Human Resource Management: Goal Setting and Performance Enhancement

This report delves into the concept of goal setting as a tool for enhancing employee performance within the context of Human Resource Management. It begins with an executive summary outlining the core argument: that strategic goal setting is vital for aligning individual employee objectives with organizational goals, thereby improving performance. The report then explores the theoretical underpinnings of goal setting, drawing on the work of Edwin Locke and emphasizing the importance of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) and the alignment of individual and organizational objectives. It discusses the role of human resource managers in creating a motivational environment that fosters employee engagement and focuses on responsibilities and commitments. The report emphasizes the need for consistency in goal-setting approaches, recognizing and rewarding employee achievements, and providing support to employees. The report provides insights into the practical application of goal-setting principles within the workplace and highlighting the integral role of human resource management in establishing a supportive and effective goal-setting atmosphere.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Using Goal Settings to Enhance Employee Performance
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Executive Summary
The report evaluates the idea of using goal setting for enhancing the performance level weed in
the workplace. The ideas developed from this report highlight the theoretical approach based on
the goal setting, which to attend the organisational goals. The development of goal setting theory
indicates that it is essential to specify the goal and develop the individualistic concerned to
perform in a better way and accomplish the organisational goals. The in individual goals and
organisational objectives create the clear focus and develop the performance parameters of the
employees. The human resource managers play the vital role in such context. They create the
high level of motivational atmosphere that keep the employees engaged and focused towards
their responsibilities and commitments.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the Research................................................................................................................3
Goal Setting: Theoretical Approach................................................................................................4
Human Resource Managerial Practices to establish a goal-setting atmosphere for the employees 9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Resource Management has the direct and indirect role in achieving the organisational
goals. An efficient human resource management helps in building a comfortable environment
within a workplace that motivate the associated employees to develop their professional and
personal skills and achieve the organisational objectives Russell-Smith et al. (2015). It is
needless to say that the human resource management is an integral part of an organisation.
However, there are some of the situations when the employees face difficulties to beat their
excellence without an appropriate goal. They often strive to meet the purpose to utilize their
skills and experience towards something worthy (Speklé and Verbeeten 2014). The human
resource manager often focuses on making the team members the better employees and helping
them along their professional path development. Therefore, the study will focus on
understanding the effectiveness of goal setting to improve the employees’ performance
parameter. The report also attempts to identify the role of the human resource management in
establishing a proper goal setting atmosphere that can help the employees to perform in a better
way.
Overview of the Research
One of the key responsibilities of a manager is to encourage the growth of the employees.
The manager can guide the improvement and the better performance parameter of the employees
by setting and attainable and measurable goals. Along with this, they can also help in
strengthening the business and enhancing the reputation as an employer of choice. According to
Latham, Brcic and Steinhauer (2016), the goal setting within a workplace create star high level
of performance attributes. It generally helps the employees to stay focused towards the short

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term and long term success of the company. Moreover, is human resource manager establishes
the criteria and guidelines for a well defined employee performance review; it would enhance the
performance and create the company bonus program. In addition to this, a significant goal setting
activity would drive deep into the engagement of the employees within the workplace.
On the contrary, Kember (2016) argued that establishing the goal is not the only
parameters to achieve success. It is important to review the progress of the goals and make
necessary amendments by identifying the areas of improvement. The continuous improvement
made on this part will help in enhancing the quality of the performance and will ensure the
productive outcome at the end. It is important to mention that the employees not only focus on
achieving the organisational goals; they even think to look for the better opportunity to develop
their careers prospects as well (Mauro 2016). The human resource management needs to identify
search specific needs and demands of the employees to make them motivated towards
organisational functionalities. During the preparation of the goal setting, these specifications are
needed to be taken into consideration (Katzenbach and Smith 2015). The further section of the
report would evaluate the benefits of goal setting in developing high performance level within
the workplace.
Goal Setting: Theoretical Approach
Majority of the organisations depend on the goal setting aspects to achieve the success in
a significant way to achieve success. However, it is important to identify the best technique to
implement a beneficial goal setting. As per the Goal Setting Theory by Edwin Locke, it is
noticeable that the goal-setting approach is connected with the task performance (Latham,
Mawritz and Locke 2018). The human resource management needs to specify some of the basic

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aspects associated with the goal setting function. The following features are associated with the
theoretical analysis:
 The alignment of the goals with the organisational objectives
During the preparation of the specified goals, it is necessary to address the individual goals of
the employees. The self-objectives determined by the associated employees should be aligned
with the overall growth strategy of the organisation. This process creates more effectiveness that
usually drives towards success. According to Wehmeyer and Shogren (2017), when the
employees are able to understand their contribution and the responsibilities towards
organisational growth, they become more motivated and focused to achieve these that can help in
succeeding in their personal lives as well. The maintenance of consistent approach towards
establishing strategic business goals is possible by developing the high level of communication.
This transparency maintained in the communication all aspects help in keeping the employees
engaged in their works.
 Self efficiency level
Managers often create several goals in their mind for each of the employee associated with
the workplace. However, it has been observed that is the managers motivate the employees to
recognize their goals that signify their individual job expertise; it would become more effective
to get insightful vision. However, Shields et al. (2015) pointed out that there are the distinctive
attitudes noticed in distinguishing the method of imposing goals and encouraging the employees
to suggest goals for their betterment. The employees always feel motivated when they contribute
towards achieving success in their professional life. The managers can easily develop an action

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plan to attain the goals suggested by the employees and matching the preferences of the company
objectives.
 Establishment of SMART Goals
Bratton and Gold (2017) implied that suggesting the employees to develop their performance
parameter does not help in constituting an effective goal. It is quite necessary to set their goals
within the framework of SMART. The first component of SMART Framework is specific,
which determines that the goal should clearly state the specifications, such as the people
involved, the place, the focus, and the scheduled time. In fact, it is also necessary to identify the
underlying constraints as well as the benefits that can be derived once the goal is achieved. The
second component is measurable, which sets the concrete criteria for measuring progress
towards accomplishing the goal. The third component is attainable that helps in improving the
success likelihood to the determined goals based on the employees capability (Mostafa, Gould‐
Williams and Bottomley 2015). The next component is real that creates the clear idea about the
closer alignment of the gold with the overall objectives of the organisation. The final component
is time bound, which suggests the specific time frame for accomplishing the determined goals.
 Dependency on Attainable Goals
In many of the cases it has been observed that the goal setting open fails when the
determined objectives becomes and a terrible or too much ambitious. It is therefore important to
identify the available resources and the skills of the employees prior to set any goal. If an
employee is burdened with an unattainable goal, it may lead to frustration with the process
(Mostafa, Gould‐Williams and Bottomley 2015). As a result, they might feel the lack of

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motivation to improve further. Hence, it is always necessary to understand the likelihood of
achieving the goals based on the employees’ expertise level and efficiency parameter.
 Maintaining Consistency in establishing the goals for the employees with similar
responsibilities
The maintenance of consistency is a useful aspect of achieving an organisational objective. It
is noticeable that the goal setting often fails when it is framed as a competition among the
employees. This scenario occurs when an employee with similar responsibility needs to achieve
different goals, which may discourage them in a significant way (Berson et al. 2015). They are
of restrained from encouraging the internal rivalries that hampers the morale and creates the
resentments for managers. Therefore, it is important to maintain the consistency while allocating
the tasks for an employee, who is entitled to meet the specific goals as per their expertise level.
 Reward and Recognition for the employees to accomplish their goals
When the employees feel appreciated, it helps them to become much motivated and perform in a
better way. According to Albrecht et al. (2015), one of the critical success factors contributes
towards goal accomplishment is the reward and recognition provided to the Employees. It clearly
defines a process of recognizing the fruitful contribution and appreciating the employees with a
certificate, bonus or any public acknowledgement. The employees also feel that their efforts are
quite fruitful for achieving the organisational goals (Shields et al. 2015). In fact, or to develop
their values and commitment level with their hard work and achieve the success. If the
organisation fails to notice such hard work, it would affect the mental state of the employees and
they might even look for better option or new job (Lazaroiu 2015). The human resource
management needs to identify such concerned and take the initiative accordingly.

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 Creating the better environment for the employees by working closely
In some of the cases, it has been observed that not every employee has the capability of
attaining their goals in a successful way in spite of their unlimited toils and hard work. Ideally,
the manager has to take the responsibility to create a periodic assessing progress report and take
the initiative to provide necessary assistance in time of need. For instance, some employees fail
to meet their deadlines and achieve the target (Miron-Spektor and Beenen 2015). During such
time, the manager needs to conduct an in-depth discussion session to understand the actual
constraint that the employee has been facing while performing the organisational activities.
Understanding the situation, the manager needs to combine the high level of encouragement and
make them try again to work on such stated objectives. In addition to this, it is always necessary
for the managers to develop highly motivated working environment, especially when they
struggle with negative remarks and several kinds of discrimination. It is important to pay
attention towards their sincere attempts for succeeding and achieving goals. Additionally, the
necessary resources are needed to provide to complete this within the next schedule time.
The above specifications are developed to create and in depth and insightful knowledge
regarding the goal setting within workplace. At the same time, these specifications suggest the
benefits of developing a goal setting that contributes towards achieving success and increasing
the performance level. The human resource management plays the integral part in establishing
the proper goal setting atmosphere within a workplace. The next section of the study will discuss
the role of the human resource management in establishing the goal setting atmosphere and
encouraging the employees to develop their performance levels.

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Human Resource Managerial Practices to establish a goal-setting atmosphere for the
employees
The Human Resource Management plays the most significant role within an organisation.
Starting from selecting and recruiting people to retaining them depends on the efficient efforts of
the human resource management. Albrecht et al. (2015) implied that an effective human resource
manager helps in motivating the associated employees towards achieving their personal and
professional goals. The current organisational scenario demands for opportunistic ideas and
innovative methods. Accordingly, the strategic Human Resource Management develops the
insightful research to transform the organisational functionalities into more effective approaches.
The above section of the study discussed that the alignment of the organisational goals with
individual goals helps in achieving success in a more significant way. An efficient Human
Resource Management creates search insights among the employees to develop the specific goals
which are related to the organisational objectives. The employees often seek the better
environment in which they can find comfort level and high level of energy for meeting the
determined objectives (Mostafa, Gould‐Williams and Bottomley 2015). The strategic human
resource management identifies the efforts of the associated employee and encourages them to
perform better. Identifying their demands and contribution, the HR manager provides the
rewards and recognition to appreciate and encourage them for the better performance parameter.
The manager has to take the responsibility to create a periodic assessing progress report and take
the initiative to provide necessary assistance when it becomes essential for the organisational
environment. In addition to this, conveying the purpose and objectives of the organisation to the
employees, the HR manager helps in developing the fruitful and motivating scenario weed in the

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workplace (Shields et al. 2015). Therefore it can be implied, the human resource management
has the direct involvement in goal setting.
Conclusion
The study develops the insightful ideas regarding the effectiveness of goal setting to
improve the employees’ performance parameter. It has been observed that the alignment of the
personal goals and professional goals are suggestively considered as the critical success factor. In
fact, establishing the appropriate goal-setting atmosphere creates the high level of performance
attributes among the employees, which turn out to be profitable for the organization. The human
resource management contributes much significantly in developing the goal-setting environment
for the employees to accomplish the organisational objectives. The continuous improvement
made on this part will help in enhancing the quality of the performance and will ensure the
productive outcome at the end. The development of the SMART framework and maintaining the
consistent approaches towards following the specific goal is necessary for ensuring the high
performance level. The study also identifies that the employees need to feel that their efforts are
quite fruitful for achieving the organisational goals. In fact, or to develop their values and
commitment level with their hard work and achieve the success. The human resource
management needs to take the responsibility in such cases to measure the progress and identify
the challenges faced by the associated employees. The extensive motivation provided to the
employees would help in making them more focused and engaged towards the organisational
goals. The significant role of the human resource management is thus much appreciated in such
context. The higher level of motivation and the encouraging scenario help the employees to
develop their commitments and performance level that leads the organization towards achieving
success.

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References
Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee
engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated
approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), pp.7-35.
Berson, Y., Halevy, N., Shamir, B. and Erez, M., 2015. Leading from different psychological
distances: A construal-level perspective on vision communication, goal setting, and follower
motivation. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(2), pp.143-155.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Katzenbach, J.R. and Smith, D.K., 2015. The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance
organization. Harvard Business Review Press.
Kember, D., 2016. Relationship to Other Theories of Motivation. In Understanding the Nature of
Motivation and Motivating Students through Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (pp.
21-41). Springer, Singapore.
Latham, G.P., Brcic, J. and Steinhauer, A., 2016. Toward an Integration of Goal Setting Theory
and the Automaticity Model. Applied Psychology, 1(66), pp.25-48.
Latham, G.P., Mawritz, M.B. and Locke, E.A., 2018. Goal setting and control theory:
Implications for job search. The Oxford Handbook of Job Loss and Job Search, p.8.
Lazaroiu, G., 2015. Work motivation and organizational behavior. Contemporary Readings in
Law and Social Justice, 7(2), p.66.
Mauro, M.S., 2016. Book Review: Rehabilitation goal setting: Theory, practice and evidence.