Goal Setting free essay sample

Setting goals in the proper fashion is key to increasing the motivation of employees. If goal setting is deployed in a clear and distinct manner, it can assist in increasing attendance, productivity, and ultimately motivate the employee to achieve higher goals. When setting goals for yourself or others, it is key to be specific and concrete. The explicit example of goal setting that I will be honing in on is the use of SMART Goals. This is the goal setting structure that Pratt Whitney utilizes and it has been proven to be successful, in my own experience. â€Å"For goal setting to be most successful, the goals themselves should posses certain qualities represented by the acronym SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (Rubin, 2002). † (Aamodt, p. 338) When one is creating goals in the workplace, it is imperative to have as little ambiguity as possible. Establishing specific goals and guidelines makes it easy for an employee to understand what they need to achieve. We will write a custom essay sample on Goal Setting or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is the type of goal setting construct that is used at Pratt Whitney. Pratt and Whitney has a tool called the PFT, Performance Feedback Tool. This tool is used to annually lay out our goals, as well as to obtain feedback from customers about our performance. Each year our management and supervision creates overarching, yet clear and defined goals, which every individual needs to complete by years end. For example, each year we have to document in Pratt Whitney’s PFT tool that we will take four Business Practice Ethic Courses (BPEC’s); the requirement being that one BPEC needs to be completed each quarter. Being specific with goal setting makes it clear in an employee’s mind of what they need to achieve, and does not cause an employee to question what they need to accomplish. In the case of the BPEC Course requirement, it is clear cut what the employee needs to complete, as well as the timeframe it needs to be completed in. Goals must also be measurable. If an employee is to improve their performance or challenge themselves, it is of great importance to set a specific timeframe in which the goal needs to be completed. For instance, one specific and measurable goal that I have created in the realm of Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS), is coordinating and facilitating four EHS Lunch and Learns for each quarter within the year. This type of measure will assist myself and my supervisor during performance review time, because it will indicate if I have met my performance goals in a timely manner. Additionally, it also lends a hand in keeping an employee structured and focused throughout the year; laying out several goals with the ability to complete them in a well timed manner. Attainable goals are also of high significance. â€Å"Properly set goals are high but attainable (Lock Latham, 1990). † (Aamodt, p. 339) It is vital to set goals that an individual can achieve without having an abundance of difficulty, which will ultimately lead an employee to give up. Setting goals that will increase an employee’s performance are effective, but not if the individual cannot attain those goals and gives up while trying. â€Å"Though setting higher goals generally leads to better performance than does setting lower goals, the level of goal difficulty will most affect performance when employees are committed to reaching the goal (Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck Alge, 1999; Locke Latham, 2002). † (Aamodt, p. 339) If one sets high achieving goals for themselves and they do not achieve those goals, it can decrease their motivation rather than increase it. Moreover, setting goals that are too high and not achieving them can also lead to unethical behavior. Individuals may feel so much pressure to achieve the high goals that are set forth, that it may lead the employee to do â€Å"whatever it takes† to make it look as though the goal is being met. In my own PFT, I have set goals that are difficult, which will challenge me and ultimately push me to better myself within my job. However, the goals that I have set are reasonable and attainable, so I do not set myself up for failure. In addition to having attainable goals, individual goals must be relevant to the type of work you are being tasked to complete. For example, providing an EHS Specialist, such as myself, with financial business goals instead of EHS Metric goals, would not be as motivating for me. It is crucial that my goals are relevant to what I am doing on a daily basis so I can relate to them and desire to challenge myself. Within the Pratt Whitney PFT Tool, 80% of my weighted goals are related to EHS, thus it is pushing me to challenge myself in this specific area. Lastly, goals work best when they are time-bound and need to be completed within a precise time period. If a supervisor or manager asked you to complete a task with no specified completion date, then you would not be as motivated to accomplish it with a short turnaround time. Time-bound goals not only help motivate employees, but it also makes one accountable for their actions. SMART objectives are an extremely valuable tool that gets the employee involved in the decision making of their own personal goals. This is key to motivating an employee. â€Å"It was generally thought that a goal would lead to the greatest increase in productivity if it was set at least in part by the employee. Although performance would increase if the supervisor set the employee’s goals, it would increase even more if the employee participated. † (Aamodt, p. 340) In my own experience at Pratt Whitney, I have been involved in setting my own goals on an annual basis. Being involved in my goal setting has helped me set the bar for myself, with my supervisor’s input. In essence, I truly own the objectives I created and have a vested interest in them, which ultimately motivates me to do well. Furthermore, Pratt Whitney also uses another tool in conjunction with the PFT Tool to aid in goal setting. This tool is called the Individual Development Plan (IDP). While the PFT Tool focuses on completing objectives annually, the IDP caters to developing skills for the future. Thus, the IDP focuses on specific training classes, web based courses, or seminars, that one can participate in to develop and further one’s self in their career. This tool has been extremely valuable in my development as an EHS Specialist. It provides my supervisor (as well as myself) with a document that tracks what my next steps are in challenging myself and getting to the next level. Keep in mind, the courses/training are not picked haphazardly, there is thought that goes into it. Keeping in line with SMART objectives, I need to complete the laid out courses within a specific timeframe, and they must be relevant to the job that I am currently performing. For instance, I have documented in my IDP that I am to complete specific OSHA Courses within a specified timeframe this year. It would not make sense for me to require myself to take engineering courses, because they are not relevant to the tasks that I perform. In order to increase the effect of goal setting it is essential that feedback is provided to the employee. â€Å"To increase the effectiveness of goal setting, feedback should be provided to employees on their progress in reaching their goals (Locke Latham, 2002; Stajkovic Luthans, 2003). The PFT system includes this crucial piece. In order for me to know if I have truly met my own personal goals as well as the needs of my customers, feedback must be provided in a positive, informal, and constructive way. The PFT Tool offers what is called 360 ° Feedback. This offers the opportunity for me to choose customers that I work with heavily, and offer them to chance to provide feedback about the quality of customer service I provide to them. Additionally, it gives me the ability to see their perspective on how I perform my job, as well as how I can improve upon it. In conclusion, setting individual goal plans involves being SMART about what you want to achieve and when you want to achieve it. Being a part of your goal setting and looking at current and future goals will help challenge you in the present, as well as in the future. Furthermore, encourage your customers to provide you with feedback on your goal process. This type of verbal or written communication will assist on the progress of attaining your goals and challenge you to take your job to the next level. Goal Setting free essay sample This essay will explain the goal setting theory. I will review theories related to goal setting. Then I will apply the theories to a work example. Lastly, I will provide recommendations based on the theories. Literature review: Goal setting is a theory of motivation, which may give employees a sense of purpose, challenge, and meaning to their work as well as a sense of accomplishment (Latham 2007, p. 62). Effective goal setting has according to Medlin and Green (2009, p. 952) been a driver of performance for decades. Latham and Locke (1990, p. 61) states hat goals direct attention to the activity specified by the goal and simultaneously away from goal-irrelevant activities. The core finding of goal setting research is that specific high goals when accepted, lead to higher performance than no goals or vague goals (Latham 2007, p. 53). The importance of the goal to the individual and self-efficacy (i. e. self-confidence that the goal for a specific task is attainable) influences the co mmitment of an individual to a goal (Latham Locke, 2007, p. We will write a custom essay sample on Goal Setting or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 291). However, if there is no commitment to the goal, no motivational effects will occur rom goal setting (Slocum, Cron and Brown, 2002, p. 7). According to Latham and Locke (1990, p. 95) goals motivate individuals to be persistent, and challenging goals inspire the individual to be determined in not settling for less than could be achieved. Furthermore, goals can affect performance indirectly by motivating the individual to develop task specific strategies (Latham Locke, 1990, p. 261). Goals are moderated by ability, goal commitment, feedback in relation to goal pursuit, the complexity of the task, and situational factors (e. g. , presence of needed resources) Latham Locke, 2007, p. 291). An employees motivation is according to Latham and Locke (2007, p. 291) affected by specific challenges and demands such as high goals. However, people automatically use the knowledge and skills they have already acquired that are relevant to achieve the goal (Latham Locke, 2002, p. 707). In the absence of knowledge or ability, setting a specific high goal can have a negative effect on a persons performance (Kanfer Ackerman, 1989, p. 661). A learning goal should be set rather than an outcome goal when the knowledge or skill for attaining the goal s unknown (Latham Locke 2007, p. 93). A situational constraint to effective goal setting is environmental uncertainty, which might be due to unavailable information in order to set efficient outcome or learning goals (SeiJts Latham, 2001, p. 292). In order for goals to affect performance, Erez and Zidon (1984, p. 77) state that there must be commitment to the goals, that is, employees must be truly trying to attain them. One important fa ctor that facilitates goal commitment is the belief that the individual are able to attain the goal (i. e. high self-efficacy), and the importance of he outcome that they expect as a result of working to attain the goal is yet another important factor (Locke Latham, 2002, p. 707). An employees success in achieving challenging but attainable goals is associated with positive and valued (high-valence) outcomes (Fried Slowic, 2004, p. 406). Examples of internal outcomes are a sense of accomplishment, escape from feeling bored or useless, and proving oneself. External outcomes are for example, higher income, Job security, and opportunities for the higher the goal commitment to attain it (Latham, 2007, p. 185). Locke and Latham 1990, p. 42) suggest that when feedback allows performance to be tracked in relation to ones goal, goal setting is more effective. When people find they are below target, they normally increase their effort or try a new strategy (Matsui, Okada, Inoshita, 1983, p. 410). If the employees do not know how they are doing, it is difficult for them to adjust their performance strategies to match what the goal requires (Locke Latham, 1990, p. 242). When the goal is set, it is the persons perception of how well he or she will perform, that will determine the level of performance, hence he importance of ones self efficacy (Latham, 2007, p. 2). According to Lee and Bobko (1992, p. 364) a goal is perceived to be less difficult when a persons self-efficacy is high. Also, people with high self-efficacy adjust their level of performance to negative feedback more effectively than do people who have low self-efficacy. Allowing employees to participate in goal setting lead consistently to higher level of commitment as participation generally make the goals more important to the individual, and the goals would be set based on previous performance and current nowledge (Latham Locke, 1990, p 109). The employee will usually have a higher self-efficacy and therefore perform better than those who do not participate in setting the goals (Locke, 2002, p. 708). Example In a previous Job, I was given a specific outcome goal, which consisted of selling a certain amount of cell-phones in a day. I received a fixed salary regardless if I reached the goal or not. A situational constraint of having few customers made me incapable of reaching the goal. In addition, I had little knowledge of the products I was supposed to sell, as I had only been working for a few weeks. I experienced lack of motivation and commitment to the goal I had been given. According to Latham (2007, p. 176) goal setting without adequate knowledge is useless (i. e. , unless the individual know how to attain a goal, there will be no commitment). When learning rather than motivation is required to master a task, setting an outcome goal can have a detrimental effect on performance and a decrease in self-efficacy (Latham Locke, 2007, p. 293). People with low self-efficacy are unlikely to commit to a high goal (Latham Locke 2007, p. 291). I had low self-efficacy and no commitment due to the ack of ability and knowledge to perform the goal I was given. This is consistent with the theory where Woofford, Goodwin, and Premack (1992, p. 595) state that when commitment is lacking, goals have little or no effect on behavior. The goal I was given was unrealistic, therefore I ignored there even was a goal. Goals that are perceived as difficult are less likely to be accepted than easy goals (Latham Locke, 1990, p. 259). As learning was required to master the task, it is consistent with the theory that the given outcome goal had detrimental effect on my performance (i. . , Seiits Latham 2001, p. 292). Latham (2007, p. 2) states that high dissatisfaction occurs when rewards are perceived as unfair. I got de-motivated and felt no commitment to the organization as there was no reward or high-valence outcome if the goal was achieved. Moreover, I was not committed to the goal I was given, hence feedback became irrelevant and ineffective, and this is where it breached the theory (i. e. , Matsui, Okada, Inoshita 1983, p. 410). Recommendation: Fi rst of all, due to the lack of ability and knowledge to perform the given goal, a pecific outcome goal should be set only when people have the required knowledge or ability (Latham, 2007, p. 8). By ensuring adequate training, strategy development or task instructions, the employees would have the accurate knowledge and ability to perform the given task; self-efficacy might increase, which in turn enhances goal commitment and performance (Bandura Locke, 2003, p. 94). Second, an alternative for managers to assigning an appropriate goal is to allow employees to participate in setting them (Latham Locke, 2002, p. 707). Generally, employees will set goals based n previous performance and current knowledge, which usually lead to a higher self- efficacy and better performance (Latham Locke, 1990, p 109). Also, people with high self-efficacy will typically set higher goals upon attainment than those with low self- efficacy (Latham Locke 2007, p. 291). Third, a reward such as monetary incentives may be used to enhance goal commitment. Employee satisfaction will derive, in part, from giving employees personally meaningful work that they are capable of handling and, in part, reward good performance (Locke and Latham 1990, 267). Other rewards such as gift cards, ompetition of being employee of the month and flexible working hours is examples, which could enhance goal commitment. Fourth, the manager should take social constraints into consideration prior to the goal setting. Here, as few customers visited the store, it was literally impossible to sell enough products to reach the given goal. The goal should be achievable for the reason that employees will only commit to a goal if they have the ability and knowledge to attain them (Latham Locke, 2002, p. 707). Fifth, the manager should try to convince the employee that attaining the goal is mportant, communicate an inspire vision and be supportive.