Reading/Lectur e Role Play Latham Goal Setting as supervisor vs. for self State Bank of Vermont Probationary officer What you will learn today

Why do goals improve performance –Personal examples What makes goals more effective in improving performance –Personal examples, research studies To learn how to set effective goals, you need to know

Why do goals improve performance Goals Focus attention on behaviors that will attain goal Increase how hard one works on task Lengthen time spent on task Promote use/discovery of knowledge needed to do task Improved Task Performance e.g., graduate school, glucose intolerance

What makes goals more effective in improving Performance? Knowledge to attain goal Commitment to goal Feedback on progress toward goal Situational Conditions Improved Performance Specificity & Difficulty of Goal Goals

Improved Performance Specificity & Difficulty of Goal Goals

Type of Goal Setting Specific & Difficult Goal“Do your best” Goal PerformanceHighLow Unskilled, uneducated loggers paid at piece rate were randomly assigned to one of two groups Evidence for how Goal Specificity & Difficulty Improves Performance Review of B23

Why do specific & difficult goals result in better performance than ‘do your best’ goals? Do your best goals No external standard for Performance Performance defined individually Specific & Difficult Goals Clear performance standard Low Performance Hi Performance

What makes goals more effective in improving Performance? Knowledge to attain goal Commitment to goal Feedback on progress toward goal Situational Conditions Improved Performance Specificity & Difficulty of Goal Goals

Knowledge to attain goal Improved Performance Goals

Knowledge to attain goals can be increased via.. Set Learning Goals Provide Training Knowledge to attain goal Improved Performance Goals

–Learning goals = learn to network; master specific subject matter –Performance goals= attain specific GPA at end of semester Learning vs. Performance Goals

–Learning goals = learn to network; master specific subject matter –Performance goals= attain specific GPA at end of semester (cited in Latham & Locke, 2006) Evidence on Learning Goals  Performance Type of Goals Learning GoalsPerformance Goals GPA of MBA students HighLow

Learning goals –facilitate planning, –focus on understanding the task, –monitoring & evaluating progress toward goal attainment –Such behaviors are especially needed in unstructured environments (cited in Latham & Locke, 2006) Why do learning goals  Performance

Why do learning goals, training improve performance? Focus attention on understanding task and doing it effectively Learning Goals Training Increase knowledge on how to do task Improved Performance Goals

What makes goals more effective in improving Performance? Knowledge to attain goal Commitment to goal Feedback on progress toward goal Situational Conditions Improved Performance Specificity & Difficulty of Goal Goals

Knowledge to attain goals can be increased via.. Sub Goals Feedback on progress toward goals Improved Performance Goals

Why do sub goals improve performance? Provides immediate feedback on whether Behavior is consistent with goals Sub Goals Improved Performance Goals

What makes goals more effective in improving Performance? Knowledge to attain goal Commitment to goal Feedback on progress toward goal Situational Conditions Improved Performance Specificity & Difficulty of Goal Goals

How can you increase commitment toward goals Making goal public Assigning goals that implicitly convey Confidence in performer Making goals important By rewarding their achievement Increased Commitment

Evidence on how rewards  commitment Type of Reward MoneyPraisePublic Recognition > = Goal importance Money/Praise Goal Commitment Why do rewards affect commitment?

How will you increase your commitment to goals?

Situational Conditions Improved Performance Goals

High Role overload=having excess work without resources to accomplish task Goals positively affect performance only when overload was low (cited in Latham & Locke, 2006) Evidence demonstrating how…. Goals Improved Performance Situational Conditions

Why goals improve performance –Focus attention –Promote use of knowledge –Increase amt of time on task –Increase amt of effort on task What makes goals more effective in improving performance –Commitment to goals –Knowledge of how to attain goals –Feedback on progress toward goals –Specificity & difficulty of goals –Situational constraints What you learned today

Debriefing Questions In your role play, how did you … –make your goals specific and difficult? –increase knowledge to accomplish goals? Set training goals, set sub-goals, enable feedback toward progress –Increase commitment to goals –overcome situational obstacles

Debriefing Questions –Does goal setting emphasize short-term results at the expense of long-term effectiveness? –How does goal setting deal with employees who have multiple goals, some of which are conflicting? –What barriers in an organization can you identify that might limit the effectiveness of a goal-setting program? How can these barriers be overcome?

Debriefing Questions How easy/difficult was this – On which of the key learning behaviours relevant to goal-setting skills were you best? Weakest? How would you improve these skills? Overall performance standard / objective, vs. goals to help employees achieve the standard? Goal setting vs. micro managing