Module 1: One Minute Goal Setting I. Overview Goal setting is a fundamental activity necessary for ensuring that work behavior and effort are directed at achieving an outcome of some value. Often, performance goals represent ‘anchor points’ along a broader strategic plan that serve to provide a direction and pace for individuals and groups, and to measure progress as they focus their efforts while performing their job. And while the concept of goal setting may seem straight-forward, this is an aspect of personnel management that many struggle with. One reason is that there is often confusion about the differences between goals vs objectives, where the two are often treated as the same. Another reason is that there are both task and relational elements to both goal setting and goal attainment. Specifically, when you consider Organizational Behavior from a broad perspective, what it really boils down to is understanding, managing, and leveraging the dynamics that underlie peoples’ ability and willingness. Therefore the challenge for managers is to not only understand the dynamic between ability and willingness but to set performance goals that maximize potential productivity gains. NOTE: Willingness is not motivation per se, as motivation is the impulse or urge that compels an individual to take action. Willingness is therefore the decision to act (either conscious or unconscious) and the commitment and persistence of that action. A very popular goal-setting model is known as S.M.A.R.T which most people accredit as being developed in 1981 by George T. Doran who differentiated between goals (strategic end-states) and objectives (tactics/ actions needed to get to the end-state). What makes the S.M.A.R.T goal criteria so popular is its holistic approach. And while the general principle is the same, many variations of the model criteria have developed across a variety of disciplines. As such, in order to keep things simple, I will refer to the criterial of Dr. Doran’s original model where S.M.A.R.T goals are: S = Specific (target a specific area for performance improvement) M = Measurable (use clearly defined indicators of progress) A = Assignable (specify who is responsible) R = Realistic (state what results can be realistically achieved given the resources available) T = Time-related (specific when the result can be achieved) By breaking down and operationalizing goal-setting, the S.M.A.R.T. model not only provides a clear pathway to strategic success, but it also highlights areas of personnel management that directly relate to individual ability and willingness, which is where understanding of Organizational Behavior becomes particularly value-adding for managers and supervisors. II. Integrative Assignment For Module 1, in order to better understand the applications of OB concepts with goal setting, you will apply the S.M.A.R.T. model to a job of your choice, and then drawing from the key concepts in the assigned chapters (i.e., Culture; Perception and Decision Making; Emotion & Mood) you will synthesize job analysis data with OB concepts within the S.M.A.R.T. framework in order to develop a performance-driven “One Minute Goal” statement that supports a larger strategic goal. Part A: Go to www.onetonline.org and generate a job analysis report for a job of your choice. The job can be one that you are interested in or are familiar with, but it cannot be one that you are currently doing. I suggest that if you are currently managing others, choosing a job that is a concern to you might be helpful to you for this assignment. Instructions for generating the job analysis report can be found at the end of this document. After reviewing the job analysis data, come up with a statement that clearly defines a broader strategic goal (either one you are familiar with, or a hypothetical) of which success depends on the job you chose. For example, an established and popular restaurant facing increasing competition may decide on a new differentiation strategy that leverages the growing demand for locally grown organic food. As such, a general strategic goal statement could be “To offer a new and exciting twist to the most popular menu items by incorporating locally sourced fresh organic ingredients, but with the same quality and taste that our customers expect”. Part B: Once you have stated the primary strategic goal (again, that is up to you for the purpose of this exercise), you are then to identify OB concepts from the Module 1 chapters chapter that you feel are relevant to each S.M.A.R.T. criteria and discuss any performance implications (using the job analysis data) that need to be considered when setting performance goals. So, for the Specific criteria (for example), if you were the GM of the restaurant, assessing various aspects of the current organizational culture would be a great way to determine which aspects of performance behavior for the Head Chef would need to be addressed. Specifically, depending on the restaurant characteristics such as the kitchen staff size, theme, and/or customer volume OB concepts such as reshaping the kitchen staff culture from one that may be very hierarchal and compartmentalized to one that is more collaborative may be necessary to support the operational changes necessary to make the transformation. This will require the Head Chef to utilize deductive reasoning and problem solving skills. This will undoubtedly require the Head Chef to lead an incremental change rather than a transformational one since only the menu items are the focus of the change. He or she must also use their social perception and active listening skills to manage staff and customer perceptions in order to avoid creating a Halo Effect which could lead staff and customers to believe the restaurant is making a fundamental change. This could cause mixed emotions that could result in customers leaving, and there will undoubtedly be some resistance to change by staff such as engrained habits and misunderstandings which will need to be addressed. One specific performance area the Head Chef will need to address is resistance from cooks who may not be confident working with these new ingredients. The Head Chef can build their confidence by providing instruction in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of the new food. The will also need to demonstrate new cooking techniques to the kitchen staff. In addition, the wait staff will need to be more attune to the emotional reactions of the core customers regarding the changes to what have been very popular dishes. Specifically, one customer or staff member’s affect could create an emotional contagion that undermines the effort (think social media, Yelp, etc.). It is therefore important for the Head Chef to instruct them on what display rules are appropriate when dealing with customer questions or complaints. The Head Chef will also need to maintain interpersonal relationships with the restaurants current vendors. This was just a brief example to give you an idea of what I am looking for in this assignment. You would then identify and describe what OB concept insights you may have from the Module 1 chapters for each of the S.M.A.R.T. criteria. There is no right or wrong! I am simply looking to see how well you integrate the OB concepts into the situation you present, and how you use the job analysis data to provide a rationale. As such, a big part of this assignment is for you to determine which concepts are relevant and then explain their influence. Other possible concept-criteria integrations from this example include: 1. Understanding the unique characteristics & cooking techniques of organic ingredients will be necessary to work with unprocessed and organic ingredients without changing the taste or quality of popular menu items. – Organizational culture will play a role here as the restaurant attempts to change its signature menu and ‘theme’ without undermining its core values and vision. This will be a team effort and success will depend on addressing culture concerns. 2. All chefs will need to learn new inventory control methods to source and hold the newer fresh ingredients (as opposed to ingredients that are often bulk-purchased and processed). – Emotional awareness and perception will also be necessary for chefs who will be challenged to work outside of their comfort zone, and who may experience harsh criticism from customers who have given them praise in the past. 3. A training program will need to be provided to kitchen staff on how to prepare the new menu items and to respond to customer questions. – Perception and attitude will be key concerns here as many of the staff may not have prior experience with the new menu items, and it is their job to work with and promote the new items to customers. Part C: Finally, you are to come up with a One Minute Goal statement for this job. Unlike the general strategic goal statement, the One Minute Goal statement is performance-focused. Specifically, it should be structured using key performance objectives that reflect all the S.M.A.R.T. criteria in a way that is both concise and easily remembered in order to guide a Head Chef in his or her daily decision making and management responsibilities. For the previous example, after consultation with each other, the General Manager and Head Chef would likely agree on a One Minute Goal that incorporates all of the S.M.A.R.T. criteria such as “The Head Chef will lead his or her staff to have in service at least 2 new organicsourced menu items per month for the next 4 months, while meeting customer expectations and maintaining a ‘superior’ level of customer satisfaction during that time.” Using O*NET To generate a job analysis report, please follow these steps: 1. Go to www.onetonline.org 2. Click on the “Find Occupations” tab (bottom left) 3. In the top-left text box (Keyword) simply type in a job title 4. From the list of jobs provided, pick the one that most closely represents your choice ** Each category has a drop-down list, so please make sure to click the + next to the category heading so that you get all of the information.
