Executive summary:

The report has been prepared on the subject outline of goal setting theory, analysis has been done based on the importance of setting goals in order to achieve the desired level of productivity of an individual or an organization.

The goal setting plan and concept gives an insight into the exact level of outcomes that are desired to be achieved which helps an individual to have strict monitoring of his or her current development in the same process.  There is huge importance of theoretical framework in the process of goal setting, there are several theories and concepts given by practitioners and scholars in past with the help of which goal setting can be made easier.

The report analyses some of those goal setting theories and concepts and as per the outcomes of the theoretical implication, the understanding of successes and failures of an individual’s goal setting has been detailed below.

 Introduction:

The present piece of report analyzes the importance of theoretical studies in goal setting process. Goal setting can be supported with the help of increased analysis of literature reviews and past scholar’s journals. There are many theories that have explained the ways in which goal setting can be made better.

The report analyzes the theories and concepts that make understanding of goals setting easy and effective. Action plan outcomes have also been analyzed and the learning that was possible due to goal setting theory has been detailed below. Action plan outcomes explain the ways in which goal setting can be made effective and these methods provide detailed information in doing planning before goal setting so that precise and effective goals can be laid down.

Goal setting, theoretical aspect:

Goal setting has been among the most popular management topics researched and goal setting theory is an important part of motivation and employee management in organizational psychology. It has been seen that goal setting involves a conscious process of making a structure of the desired outcomes from a set of people designated to perform the tasks that directs people’s actions and behaviors. It is an integral part of organizational/industrial psychology and goal setting has been given lot of importance from different scholars and management practitioners.

Goal setting and its implementation has been one of the most popular theories and concepts in management because it is due to goal setting that various work groups and business teams are able to perform together. Goal setting provides a direction to human behavior, it is very important for successful achievement of desired outcomes. Many scholars have said that goal setting theory is crucial for organizational framework, if people are not fully managed in an organizational setting, then it may be very difficult for a firm to have realization of profit and motivation of employees. (Janes et al, 2011) Therefore goal setting has been considered as an integral part of employee motivation in an organization.

Goal setting theory is dependent on four mechanisms:

Goal setting theory is dependent on four mechanisms and they are; goal commitment, goal specificity, goal difficulty and feedback on progress.

Goal commitment:

Goal commitment can be effective only when the acceptance of the goals is fully done by the person who has to achieve it. There many factors leading to goal commitment, firstly, for effective acceptance of goals commitment, it is very important that employee has self-efficacy, due to self-efficacy, employee can commit higher determinations towards the goal and accordingly, the productivity of the employee towards goal will also be high. Therefore acceptance of goal is highly dependent on self efficacy of the employees. Secondly, counseling from the part of managers and supervisors can act as motivating factor for an employee towards goal acceptance. Goal acceptance and commitment can be increased if employees are communicated the goals effectively. (Pauwea and Boselie, 2002)

Goal specificity:

Goal specificity is also very important in making goal effectively realized by one person or group of people. Goal must be specific, subtle, precise and measurable. It should not be ambiguous and generic, the more the specificity of goal, the higher will be its achievement. Therefore it should be kept in mind that goal must be very specific as per the need of the organization so that achievement of employees as per the goal is helpful in brining productivity for a firm rather than having generic and vague benefits. Goal specificity can provide measurement of achievement of the goal by any particular group of people, if goal is specific and short, then it can be measured easily and accordingly the level of achievement can be calculated. If goal is not measurable, then employees may not have motivation for achieving it because measurable goals make an employee directed towards achievement of the same so that incentives and rewards can be gained from the management. (Lock and Lathan, 2006) Therefore goal specificity is very important so that goal is achievable, realistic, subtle and calculative.

Goal difficulty:

Goal difficulty is another mechanism of goal setting theory. The difficulty of the goal should be high enough to increase employee’s performance standards but on the same time it should be low enough to motivate the employees towards itself. The difficulty of the goals should not be very high otherwise employees may find themselves helpless towards its achievement and this way, accomplishment of goal will not be possible. (Meuller, 2001) The goal difficulty should not be very easy as well because if goal difficulty is very low then employees may not find any challenge in its achievement and therefore their performance will get suppressed. Goal difficulty level should accelerate employee’s productivity, it should bring a sense of enthusiasm in the employees that goal can be achieved if performance standards are raised. Therefore goal difficulty should also be kept very effective so that its difficulty level is always a motivation for the employees.

Feedback:

Feedback is very important because it provides an insight into the actual outcomes of an employee or group of people and the group of people can accordingly improve their performance so as to achieve the goals. This means that feedback provides a support to the employees in terms of possibilities towards rectification. Feedback on goal accomplishment or in meantime can make the work group understand the position of their achievement and it is due to effective feedback provided that employees are able to improve their grey areas. This is how feedback process continues in most of the firms wherein after the accomplishment of goals, feedback from the management is given so that employees could accelerate their performance for the next coming goals and targets. For example, if a student gets feedback in form of his progress report, then he or she may change his habits so as to accomplish the desired rank in the class, this means that feedback provides a motivation to rectify misalignments. There are two type of feedback that is given in goal setting theory; they are process feedback and outcome feedback. Process feedback provides feedback on the basis of process that should be taken for accomplishment of goals and outcome feedback provides result or outcome of the goals given to person and there is no tangible information provided for goal attainment. In case of organizations, both type of feedback is provided to the employees, process feedback is provided by supervisors and managers so that employees can be given proper time tables and targets for short span of time and outcome feedback is provided by the top management so as to make an employee understand his or her performance outcomes for a specific period of time.

SMART goal setting methodology:

For the above mentioned parameters, there is description of best practices in terms of goal setting and they are referred as SMART goals. SMART goals comprise of specific, measurable, assignable, realistic and time based. If al these features are included in making a goal setting, then realization of goals can be made easier. The theory supports a goal for being specific that is precise, effective and understandable. Secondly, goal should be measurable so that desired outcomes and achieved outcomes can be compared easily and the difference between the two can be calculated so as to understand the loopholes. Assignable goals means that goals should be easy to be assigned to different people and it should not be assigned on random basis. Goal should be assignable to different work groups and individuals. If goals are assigned on random basis then capability of the competent employees and incompetent employees will not be taken into consideration and assigning of goals will become ineffective. Therefore goals should be assignable to different work groups as per their competence to handle it. It should also be realistic that means the goal should have real presence in terms of its feasibility or authenticity, if goals are not realistic then their achievement can be distractive and unimportant. Therefore goals should be realistic that can be achieved. Lastly goals should have a certain time table for its accomplishment. It should not be unending but goals should have certain specified period of time for its achievement so that employees can be directed towards working in direction of its achievement. If time is not mandatory in goal achievement, then its relevance will not be there. Therefore time table should be followed in goal setting so that work groups and individuals can be assigned tasks to be done for a specific period of time. Time table provides routine, consistency and direction for working towards achievement of goals. Therefore if these five parameters are satisfied, then goals setting and its problems can be avoided. (Fried and Heynes, 2004)

PART-2)

Outcomes of the action plan and its analysis:

Action plan made for goal setting has received some interesting outcomes and they are detailed below. Firstly, the outcome of action plan was that if goal setting is done with efficiency, then achievement of set of goals becomes easy. Action plan in this context was made on the basis of realistic, achievable goals so that their accomplishment could be done. In case of reviews and analysis of different literature and past concepts, the outcome related to goal setting is quite effectively understood. it can be said that due to analysis of different literature reviews and theoretical concepts skill development in terms of goal setting can become possible.  Secondly, another outcome was that goal setting led to procrastination, the goals which were noted down were not subtle and as important as it should have been, this means that the outcome of action plan led to wrong goal planning and therefore as a consequence, the planning went vague. Thirdly, the outcome of the goal setting was that some errors from the past experiences could be avoided but in totality a complete procrasting free goal setting could not be done. There were some time wasters that were included in the goals and therefore the planning went wrong and some of the important and specific goals were still missing from the main frame. In another phase of goal setting and analyzing, the effective way of noting down the goals were done and this time, the goals laid down were effective and they were free from previous vagueness and mistakes. In final stage, it was realized that goal setting could be done as per the effect and positivity needed, the efficiency in laying down the measurable, realistic and subtle goals was achieved.

In totality, it can be said that goal setting as per the action plan gave improving outcomes. In the action plan, in initial phase, the development was poor and efficiency was lacking but later on with every review and analysis of more and more literature papers, the goal setting process could be made better and better. This is how, action plan gave mixed outcomes, it can be said that in initial stage, if planning and literature review is not fully done, then goal setting can go wrong and it may provide misleading outcomes as seen in task one but with further advancements in the same direction, better outcomes can be achieved in form of realistic goals, achievable goals etc.

Skill development attained due to goal setting action plan development:

There are many changes in the skill level that I am able to attain due to increase in standard of goal setting efficiency. Firstly, the efficiency of understanding the core reason for goal setting or purpose of goal framing has increased; this analysis has made an understanding relating to the concept of core value that is associated with goals setting in a particular situation. This means that the reason for goal setting is of main importance and if the reason for goal framing is understood properly, then framing of a SMART goal setting can be easily done.  apart from this, there is another skill development due to goal setting and action plan analysis and that is making subtle and precise goals, it is an important skill development because at early stage of goals setting, I found myself setting goals that are lengthy and not very manageable as per its calculative features but later on with the advancements in personal learning, goal setting was done in more precise manner, the goals laid down were directly linked with the outcomes required, were precise and clearly understandable and were very properly written down. This means that there is huge importance of effective writing down of goals and actions so that length of the goals is not distracting for the achievers.  Apart from this, there was another skill development and that is freedom from procrasting wherein I was not able to differentiate between most important goal and less important goal, this is how, my goal setting went away from the main frame and with more and more efforts and rectifications, I was able to develop the skill of making the most important decision son priority and therefore goal setting became a increased effective thing in my case. Time wasters were given importance by me while doing goal setting and I was unable to differentiate between really important goals and time wasters but later on there was skill development in me towards understanding of the time wasters and accordingly this weakness as removed and skills in this concern were developed.

Learning attained from goal setting:

There are many learning which has been gained by me due to this goal setting plan. Some of these learning are being precise, planning before doing, laying down the important factors of performance, removing concentration from time wasting factors and being effective in writing or expressing the goals or ideas. An adult learner can be best benefitted by real life situational plays because it gives a lesson for the learner in relation to the concerned topic. (Barney, J., 1991) In case of goal setting theory, my learning was enhanced due to real life action plan and personal learning experience which I had to undergo in task one. Firstly, precision is very important while explaining the goals, actions or ideas to subordinates or team members or group participants. If the task or goal being set is not precise, then its real meaning may get hidden in the long and lengthy sentences being noted down, therefore precision is very important so as to have effectiveness in words or sentences. Apart from this, planning before doing is very important because it provides an employee or participant with active thinking in relation to what is to be done. For effective goal setting, if planning before acting is not done, then achievable, realistic and measurable goals cannot be laid down. There should be effective thinking on the real context of the goal setting process, if planning before doing is properly done, then before laying down the goals, the relevance of those goals would be clear to the planner and accordingly changes and rectifications can be done. Laying down the important factors that may contribute in performance of the team should be taken into consideration because the important factors of performance are to be focused upon while setting goals for the group or individuals. Key performance indicators are tools that help the goal setting process because it is the key performance indicators that act as catalyst in driving a goal towards achievement. Therefore performance contributing factors should be kept in mind so that goals can be synchronized with the performance standards of players. Another important goal setting parameter is removing concentration from time wasters because there are many misguiding functions that are available on the same place where important goals are present. There should be capacity of differentiating between important goals and time wasters and this is how goals can be effectively laid down as per my analysis.

Understanding of learning from success and failure:

Therefore I have learnt from my failures in initial phase and success in later phase, from my failures I have learnt to make effective goal setting with the help of SMART goal theory and from my success, I have learnt that goal setting can be made better and better with the help of planning, thinking and consistent adult learning. I could have acted even better if literature reviews and conceptual analysis was done by me in initial stage only, then all the theoretical learning could have provided me with sufficient informations on the process of making a goals setting process effective and efficient. Thus it can be said that while doing goals setting I was able to understand the small and big aspects of goal setting principles and it could be said that goal setting is a very complex process but if it is done with effectiveness and proper planning, then it can yield many imperative results for an organization or any work group. (Abuquayas, 2007)

Conclusion:

Thus it can be concluded that goal setting is an important part of organizational development, if goals are set with effectiveness, it provides a direction for the employees to perform well. Goal setting should be done with utmost care and precision so that vagueness and errors in goal formation could be avoided. Goals can be easily set if some important features are kept in mind and they are goal acceptance by the team players, goal specificity i.e. its specific demand from the achievers, goal difficulty that shows that goals should neither be difficult nor very easy but it should be moderate so that employees can be directed to achieve them, apart from this, feedback to the achievers must be given so that they can rectify their errors in the next financial year. (Wellins et al) These parameters have been assembles in the name of SMART which has been detailed above. This theory gives insight into the basic notions that should be followed while making goal settings. The outcomes of the goal setting theory explained the importance of precision, time and specificity in goal setting. There were many mistakes in early stages and all those were sorted out with every development in goal setting stages. Towards the final stage, it was felt that goal setting was effectively done with all the parameters achieved and therefore it can be said that for having effective goals settings, an individual should do extensive planning and thinking so that effective goals could be laid down.

REFERENCES:

1. Janes T. Austin and Philip Bobko. Goal setting theory (2011), journal of occupational psychology, vol-58, issue-4.
2. Jaap Pauwae and Paul Boselie, 2002. Strategic human resource management theory. Retrieved 9^th May, 2013 from  http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Frepub.eur.nl%2Fres%2Fpub%2F197%2Ferimrs20020502160956.pdf&ei=ysw5UP_iBYLlrAewooH4BA&usg=AFQjCNFq9dj4R2Qh8bHIp7_7s8qOs19xmQ&sig2=oe2cDhxf1a_eKBqTHRpsvw
3. Edwin A. Lock and Gary P. Lathan. New direction in goal setting theory (2006), vol-15, no-5, page-265-268.
4. Hans Eric Meuller, 2001. Developing global human resource strategies. Retrieved 9^th May, 2013 from  http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hemueller.de%2Ffiles%2Feibaihrm.pdf&ei=ncs5ULT0PMjwrQeT6oC4Aw&usg=AFQjCNE_YzfoU2yhAECxDn3ulRxA4dC5yA&sig2=EQvYuNv3tCAL1fRpNf54VQ
5. Yitzhak Fried and Linda Heynes. Enriching goal setting theory with time (2004), vol-29, no-3, page-404- 422.
6. Barney, J., 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120
7. Abdelfattah abuquayas, 2007. Strategic human resource management. Retrieved 9^th May, 2013 from  http://ituarabic.org/hresources/15thHRMeeting/Documents/Doc13-Strategic%20human%20resource%20management%20%20%20ABUQAYYAS.pdf
8. Richard S. Wellins, Paul Bernthal, Mark Phelps, Employee engagement, key to realizing competitive advantage. Retrieved 9^th May, 2013 from  http://www.ddiworld.com/DDIWorld/media/monographs/employeeengagement_mg_ddi.pdf?ext=.pdf