Goal Concepts in Personality and Social Psychology

Question: Discuss about the Goal Concepts in Personality and Social Psychology. Answer: Introduction: Goals are set with the motivation to achieve something. Settings of goals are done in order to make the target of achievement clearer. However, ambiguous goals might result in loss to target that is to be achieved. On the basis of the information gathered, it has been observed that the company Prime Accounting has been facing the issue of ambiguous goals. In context to this, the goal setting theory could be implemented. Goal Setting Theory The goal setting theory is one of the most powerful ways of motivating employees and set goals for the employees to follow. This theory is one of the widely used motivational theories used in the business world to motivate the employees. The goal setting theory had five principles. These are as follows: Clarity: This refers to the setting of clear goals for the employees to follow. Clear goals are unambiguous and measurable. They are realistic and achievable. As the goals are set specifically and with clarity, chances of misunderstanding are mitigated (Locke Latham, 2013). The employees clearly know what they are working for and what they are working for. If the goals set are ambiguous, then misunderstandings and lack of clarity would delay the time frame by which the goal was supposed to be achieved. Challenges: One of the most essential elements of goal setting is the level of challenges that would be faced in order to achieve the goals. Defining the challenges clearly is essential while setting the goals (Pervin, 2015). Setting of SMART goals includes defining the challenges that could be faced for achieving the goals. Commitment: The goals that are set needs to be agreed upon and the employees and they need to be committed to work diligently towards the achievement of the set goals (Langton et al., 2013). Feedback: After selection and setting of the appropriate goals, it is important for the collection of feedback. The feedback from the employees as well as the higher authorities provides opportunities to clarify the expectations as well as determine the right path through which the goals could be achieved (Locke Latham, 2015). Task complexity: The last phase of the goal setting theory is the introduction of the task complexity. This is important, since the tasks with higher complexity have to be handed even more carefully. This is important to be determined in order to fulfil the goals that are set. Recommendations It is recommended for the Prime Accounting Company that Goal setting theory is used as a guideline to set the goals such that the employees might be able to achieve the goals successfully. Moreover, clarity of the goals while it is set is maintained such that the employees are not confused regarding the goals they need to achieve. The feedback from the employees needs to be collected and required adjustments have to be made. The task complexity has to be clearly defined. These recommendations implemented successfully would remove the issues of ambiguous goals. Thus, the issues could be successfully mitigated or curbed down. References Langton, N., Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A. (2013).Fundamentals of organizational behaviour. Pearson Education Canada. Locke, E. A., Latham, G. P. (2013).New developments in goal setting and task performance. Routledge. Locke, E., Latham, G. (2015). Breaking the rules: a historical overview of goal-setting theory.Advances in Motivation Science,2(15), 99-126. Pervin, L. A. (2015).Goal concepts in personality and social psychology. Psychology Press.