Combining performance, learning, and behavioral goals to match job with person: Three steps to enhance employee performance with goal setting

While there have been many articles written on the advantages and techniques of goal setting, there has been far less written to guide practicing managers on how to put this powerful motivational tool to work. This article offers a three-step process that begins by identifying the combination of performance, learning, and behavioral goals to best match the unique knowledge, skills, and abilities of the employee to the task requirements of the job. Once this best-goal combination has been determined, the manager's letter, a managerial tool developed by Peter Drucker, is presented as a well-accepted process for implementing a goal-setting strategy that emphasizes employee participation. The third step in the implementation of a goal-setting strategy is to introduce subconscious primes that can reinforce the value of setting performance, learning, and behavioral goals.