Conditions of Goal Setting Theory

There are necessary conditions that must be met to make goals effective in invoking motivation through the above mechanisms: (1) Goal acceptance/goal commitment: Before a goal can be motivating to an individual, one must accept the goal. Accepting a goal is the first step in creating motivation (Locke & Latham, 2002). (2) Goal specificity The more specific the goal, the more explicitly performance will be affected. Specific goals lead to higher task performance by employees than do vague or abstract goals (Locke & Latham, 2002). (3) Goal difficulty Goals are proven to be an effective motivation tactic if difficulty is taken into consideration. They should be set high enough to encourage high performance but low enough to be attainable (PSU, 2012). (4) Feedback on progress toward the goal. Feedback is necessary in order for goals to remain effective and retain commitment. Without feedback people are unaware of their progression or regression and it becomes difficult to gauge the level of effort required to pursue the goal effectively (Sorrentino, 2006).