viaPeople Insight - Performance Management & Succession Planning Blog

Setting goals is not just about documenting what we are hoping to accomplish so that we can measure against it later. Goal Setting is about motivating effort and action to facilitate high performance. The theory of Goal Setting is regarded as among the most valid and practical motivation theories in the fields of Industrial Organizational psychology and organization behavior. Click here to read about the foundation of Locke and Latham's theory of Goal Setting.

The clock is ticking and as of now we’re keeping score. Yes, it’s September – the beginning of the end - your last shot at ensuring your team knocks out that bevy of performance goals before your manager and the entire senior leadership team weighs in on your departments’ 2012 performance.  

We have known for quite awhile that aligning goals at every organizational level facilitates strategic execution. Employees 'Like' knowing that our day-to-day activities drive the overarching plan and love catching a glimpse of the key priorities at the top. Using performance goal management tools to capture goals data across the company has been increasing over the past few years.  Linking these tools to performance appraisal has heightened the importance of the goal management process and increased participation by employees at all levels. 

It’s mid-January….. have you kept your New Year’s resolutions?

Welcome to the first edition of the Performance Management Monthly.  As you know, employee performance management is one of the most powerful tools that we have to ensure the on-going development of employees and continuous business growth. Each month, the industrial organizational psychologists at viaPeople will recommend resources, share their insight on the latest industry trends, and offer specific suggestions for improving the execution of your performance management strategy.  Subscribe to our blog to receive the Performance Management Monthly via email each month.

Feel like you are surrounded by zombies?

The classic research on goal setting and motivation theory states that individuals are more likely to be motivated to perform by creating their own specific goals and working toward those performance goals while receiving feedback on their progress. This theory is summarized using the anagram, SMART, which means Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (also see our whitepaper: SMART Performance Goals).

Aahhhh....the week after Labor Day.  I have always viewed this time of the year fondly.  As a kid, this time of year offered limitless possibilities and a totebag full of  new school supplies.  These days it offers renewed energy, fall clothes shopping and of course, Fashion Week in NYC.

Creating a balanced set of Performance Goals in the employee performance management process is a challenge for all managers....maybe even more challenging that finding the perfect diamond.

Ensuring the achievement of organizational goals is dependent upon effective employee performance management.

In our recently published Whitepaper entitled, Goal Alignment: How Successful Organizations Social-Network Performance Management, my colleague, Dr. Amanda Seidler, and I discuss the challenges organizations face in using goal setting and goal alignment to reap the benefits of effective employee performance management.  Bottom line: Technology that is easy-to-use and seamlessly fits into your business processes will bring about success.