1. goal setting Motivating people through goal setting
Organizational Psychology Lecture 6

2. Edwin Locke’s theory of goal setting
1968 “Toward a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives”
Employees are motivated by clear goals and appropriate feedback
Working toward a goal is motivating throughout a process and helps to actually reach a goal, which in turn improves performance
Locke’s research: specific and difficult goals lead to better task performance than vague or easy goals
“try hard” vs “try to get more than 80% correct”
Easy goals are not motivating; feeling of accomplishment comes from hard work

3. Edwin Locke and Garry Latham’s Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance
Five principles of goal setting
In order to motivate others, goals must have:
Clarity
Challenge
Commitment
Feedback
Task complexity

4. Clarity goals need to be specific
Clear goals can be measured and are distinct and understandable
It is clear what behaviors will be rewarded
You know what to expect
Vague or general instructions like “take initiative” have lesser motivational value
“try to correct employees mistakes” – “after each Monday morning meeting speak with employees about their mistakes”

5. Challenge goals must be difficult but attainable
Level of challenge – important characteristic of a goal
If a goal has significance, if it’s accomplishment brings achievement – such goal is motivating to be reached
Well and adequately rewarded, significant goals boost the enthusiasm and a drive to get them accomplished
Easy, viewed as unimportant, goals reduce the effort and commitment of an employee
Challenging goals have to be realistic!!! Achievable and attainable

6. Commitment goals must be accepted
Goals shall be understood and agreed upon – employees must have an opportunity to be part of creating the goal
Participative management: make effort to encourage employees to participate in organizational goal setting as well as own goals
Agreed goals lead to commitment
Goals shall be consistent with company’s organizational mission, vision and purpose
Person assigning the goal should be credible
Goal commitment and difficulty of a goal often come hand in hand: the harder the goal the more commitment is needed

7. FEEDBACK must be provided on goal attainment
Feedback - information of important value to an employee:
provides clarification of expectations,
adjusts goal’s difficulty,
provides recognition – employees basically get to know how they are doing
Feedback can be understood as progress reports; they measure specific success throughout the process of accomplishing a goal
Linking feedback to smaller chunks (intermediate milestones) is an important measure of success
Formal feedback should be provided at the right time

8. TASK COMPLEXITY
For highly complex tasks it has to be ensured that the work cannot be overwhelming
Sufficient time has to be given for complex tasks
Sufficient time has to be given to learn and improve performance
Sufficient time has to be given for practicing what is important for performance
Goals must be attainable (SMART)

9. Goal setting follow simple rules
Goal setting means facilitating success
People shall not be frustrated by goals which are too easy or too difficult
Goal setting is necessary for success
Set clear, challenging goals, encourage commitment and provide timely feedback either on milestones (if the goal achieving as a lengthy process) or after the goal is accomplished

10. Set SMART goals S – Specific (or Significant)
M – Measurable (or Meaningful)
A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented)
R – Relevant (or Rewarding)
T – Time-bound (Trackable)

11. Starting to set your personal goals
Create big picture: identify large scale goals (in a perspective of 10 years)
Break them down to smaller targets to be reached before hitting the large scale goal
Once the plan is set start working on it and record your progress
Reward yourself for achieving milestones

12. Glossary
Goal – is the aim of an action or task that a person consciously desires to achieve or obtain
Goal setting – conscious effort to establish such performance as to obtain desirable outcomes
Goal setting theory states that a source of motivation is the desire and intention to reach a goal. So setting goals can be very effective in increasing motivation