5 STEPS TO SETTING GREAT GOALSMelissa Jones

worklab.breathehr.com

WHY SET GOALS?

Goal setting can sometimes be overlooked and taken for granted in the workplace.

The motivation and goal-setting theory put forward by Dr. Locke can provide small businesses with the knowledge they need to set effective company goals.

He identified an inseparable link between setting goals and workplace performance:

90% of the time, specific and challenging (but not too challenging) goals lead to higher performance compared to easy, or “do your best” goals.

5 PRINCIPLES OF GOAL SETTING

Locke acknowledged five principles for successful goal setting:

➤ Make goals clear; and

➤ challenging.

➤ Ensure staff are committed.

➤ Give regular feedback.

➤ Monitor complexity

CLARITY

1. MAKE GOALS CLEARER

➤ Clarity gives direction for the employee to follow.

➤ Clear goals can be measured accurately so you know when the goal has been completed.

➤ Clearly communicated goals are understood by both parties which helps to ensure their success.

CHALLENGE

2. CREATE CHALLENGING GOALS

➤ Goals must be challenging, but not too challenging.

➤ Too hard and an employee will decide it's unachievable so won’t be motivated.

➤ Too easy and an employee won’t be motivated to strive past that point.

COMMITTMENT

3. ENSURE YOUR STAFF ARE COMMITTED

➤ Goals need to be believed in so involve your staff in the process of setting them

➤ Hearing their views but don’t feel like every goal has to be negotiated with the entire team.

➤ Share your vision for the business to reassure them that they are a part of it and empower them to help you get there.

FEEDBACK

4. PROVIDE REGULAR FEEDBACK

➤ It's important to let employees know how they are doing.

➤ Recognise good performance as much as you do underperforming. If an employee is exceeding expectations then tell them.

➤ Give regular feedback and look to discuss the goals in question.

➤ If needs be look to adjust a goal that isn’t being achieved before assuming the employee isn’t motivated to achieve it.

COMPLEXITY

5. MONITOR TASK COMPLEXITY

➤ Ensure your employees’ workloads don’t become too overwhelming when you set them complex goals

➤ People who work in demanding roles and are task-oriented can be prone to pushing themselves too hard and overworking.

➤ Likewise, complex goals may result in employees lose confidence in their ability to complete the goal.

➤ Managers need to ensure they are providing employees with the time and resources they need to fulfil the tasks successfully.

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