PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF GOAL-SETTING THEORY TO PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Performance management involves all the initiatives managers undertake to guide and motivate high performance. Such initiatives have traditionally focused on providing formal performance appraisals, rewards and recognition for high performance, as well as taking remedial action to address performance deficiencies. Performance management can also facilitate adaptability and continually improving performance in rapidly changing contemporary workplaces. To do so, however, traditional periodic performance appraisal initiatives need to be supplemented by ongoing performance coaching (London, 2003). A key ingredient for effectively coaching employees is the prudent use of goal setting. The prime axiom of goal setting theory is that specific, difficult goals lead to higher performance than when people strive to simply “do their best”, (Locke, 1966; Locke & Latham, 1990). The performance benefits of challenging, specific goals have been demonstrated in hundreds of laboratory and field studies (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002). Such goals positively affect the performance of individuals (Baum & Locke, 2004), groups (O’Leary-Kelly, Martocchio, & Frink, 1994), organizational units (Rogers & Hunter, 1991), as well as entire organizations (Baum, 89 90 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Locke, & Smith, 2001)—and over periods as long as twenty-five year