Goal setting is an integral construct of organizational success. The model in Hunt's (2014) text reveals that developmental goal setting for personnel requires careful consideration of four goals in a balanced mix that makes objective plans more reasonable to employees. The first process entails establishing the purpose and intention of the goals. If the primary objective is to advance organization value, the objectives should be business-driven. The goals are characterized by employees learning new skills and developing novel experiences. A critical factor to consider is employee motivation since realizing these goals is psychologically draining and exhaustive.
A company may decide to improve employees' skills in their existing work areas. Such an objective would require setting functional goals. The organization can employ a functional approach to ensure employees' proficiency in their tasks. The model can also be utilized to manage repetitive tasks that become monotonous. A key recommendation would be to appraise goals in terms of organizational and developmental value.
The model can also set development goals for employees by ensuring they yield development value. The factor can be realized by providing self-focused goals that do not constrain employees because of fear of failure. Lastly, the underutilization component can be used to ensure set goals hold value. The component can allocate specific goals to certain employees to retain enthusiasm and rigor in the organization.
Balanced Goals: Significance
Having balanced goals allows one to avoid motivation challenges when employees feel overwhelmed by many business-driven objectives, burdened owing to manifold functional goals, or undervalued due to many underutilization or self-focused objectives. Balanced objectives enable avoiding goal difficulty by ensuring they are realistic, reasonable, and sustainable. In addition, balancing them helps avoid ambiguity while augmenting clarity critical for positive outcomes (van der Hoek et al., 2018). Goal categories should be aligned for successful goal setting and organizational success. The move is critical since goal setting is directly related to performance.
Describe how to use the model to set developmental goals for the employee population.