PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL and MANAGEMENT

TAKE HOME ASSIGNMENT-2

“PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES”

GOAL SETTING

Submitted to

PROF. SURYA PRAKASH PATI

Submitted by

Amita

Roll no-04

Date – 29th September,’10

SESSION-2 SUMMARY:
Today’s session started again from the grassroots i.e., starting with the understanding of the
term goal. The session moved further with the clarification of the definition of goal and then
the mistakes done by the managers in the setting of goals which is very crucial for us a future
manager to understand.

Goal has been a very important concept since early days. But now in today’s scenario its
definition has zoomed down to ‘desired conclusion’. Getting deep into this small and specific
definition, the term ‘desired’ refers to the criterion which is being decided by the institution
generally. Moving further the second term ‘conclusion’ refers to the long-term objectives.
Goal is sometimes being related to target but the term target includes short-term objectives.
Goal setting is a powerful way of motivating people, and of motivating yourself. The value of
goal setting is so well recognized that entire management systems. Goal setting is something
most of us recognize as necessary for our success. 

Dr Edwin Locke's did a pioneering research on goal setting and motivation in the late 1960s
and gave the theory of ‘goal setting theory of motivation’. In his 1968 article "Toward a
Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives," he stated that employees were motivated by clear
goals and appropriate feedback. Locke went on to say that working toward a goal provided a
major source of motivation to actually reach the goal - which, in turn, improved performance.
To motivate, goals must have:

a. Clarity- Clear goals are measurable and unambiguous. When a goal is clear and
specific, with a definite time set for completion, there is less misunderstanding about
what behaviours will be rewarded. 
b. Challenge- One of the most important characteristics of goals is the level of
challenge. People are often motivated by achievement, and they'll judge a goal based
on the significance of the anticipated accomplishment. When you know that what you
do will be well received, there's a natural motivation to do a good job. Rewards
typically increase for more difficult goals. If you believe you'll be well compensated
or otherwise rewarded for achieving a challenging goal that will boost your
enthusiasm and your drive to get it done. 
c. Commitment- Goals must be understood and agreed upon if they are to be effective.
Employees are more likely to "buy into" a goal if they feel they were part of creating
that goal. The notion of participative management rests on this idea of involving
employees in setting goals and making decisions. 

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 d. Feedback- In addition to selecting the right type of goal, an effective goal program
must also include feedback. Feedback provides opportunities to clarify expectations,
adjust goal difficulty, and gain recognition. It's important to provide benchmark
opportunities or targets, so individuals can determine for themselves how they're
doing. Hence there must be a continuous feedback system.
e. Task complexity- The last factor in goal setting theory introduces two more
requirements for success. For goals or assignments that are highly complex, take
special care to ensure that the work doesn't become too overwhelming. People who
work in complicated and demanding roles probably have a high level of motivation
already.

Goals focus attention towards goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant
activities. Goals serve as an energizer; higher goals will induce greater effort while low goals
induce lesser effort. Goals affect persistence; constraints with regard to resources will affect
work pace. Goals activate cognitive knowledge and strategies which allows employees to
cope with the situation at hand.

Goal setting involves establishing specific, attainable, realistic, measurable, time-targeted

objectives and it should be supported by a reward system. Goal setting is a mutual or shared
process i.e., first we need to understand the people working under us, know their expertise
(especially their strengths and weaknesses) and then set the goals. It should not be a top-
down process. Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose Specific and difficult goals led
to better task performance than vague or easy goals

Explaining this concept with an example:

The vision of me as a student of H.R is to top in the PAM course. So i have to set a strategic
goal of securing the highest marks throughout in the class. Then moving further to unit goals,
the areas in which i can secure the highest marks with my efforts are class participation, take
home assignments, quizzes, team presentations and end term. Finally the individual goals are
like topics to be discussed in a particular session must be read before the session starts,
Assignments should be sent on time and well written as well, Team project must be
completed on time and well prepared as well e.t.c.

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UNIT UNIT UNIT UNIT UNIT
GOALS- GOALS- GOALS- GOALS- GOALS-
Class Take home Quizzes End term
participation Team
assignments
presentations

INDIVIDUA INDIVIDU INDIVIDUAL INDIVIDUA INDIVIDUAL

L GOALS- AL GOALS- L GOALS- GOALS-
GOALS-
Topics to be All session Team project All session
discussed in a Assignment summaries and must be summaries and
particular s should be chapters completed on the topics
session must sent on time discussed must time and well discussed must
be read before and well be revised prepared as be made
the session written as before every well thorough before
starts. well. session. the exam

Moving further there is difference between goals and activities as discussed in the class with
the help of two descriptions. Following was the inference:

Activity Goal
 It is a process  It is not a process
 It is not time-bound  It is time-bound
 Not held accountable for it  Held accountable for this

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There are three major mistakes being committed by the managers while setting goals for their
team members:

i. What to measure- lack of appropriate performance matrix leads to the problem in

measurement of performance of employees. The specificity, objectivity and clarity of
goal play a very important role in this issue. The job satisfaction survey can help in
determining the level of engagement of employees in a company. Hence the designing
of appropriate performance matrix can help in minimising the attrition and turnover
rate as well especially in the I.T sector.
ii. Misalignment between goals and rewards- due to changes in environment there is a
change in the vision of the company which in turn leads to change in goals. Thus the
rewards linked to it must also be changes accordingly to motivate the employees and
enhance their productivity. A manager must know what to reward and when to
reward. Misalignment between goal and reward can lead to decreased motivation
among employees and hence less productivity, less profit for the company.
iii. Insufficient challenge- manager must provide challenging goals to his team members
but that should be realistic and achievable. The goals can assign keeping in mind the
various levels of competencies of employees. Continuous feedback is also very
essential in this scenario. Sometimes managers are afraid of their own self-image;
hence they give less challenging goals to his team members. Thus to do away with
this, the concept of team-appraisals can be introduced. The whole team is accountable
for achieving the particular goal. The other way can also be of personal rewards in the
form of recognition, small get together e.t.c. to sustain the energy level and motivation
of employees.

Hence at the end, it can concluded that goal setting is linked to the performance level of
employees. Therefore according to the management tip given at the end of the session will be
of great help to us in our career in the future. The tip was concerned with the usage of gantt
charts, breaking down of goals into specific steps, finding of resources and the final execution
of goal.

“In life, as in football, you won’t go far unless you know where the goalposts are”.
-Arnold H. Glasgow

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