How to Motivate Employees Using E.A. Locke's Goal-Setting Theory

In the 1960s, Professor Edwin A. Locke of the University of Maryland identified a link between goal-setting and employee performance. Since then, Locke’s theory of goal-setting and task motivation has become an integral part of the employee management process. Simply stated, Locke found that people are productive when motived by clear goals and appropriate feedback. How difficult, specific and realistic a goal is affects a person’s performance and perseverance in meeting the goal. Unambiguous, measurable stretch goals lead to improved employee productivity and improved self-confidence.

1. Identify the need for or purpose of the goal. It may be a performance or behavior issue or an employee may need to learn a new computer program or process to be more productive or obtain the skills necessary for promotion. The need for the goal should be objective and documented. For example, a worker may regularly arrive late at least twice a week or a new information technology employee must learn a problem-tracking system in order to do his job properly.

2. Meet with the employee to discuss the need for goal-setting. If the need is based on performance or behavior issues, ask questions about her work. Are there process, communication or technology problems? Is she dealing with personal issues that may be affecting her work? Discuss performance standards and ask her to explain her understanding of her responsibilities to ensure that she knows what is expected from her work.

3. Develop an action plan to meet the goals using the SMART model (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based) created by management consultants Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. Specify the what, where and how of the goal. Include concrete before and after measures. Ensure that the goal is both challenging and achievable -- a stretch goal that requires the employee to increase the level or quality of his normal performance but is not impossible to achieve. It must be relevant, relating to his work and the goals or strategic initiatives of the department and organization, as well as achievable within a set time frame. Finally, put the action plan and SMART goal in writing and have the employee sign the document as a demonstration of his commitment.

4. Ensure that the employee has the equipment, supplies and time she needs to achieve the goal. Meet with her regularly to monitor her progress, answer questions, and give direction, coaching and support. Review performance data with her to identify progress or opportunities for improvement. Ask her how she sees her progress toward the goal and invite her to express concerns and ask questions.

5. Meet with the employee at the end of the specified time frame to review the action plan and report on results. If he achieved the goal, recognize his achievement in a positive way. If he made some progress but did not achieve the goal, the goal time frame may be extended or the goal modified as needed. If he failed to meet the goal or showed no commitment to achieving it, progressive discipline may be the next appropriate step.

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5 Weird Ways Stress Can Actually Be Good for You

We hear over and over again that stress is unhealthy. And all that talk makes us, well, stressed. Here's how a little short-term anxiety can actually benefit your brain and body.

Amanda MacMillan

We hear over and over again that stress is unhealthy. And all that talk makes us, well, stressed. But getting worked up isn't always a bad thing, says Richard Shelton, MD, vice chair for research in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alabama Birmingham; after all, the body's fight-or-flight response is meant to be protective, not harmful.

It's only when stress becomes chronic, or when we feel we're no longer in control of a situation, that it negatively affects our health and wellbeing.

Here, then, are five reasons you should rest easier when it comes to everyday stress—and how a little short-term anxiety can actually benefit your brain and body.

It helps boost brainpower

Low-level stressors stimulate the production of brain chemicals called neurotrophins, and strengthen the connections between neurons in the brain. In fact, this may be the primary mechanism by which exercise (a physical stressor) helps boost productivity and concentration, Dr. Shelton says. Short-term psychological stressors, he adds, can have a similar effect, as well. Plus, animal studies have suggested that the body's response to stress can temporarily boost memoryand learning scores.

RELATED: Best and Worst Ways to Cope With Stress

It can increase immunity—in the short term

"When the body responds to stress, it prepares itself for the possibility of injury or infection," says Dr. Shelton. "One way it does this is by producing extra interleukins—chemicals that help regulate the immune system—providing at least a temporary defensive boost." Research in animals support this idea, as well: A 2012 Stanford study found that subjecting lab rats to mild stress produced a "massive mobilization" of several types of immune cells in their bloodstreams.

It can make you more resilient

Learning to deal with stressful situations can make future ones easier to manage, according to a large body of research on the science of resilience. It's the idea behind Navy SEAL training, Dr. Shelton says—although you can certainly benefit from less extreme experiences, as well. "Repeated exposure to stressful events gives [SEALs] the chance to develop both a physical and psychological sense of control, so when they're in actually combat they don't just shut down," he says.

RELATED: 25 Surprising Ways Stress Affects Your Health

This idea may even hold true at a cellular level: A 2013 University of California San Francisco study found that while chronic stress promotes oxidative damage to our DNA and RNA, moderate levels of perceived daily stress actually seem to protect against it and enhance "psychobiological resilience."

It motivates you to succeed

Good stress, also known in the scientific community as eustress, may be just the thing you need to get job done at work. "Think about a deadline: It's staring you in the face, and it's going to stimulate your behavior to really manage the situation effectively, rapidly, and more productively," says Dr. Shelton. The key, he says, is viewing stressful situations as a challenge that you can meet, rather than an overwhelming, unpassable roadblock.

Eustress can also help you enter a state of "flow," a heightened sense of awareness and complete absorption into an activity, according to research from psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow can be achieved in the workplace, in sports, or in a creative endeavor (such as playing a musical instrument), and Csikszentmihalyi argues that it's driven largely by pressure to succeed.

It can enhance child development

Moms-to-be often worry that their own anxiety will negatively affect their unborn babies—and it can, when it's unrelenting. But a 2006 Johns Hopkins study found that most children of women who reported mild to moderate stress levels during pregnancy actually showed greater motor and developmental skills by age 2 than those of unstressed mothers. The one exception: the children of women who viewed their pregnancy as more negative than positive had slightly lower attention capacity.

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