Back in the 1950s and 1960s, work motivation was not a respectable pursuit. But in the 1970s, the introduction of goal setting changed this perspective by recognizing that human behavior is affected by conscious purposes, plans, intentions, and tasks. Believe it or not, this was a major revolution in cognitive psychology!
Mechanisms of Goal-Setting:
Goals inform the individual about what behavior is valued and appropriate, which in turn affects action and performance. Goals affect performance through four mechanisms.
- First, goals direct attention and effort toward goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities. This effect occurs both cognitively and behaviorally.
- Second, goals have an energizing function. High goals lead to greater effort than low goals.
- Third, goals affect persistence. When participants are allowed to control the time they spend on a task, hard goals prolong effort.
- Fourth, goals affect action indirectly by leading to the arousal, discovery, and/or use of task-relevant knowledge and strategies.
Psychological Research on Goal-Setting has shown the following:
- Setting goals can significantly impact an individual’s motivation and behavior. When working towards a goal, individuals initially rely on knowledge and skills they already have that are relevant to achieving the goal. If these skills are not sufficient to complete the task, they will draw on skills from related contexts and develop new strategies to achieve their goal.
- Self-efficacy, or an individual’s belief in their ability to accomplish a task, is also a key factor in goal-setting. Individuals with high self-efficacy set higher goals, are more committed to achieving them, use better strategies to reach their goals, and respond more positively to feedback than those with low self-efficacy.
- However, when confronted with complex tasks, setting specific and challenging performance goals can create anxiety and lead to unsystematic strategy development. To combat this, setting specific learning goals, such as discovering different strategies to master the task, can help individuals focus on the learning process rather than just the outcome. By understanding these principles of goal setting, HR professionals and line managers can motivate their employees to higher performance.
Characteristics of winning goals:
There are at four key mechanisms by which goals affect task performance: by directing attention and action (clarity), mobilizing energy expenditure or effort (challenge), prolonging effort over time (persistence), and motivating the individual to develop relevant strategies for goal attainment (feedback).
When setting goals, aim for all four characteristics to motivate your employees to higher performance:
- Goal Specificity/Clarity: Specific goals help create clear expectations and focus effort. They also provide an objective way to evaluate employee performance. Having specific goals focuses people’s attention, whereas a lack of specific goals can result in a dispersed focus. Challenging or “stretch” goals create a discrepancy between current and expected output, motivating greater effort and persistence. Studies have shown that specific, difficult goals consistently lead to higher performance than simply urging people to do their best. However, goal specificity alone does not necessarily lead to high performance because specific goals can vary in difficulty. Nonetheless, in cases where performance is fully controllable, goal specificity can reduce variation by reducing ambiguity about what is to be achieved.
- Goal Difficulty/Challenge: Goals can range from easy (“try to complete 5 problems in the next 30 minutes”) to moderate (“try to complete 10…”) to difficult (“try to complete 15…”) or even impossible (“try to complete 50…”). Difficulty is a relative concept that depends on the relationship between a person’s ability and the task or goal. Therefore, the same task or goal can be easy for one person and difficult for another, depending on their abilities and experience. If an individual has adequate ability and commitment to the goal, the more difficult the goal, the higher their performance tends to be. Difficult goals trigger the search for effective task strategies.
- Goal Acceptance: Winning goals are not assigned; rather, they are accepted by employees as their own. Goal acceptance refers to the degree to which the individual is committed to the goal, considers it significant or important, is determined to reach it, and persists in pursuing it in the face of setbacks and obstacles.
- Goal Feedback: While the first three mechanisms for achieving goals are relatively straightforward, the fourth mechanism is more indirect. It involves developing strategies or action plans for achieving one’s goals and engaging in ongoing feedback exchange to foster skill development and creative problem-solving. This feedback can come from a variety of sources, including managers, peers, mentors, or even the individual themselves. By providing specific feedback on performance and progress toward goals, individuals can learn from their successes and failures, identify areas for improvement, and adjust their strategies accordingly. This continuous learning process can help individuals overcome obstacles and achieve even the most challenging goals.
In conclusion:
Setting winning goals requires clarity, difficulty, acceptance, and feedback. By employing these characteristics in goal-setting, you can motivate your employees to greater effort, persistence, and task-relevant knowledge and strategies, resulting in higher performance… even in times of adversity.
So, don’t shy away from goal-setting. Embrace it and motivate your employees to achieve their full potential.
And hey, why not take it to the next level? Book a free 30-minute call with me.
I look forward to hearing from you.
