Motivation & Goal-Setting Theory. Management Essay

Goal-Setting Theory
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Goal-Setting Theory
Motivation plays a critical role in driving workers toward the attainment of organizational goals and objectives. Employees, being the most important resource in organizations are responsible for the success and failure of an entity. As a result, employers must find ways to motivate their staff members. Since the establishment of organizations, various thinkers have attempted to establish what motivates individuals to work. They have applied different approaches that have resulted in various theories regarding motivation. There are three main categories of motivation theories are content, process, and learning theories.
Among the process motivation theories, I feel most connected to the goal-setting theory. The goal-setting theory indicates that well-chosen and well-set goals can be motivating to workers (Goerg, 2015). The theory acknowledges that goals are critical in improving the way employees work towards improving their performance. In goal setting, an action plan is formulated to motivate and guide individuals towards a particular goal. The theory asserts that some individuals perform better than others because they have different performance theories. In essence, the willingness to work towards the achievement of a goal is the major source of job motivation for workers.
The goal-setting theory indicates that the goals should be specific, challenging and should allow employees to participate (Teo & Low, 2016). More specific goals improve performance compared to more general goals. Clear and unambiguous goals avoid misunderstanding and assists employees to know what is expected of them. While the goals should be realistic, they should also be challenging. Such goals provide a sense of triu...