Dr D N Venkatesh

Dr Venkatesh
Goals that are difficult to achieve and specific
tend to increase performance more than
goals that are not.

A goal can become more
specific through quantification or
enumeration (should be measurable), such as
by demanding "increasing productivity by
50%"; or by defining certain tasks that need
completing
Dr Venkatesh
Setting goals affects outcomes in four ways:
-

Choice: goals narrow attention and direct efforts to
goal-relevant activities, and away from perceived
undesirable and goal-irrelevant actions.
Effort: goals can lead to more effort; for example, if
one typically produces 4 widgets an hour, and has the
goal of producing 6, one may work more intensely
than one would otherwise in order to reach the goal.
Persistence: An individual becomes more prone to
work through setbacks if pursuing a goal.
Cognition: goals can lead an individual to develop
cognitive strategies to change their behavior

Dr Venkatesh
In business, goal setting has the advantages
of encouraging participants to put in
substantial effort; and, because every
member has defined expectations set upon
him or her (high role perception), little room
is left for inadequate effort going unnoticed.

Dr Venkatesh
Managers cannot be constantly able to drive
motivation and keep track of an employees
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
[3]
and Locke and
Latham (2002)
[4]
have distilled four
mechanisms through which goal setting is
able to affect individual performance
Dr Venkatesh
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.

Dr Venkatesh
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 did easy or no goals
While some managers
[who?]
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.
Dr Venkatesh
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)
[vague
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)
[vague]

Dr Venkatesh
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)
[vague

Dr Venkatesh
Goal commitment People will perform better
when they are committed to achieve certain
goals
[citation needed]
. Goal commitment is
dependent of:
The importance of the expected outcomes of goal
attainment and;
Self-efficacy one's belief that they are able to
achieve the goals;
Commitment to others promises or engagements
to others can strongly improve commitment
Dr Venkatesh
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.
Dr Venkatesh
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 possess 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.
Dr Venkatesh
Employee motivation
The more employees are motivated, the more they
are stimulated and interested in accepting goals.
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 one's progress. When this is left
aside, an employee might think (s)he is not making
enough progress. This can reduce self-efficacy and
thereby harm the performance outcomes in the long
run.
[7]


Dr Venkatesh
goal-commitment, the most influential
moderator
[citation needed]
, becomes especially important
when dealing with difficult or complex goals. If
people lack commitment to goals, they will lack
motivation to reach them. In order to become
committed to a goal, one must believe in its
importance or significance.
attainability: individuals must also believe that they
can attain or at least partially reach a defined
goal. If they think no chance exists of reaching a
goal, they may not even try.
self-efficacy:
[8]
the higher someones self-efficacy
regarding a certain task, the more likely they will set
higher goals
[citation needed]
, and the more persistence
they will show in achieving them
[citation


Dr Venkatesh
Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic
Self Control : Emotional Intelligence and
Vroom Goal Expectancy Theory
Three components of Expectancy theory:
Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence
1. Expectancy: Effort Performance (EP)
(individual's instrumentality for outcomes are trust,
control and policies )
2. Instrumentality: Performance Outcome (PO)
3. Valence- V(R)
Motivational Force (MF) = Expectancy x
Instrumentality x Valence

Dr Venkatesh
Imagine your life is just the way you want it, write
out everything you have or have achieved in
terms of health. (Fitness level, weight, strength,
appearance, diet, sports performance, energy,
etc)[Recommended time: 5 min]
When you are done, rank those goals in level of
importance as A an absolute must, B would
love to do/have it, C its nice but I can live
without it. [Recommended time: 2 min]
Now, give each goal a time frame: 6 months, 1
year, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years,
[Recommended time: 2 min]

Dr Venkatesh
Next, imagine your life is just the way you want it,
write out everything you have or have achieved in
terms of finances. (Money in the bank,
yearly/monthly income, investments,
businesses/career/job, residual/passive income, debt
freedom, charity, retirement fund, kids college fund,
etc) [Recommended time: 5 min]
When you are done, rank those goals in level of
importance as A an absolute must, B would love to
do/have it, C its nice but I can live without it.
[Recommended time: 2 min]
Now, give each goal a timeframe: 6 months, 1 year, 2
years, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, [Recommended
time: 2 min]

Dr Venkatesh

Dr Venkatesh