2025 Goal Setting. Things to consider.

I was recently reading some research on goal setting theory.? We all know you cannot achieve a goal unless you set a goal.? The difficulty lies in navigating the tension between setting a goal high enough to be challenging, yet not so high a person becomes disenchanted and disengaged.?

At its most basic level goal setting theory states that as an organization or individual sets goals the performance of that organization or individual will improve to achieve that goal.? I reviewed an article Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation, by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham (published in 2002 by the American Psychological Association).?

Locke found a positive relationship between difficulty of goals and levels of effort and performance; specific, difficult goals increased performance over arbitrary goals (i.e. “do your best”) while reducing variability in performance by creating clarity on the performance level.? Locke summarizes the essential elements and the high-performance cycle in the flow-chart below.

?

Locke reinforces that for goal setting to be effective, goals need specificity and an appropriate level of difficulty.? If specificity and difficulty are appropriate then a goal can provide direction, energy, increase persistence and allow creativity in strategies to achieve goals by calling upon existing knowledge or discovery of new solutions.??

If performance goals are met and there is satisfaction with the performance and rewards, then new goals can be set.? However, as the chart above illustrates there are moderating factors that need to be considered.? The factors are: the commitment to the goals; the importance of the goal (v. personal or competing goals); the belief in ones’ ability to achieve; the feedback provided; and lastly the complexity of the task (achievability).??

As 2024 quickly comes to an end and we round the corner to 2025 ask yourself the following questions before memorializing your 2025 goals. ?

Does the individual goal align with the organizational goals??

Do the goals balance the tension between difficult yet achievable??

Does the employee believe in the goal and are they committed to that goal??

Are you prepared to provide feedback??

We are all inspired when we see incredibly audacious goals that get accomplished.? However, for businesses goals do not always have to be heroic, often a business can find magic in the mundane.

Thanks for reading!

?