It’s amazing how much more effective employees can be when they’re properly motivated. Well-motivated workers tend to be more productive, more engaged, more creative and have lower turnover compared with less-motivated workers. It naturally follows that managers and organizations that are effective at motivating their teams tend to outperform those that don’t do as good a job at motivation.
The trick, of course, is finding out how to motivate employees.
Goal Setting’s Impact on Motivation
One highly effective tool is a fairly simple one: goal setting. Goals, when properly set (more on this below), establish clear objectives for performance that help provide structure and motivation to an employee’s efforts.
“Effective goal setting remains a powerful motivator,” writes Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio in an article for Forbes. “Employees thrive when their goals are measurable and clearly linked to the company’s broader objectives. Involving team members in goal setting and regularly updating targets to reflect changing priorities can significantly boost engagement.”
Let’s look at each of these components in a bit more detail.
The Elements of Effective Goal Setting
Not all goal setting efforts are equal. Sometimes goal setting serves to achieve not only desired outcomes but also associated engagement and motivation. Here are the elements linked to these outcomes.
Measurable: A good goal should be measurable so that whether and to what extent an employee has achieved a goal can be objectively determined. Additionally, periodic measurements of progress toward a goal are an important means of staying on track.
Linked to Company’s Objectives: For a goal to be meaningful to those tasked with it, it should be clear how that goal relates to the broader success of the company. Otherwise, goals can seem like arbitrary busy work.
Involving Team Members in Goal Setting: By including the people tasked with pursuing the goal in defining and setting the goal, organizations can better build buy-in and engagement with the goal, as compared with goals that are unilaterally handed down from on-high.
Updating Targets: Particularly with new goals, initial objectives may turn out to be too optimistic, too complacent or not appropriately suited to the broader company strategy. By allowing flexibility to update targets, organizations can avoid eliminating a goal, even if the initial approach runs into challenges. Effectively motivating employees is essential in any organization, and effective goal setting can be a phenomenal tool in driving employee engagement and motivation. It’s important to make sure goals are clear and objective and that they have buy-in from those tasked with pursuing them.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
The post <strong>Goal Setting as a Tool for Employee Motivation</strong> appeared first on HR Daily Advisor.