Goal setting and worker motivation

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in eLeVator PitCHEmployers want motivated and productive employees. Are there ways to increase employee motivation without relying solely on monetary incentives, such as pay-for-performance schemes? One tool that has shown promise in recent decades for improving worker performance is setting goals, whether they are assigned by management or self-chosen. Goals are powerful motivators for workers, with the potential for boosting productivity in an organization. However, if not chosen carefully or if used in unsuitable situations, goals can have undesired and harmful consequences. Goals are a powerful tool that needs to be applied with caution. aUtHor'S Main MeSSaGeEmpirical field and laboratory studies demonstrate that well-chosen work goals, whether assigned or self-chosen, can increase employee productivity, with and without monetary incentives. Goals are most productive in simple work environments, where productivity is defined along a single dimension of effort, such as output quantity, and where chances for adverse behavior are low. In more complex environments, multidimensional goal setting is harder to get right and can lead to undesirable behavior and ultimately to lower quality. Broader organizational objectives should be communicated to workers to avoid too narrow a focus on some goals. ConsGoals that focus solely on output quantity can lead to lower quality outputs. If assigned goals are too ambitious, excessive risk taking may result. Work goals that are based on the output of individual workers can reduce cooperation among workers. Goals can encourage unethical behavior and lead to overcharging and misreporting of performance measures. Many of the caveats that apply to monetary incentives also apply to goal setting. Goal setting and worker motivationIndividual work goals can increase a worker's performance, but they need to be chosen wisely

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