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An objective or goal is a personal or organizational desired end point in development. It is usually endeavoured
to be reached in finite time by setting deadlines.
Goal setting
Goal Setting involves setting specific, measurable and time targeted objectives. Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it is an effective tool for making progress by
ensuring that participants are clearly aware of what is expected from them, if an objective is to be achieved. On a personal
level, setting goals is a process that allows people to specify then work towards their own objectives - most commonly with
financial or career-based goals. Goal setting is a major component of Personal development
literature.
The business technique of Management by objectives uses the principle of
goal setting. In business, goal setting has the advantages of encouraging participants to put in substantial effort; and, because
every member is aware of what is expected of.... him or her (high role perception), little room is left for inadequate effort
going unnoticed.
To be most effective goals should be tangible, specific, realistic and have a time targeted for completion. There must be
realistic plans to achieve the intended goal. For example, setting a goal to go to Mars on a shoe
string budget is not a realistic goal while setting a goal to go to Hawaii as a backpacker is a possible goal with possible, realistic plans. Setting unrealistic goals can be very harmful,
especially to teenagers, because if a goal is not achieved it may lower one's self-esteem.
Over time this setting of unrealistic goals can lead to depression and, in extreme cases,
suicide.
One drawback of goal setting is that implicit learning may be inhibited. This is because goal setting may encourage simple
focus on an outcome without openness to exploration, understanding or growth. [citation needed] "Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose" (Goldstein, 1993, p.96).
Locke et al. (1981) examined the behavioral effects of goal-setting, concluding that 90% of laboratory and field studies
involving specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy or no goals.
While some managers would believe it is sufficient to urge employees to ‘do their best’, Locke and Latham have a clear
contradicting view on this. The authors state that people who are told to ‘do their best’ will not do so. ‘Doing your best’ has
no external referent which implies that it is useless in eliciting specific behavior. To elicit some specific form of behavior
from others, it is important that this person has a clear view of what is expected from him/her. A goal is thereby of vital
importance because it facilitates an individual in focusing their efforts in a specified direction. In other words; goals
canalize behavior (Cummings & Worley p. 368). However when goals are established at a management level and thereafter solely
laid down, employee motivation with regard to achieving these goals is rather suppressed (Locke & Latham, 2002 p.705). In
order to increase motivation the employees not only need to be allowed to participate in the goal setting process but the goals
have to be challenging as well (Cummings & Worley p. 369).
Managers can not be constantly able to drive motivation and keep track of an employee’s work on a continuous basis. Goals are
therefore an important tool for managers since goals have the ability to function as a self-regulatory mechanism that acquires an
employee a certain amount of guidance (Shalley, 1995 p. 401). Locke and Latham (2002) have distilled four mechanisms through
which goal setting is able to affect individual performance:
1) Goals focus attention towards goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities.
2) Goals serve as an energizer; higher goals will induce greater effort while low goals induce lesser effort.
3) Goals affect persistence; constraints with regard to resources will affect work pace.
4) Goals activate cognitive knowledge and strategies which allows employees to cope with the situation at hand. Through an
understanding of the effect of goal setting on individual performance organizations are able to use goal setting to benefit
organizational performance. Locke and Latham (2002, p. 707-709) have therefore indicated three moderators which indicate the
success of goal setting:
I. Goal commitment – people will perform better when they are committed to achieve certain goals. Goal commitment is dependent
of : a. The importance of the expected outcomes of goal attainment and; b. Self-efficacy; ones belief that (s)he is able to
achieve the goals.
II. Feedback – keep track of performance to allow employees to see how effective they have been in attaining the goals.
Without proper feedback channels it is impossible to adapt or adjust to the required behavior.
III. Task complexity – more difficult goals require more cognitive strategies and well developed skills. The more difficult
the tasks ahead, a smaller group of people will posses the necessary skills and strategies. From an organizational perspective it
is thereby more difficult to successfully attain more difficult goals since resources become more scarce.
IV. Employee motivation - The more employees are motivated, the more they are stimulated and interested in accepting
goals.
V. Macro-economical characteristics. The position of the economy in the conjucture puts pressure or simply releaves the
organization. This means that some goals are easier set in specific macro-economical surroundings. Depression is for instance the
least successful conjucturial phase for goal setting.
These success factors are not to be seen independently. For example the expected outcomes of goals are positively influenced
when employees are involved in the goal setting process. Not only does participation increase commitment in attaining the goals
that are set, participation influences self-efficacy as well. In addition to this feedback is necessary to monitor ones progress.
When this is left aside, an employee might (s)he is not making enough progress. This can reduce self-efficacy and thereby harm
the performance outcomes in the long run (Bandura 1993 p.119-120).
Long-term goal
A long-term goal is an achievement set to be reached over a long period of time. The period of time defined for reaching the
goal can be almost any length of time; although most long-term goals tend to be measured in years. It would be appropriate to
define a long-term goal for this week, month, year, lifetime, etc. The definition of a long-term goal usually involves setting
short-term goals to divide the timeline of achieving the long-term goal.
Short-term and long-term goals are important tools in measuring success. They are used in a variety of areas: financial, personal and business to
name a few. Setting and tracking goals is an important step in achieving success in almost any endeavor.
Short-term goal
A short-term goal is something to be accomplished in a short period of time, such as trying to get a bill paid in the next few
days. There is no specific length of time related to the definition of a short-term goal. That is to say, a short term goal may
be achieved in a day, week, month, year, etc. The time frame for a short-term goal is related to its context in the overall
timeline that it is being applied to. For instance, a short-term goal for a month long project may be measured in days where as a
short-term goal for someone’s life might be measured by months or years. Short-term goals are usually defined in relation to a
long-term goal or goals.
Project Goals
Good project management technique states goals/objectives can be better defined by following the guidelines from using the
SMART[1] acronym:
Specific - Objective or goal can't be diffuse or nebulous but should be precisely defined
Measurable - Define a method of measuring the objective/goal
Agreed-To/Achievable - All parties need to agree to the objective/goal, and it also must be achievable
Realistic/Rewarding/Relevant - It must be a realistic objective/goal, and it must make sense to do it.
Time-related - to be completed within an agreed time scale
Outcome based - A specific outcome that has an end and is measurable
See also
References
- ^ Armstrong. M.(2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th
edition Kogan Page, London ISBN 0 7494 4631 5
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