Goal setting can significantly improve employee performance and satisfaction. The Locke-Latham goal setting model demonstrates that specific, challenging goals lead employees to focus effort and persist towards goals, improving performance when abilities, commitment, feedback, and rewards are also present. Goals direct behavior, provide standards for performance assessment, and justify task performance. High performance is achieved when employees set challenging yet achievable goals and have the skills, commitment, and strategies to work towards rewards from goal attainment.

1. Goal SettingMotivationThe information is taken from Slocum and Helriegel (2007)

2. The expectancy theory demonstrates the importance of rewards in relation to the effort-performance ratio. This lesson extends the knowledge of goal setting as a means of motivation employees to reach high levels of performance and satisfaction. At the end of the lesson students should be able to:Explain how performance is affected by goal setting.State the effects of goal setting on job satisfaction and performance. Describe reward systems for fostering high performance. Overview

3. Key terms:GoalsGoal settingGoal – a future outcome (result) that individuals and groups strive to achieve.Goal setting – the process of stating goals toward which individuals, teams, departments, and organizations will strive to achieve.Objective: Explain how performance is affected by goal setting.

4. Goals guide and direct behaviour.Goals provide challenges and standards against which individual and organizational performance can be assessed.Goals justify the performance of a task and the use of resources.Goals define the basis of organizational design.Goals serve as an organizing function for a person’s work.Importance of goal setting

5. Locke-Latham goal-setting modelChallengeGoal difficulty

6. Goal clarity

7. Self-efficacyMediatorsDirection

8. Effort

9. Persistence

10. Task strategyPerformanceRewardsSatisfactionModeratorsAbility

11. Goal commitment

12. Feedback

13. Task complexityConsequencesBasic idea of the model is that a goal serves as a motivator. Persons can compare their present performance with that required to achieve the goal. If person believe that they will fall short of a goal, they will feel dissatisfied and work harder to attain the goal as long as they believe the goal can be achieved.