Ensuring ability and motivation

Even the best-laid goals cannot be reached if the individuals and groups tasked with achieving the goals lack the ability and motivation to accomplish them.

For example, new students in an online classroom may be highly motivated to master the course material and earn a high grade. However, suppose the students struggle with the technology necessary to access the online classroom. In that case, they may perform poorly in the course. The student’s capacity to perform at a goal attainment level in the course would be a function of learning the necessary skills for participating in the new environment, trying to learn the material, completing the assignments, and persisting to the end of the course. In other words, performance is not just a function of effort and persistence but also of learning (Seijts & Latham, 2005).

Acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary for achieving a goal are prerequisites to performance.

Assigning or attempting performance goals before a person has the essential skills has a “detrimental effect” on the person’s ability to accomplish the goal and learn. Seijts and Latham (2005) said this is because focusing on reaching a performance goal place demands on people that restrict their ability to learn the skills necessary to accomplish the task. Using goals to motivate performance may impede learning if the performance goal is presented before a person has the capacity or resources to complete the task.

Adverse consequences of goals without skills

Assigning a specific challenging performance goal can cause a person without adequate skills to scramble for methods to accomplish the goal. This scrambling can cause the person to create inefficient or incorrect ways to achieve the goal or spend time recreating processes already in place. Some may call this creative, but it can also result in wasted resources, inefficient processes, and failed efforts. Learning how to perform the goal before starting to pursue the goal increases performance, increases self-efficacy, and strengthens commitment (Seijts & Latham, 2005, pp. 126-127).

The right kind of goal

Effective goal setting requires that managers set the right kinds of goals for a given situation or employee. Research by Sijts and Latham (2005) found that both learning and performance goals are necessary for a successful organization, but managers must apply them correctly.