antimaterialistic counterculture, though in some cases their behavior may be due to other causes ....
s to explain how they intend to improve.
Limitations
Goal-setting theory has limitations. In an organization, a goal of a managerManagement
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
may not align with the goals of the organization as a whole. In such cases, the goals of an individual may come into direct conflict with the employing organization. Without aligning goals between the organization and the individual, performance may suffer. Moreover, for complex tasks, goal-setting may actual impair performance. In these situations, an individual may become preoccupied with meeting the goals, rather than performing tasks.
Some people feel that one possible drawback of goal setting is that implicit learning may be inhibited. This is because goal setting may encourage simple focus on an outcome without openness to exploration, understanding or growth.
History
The first empirical studies were performed by Cecil Alec MaceCecil Alec Mace
Cecil Alec Mace was a British philosopher and industrial psychologist.He discredited the notion that workers are primarily incentivized by money. He also stated that people have a "will to work." In 1935, he conducted the first empirical studies of goal setting.- Literary works :Sibylla; or, the...
in 1935.
Edwin A. Locke
Edwin A. Locke
Professor Edwin A Locke is an American psychologist and a pioneer in goal-setting theory. He is a retired Dean’s Professor of Motivation and Leadership at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He was also affiliated with the Department of Psychology...
began to examine goal setting in the mid-1960s and continued researching goal setting for thirty years. Locke derived the idea for goal-setting from Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
’s form of final causality. Aristotle speculated that purpose can cause action; thus, Locke began researching the impact goals have on individual activity of its time performance.
See also
- MotivationMotivationMotivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...
- Performance measurementPerformance MeasurementPerformance measurement with a process is the complement to process execution. Based on measured performance, the feedback control loop may be closed. The metrics to assess performance is set according to a determined econometric model...
- RemunerationRemunerationRemuneration is the total compensation that an employee receives in exchange for the service they perform for their employer. Typically, this consists of monetary rewards, also referred to as wage or salary...
- I-Change ModelI-Change ModelThe I-Change Model or the Integrated Model for explaining motivational and behavioral change is derived from the Attitude – Social Influence – Self-Efficacy Model, that can be considered as an integration of ideas of Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior, Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory, Prochaska's...
- SMART criteria
- Big Hairy Audacious Goal
Further reading
- Locke, Edwin A. (1968) “Toward a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives” Organizational behavior and human performance, (3)2: 157-189.
- Locke, Edwin A. (1996) “Motivation Through Conscious Goal Setting,” Applied and Preventive Psychology, 5:117-124.
- Locke, Edwin A. (2001) “Motivation by Goal Setting,” Handbook of Organizational Behavior, 2: 43-54.
- Robert F. Mager, Goal Analysis, 3rd. edition, 1997.
- Douglas Vermeeren, "Guerrilla Achiever", 1 Edition, 2010
External links
- http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_87.htm