Goal setting is a basic managerial skill needed to motivate subordinates. Yet, it is probably the most widely neglected process in organizations. There is a tendency for managers to view goal setting as very simple. However, it requires precise thinking, planning, communication with subordinates, and an ability to obtain commitment from them.
There are four basic propositions in goal setting. The first is that specific goals lead to higher performance than do general goals such as “Do your best.” The second is that moderately difficult goals lead to higher performance than easy goals. The third is that the individual must accept (or own) the goal before he/she will expend greater effort. The four states that the individual must obtain feedback about where they stand toward goal attainment. Incentives such as money, knowledge of results, praise and reproof, participation, competition, and time limits affect behavior only if they cause individuals to change their goals or to accept goals that have been assigned to them. It is not the rewards or outcomes of task performance per se that lead to the expenditure of effort, but rather the task goal itself.
Of course, all of this is useful only to the extent that individuals accept performance goals. In practice, employees working at their normal job duties rarely completely reject their performance goals. The legitimacy of the manager/employee relationship is one that is readily accepted by most. There is some evidence that the continuing presence of supervision helps to ensure goal acceptance. In many organizations, this is called using SMART goals – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound.
Specific, difficult goals will likely lead to higher levels of job performance regardless of whether the staff participates in every decision regarding the setting of performance standards. In many organizations, participation is a natural and encouraged form of management; in some organizations less emphasis may be placed on participative management. Either method is likely to be appropriate and productive, provided the manager is supportive of the employee. In other words, supportiveness and encouragement, particularly in the face of difficult or undesirable tasks, go a long way toward engendering acceptance of high performance goals and subsequent high levels of performance.
The process of goal setting is described in the “Key Behaviors for Goal Setting with Employees” below:
KEY BEHAVIORS FOR GOAL SETTING WITH EMPLOYEES
1. Before the meeting, decide what outcome you want from the situation. Specify the outcome as a set of specific end conditions that are the goals you want to achieve.
2. Discuss the range of possible goals with the employee trying to elicit the acceptable goals of the employee.
3. Construct a goal with the employee so it is moderately difficult and achievable.
4. Participate with the employee in setting the end conditions so that the employee commits to the goal.
5. Identify the possible actions you and the employee can take to make the goal a final reality. Write them down.
6. Pick the most promising actions and make a specific action plan.
A manager should decide what results or end conditions he or she expects from the meeting. This result is also a broad statement, such as, “I want each employee to obtain the cooperation and respect of patients and hospital staff by providing friendly, valuable, and helpful service. The next step requires narrowing the end condition or outcome into specific statements or goals. These statements should be what you will take as evidence that you have achieved the outcome. You define the statement in individual behaviors that can be measured such as asking anyone who looks confused or lost if you can help them and then leading them to the place they need to be. Here is another example of this process:
1. Each employee will have a copy of the standards of patient services for
