Abstract
Goal setting is a key to achieving success in any endeavor. It is very complex to know where one is going if one does not know where to go. Everyone needs goals to be enthused, grow or increase performance especially with strong goals. Setting goals for example helps employees know where they need to go and how they should go about getting there. It also helps employees manage themselves. Employees should set goals that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Goals represent expectations and if employees have higher expectations then employees will have improved performance as long as employees achieve their goals. Most of the time, what employees need is motivation, meaning, and purpose in their jobs and if employees set worthwhile goals, they will find life but work more specifically more fulfilling and exciting. Once there is an aim, there is purpose and fulfilling that purpose increases performance as there is realization of achieving success.
REWARD VS. RECOGNITION
While businesses are looking to get more from their employees, employees are also looking to get more from them. Through employee reward and recognition programs, employers can motivate employees to change work habits and key behaviors to increase the business’ profit. Employee reward system refers to programs set up by companies to reward performance and motivate employees on group or individual levels. They tend to be separate from employee salary but are some form of monetary rewards. Previously reward systems were considered the domain of large companies and businesses, but now even small businesses are offering them to lure top employees in a competitive job market or to simply increase employee job performance.
Although often combined with employee recognition programs, reward programs have a slightly different purpose. Recognition programs do not tend to be monetary in nature even if they cost the company. Recognition according to Sue Glasscock and Kimberly Gram in Productivity Today elicits a psychological benefit whereas reward elicits a financial benefit. The difference is important as many small businesses and companies can use recognition programs to motivate employees while keeping costs low.
MERIT VS. PERFORMANCE REWARDS
Financial rewards given on regular bases include bonuses, gain-sharing, and so on and are tied to an employee’s accomplishments and are distanced from salary. The reward does not emphasize competency but rather excellence or achievement. They are separate from merit pay increases because they are usually an increase due to inflation with some additional percentages for competent employees.
Reward and recognition has to be promoted for small and large achievements. An effective reward’s program keeps employees engaged, dedicated, and committed to the organization.
The theory of goal setting was developed by Edward Locke and Gary Latham (1990) and states that there is a direct relationship between the setting of specific high goals and task performance. A higher degree of employee performance is obtained when specific goals are set compared to the performance achieved when employees are simply told to do their best (Latham & Locke, 2007). These findings have helped shape leadership styles and improve employee performance and job satisfaction (Posthuma & Al-Riyami, 2012).
"A simple thing such as giving a employee a little reward for outstanding performance for a month or a year could help motivate other employees to want to do better so that they could have the chance to be recognized for their outstanding work.
Reward strategy can be defined as a financial or non-financial reward an organization gives as a token of Favor for their labor accommodation offered to the organization. The components of a financial reward consist of simple pay, performance pay and employee benefits thus comprising of total compensation. Non-financial rewards include, holiday trips, large office, promotion, support, achievement responsibility and personal progression etc.
The basic premises of the goal-setting theory is the relationship between how difficult and specific a goal is and people’s performance. We live in a goal-oriented society as people usually adhere to specific targets with a plan of action for guidance. Lack of accomplishment of goals leads to job dissatisfaction. Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory from 1968 has been a powerful way of motivating people and is often utilized in whole organizations to increase focus and productivity. The more specific and difficult goals are designed the more likely staff can achieve these goals as opposed to being too vague or easy goals. An organization should consider the five following principles of goal setting: clarity, goal difficulty, goal acceptance, goal specificity and feedback. Organizations that set clear and challenging goals and are open to honest feedback have a greater chance of achieving goals. According to Locke and Latham (2002), goal setting can be useful in predicting job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is an important attribute for employee productivity and commitment to the
Winn could nothing or implement a rewards program that rewards the employee with more than cash rewards; employee recognition program namely employee of the month with a paid day off or a gift card. As part of the employee focused plan, the company should allow employees’ input on how to become more customer focused, efficient, and effective organization. This would greatly improve employees’ satisfaction and help the company achieve its overall goal of providing quality customer service.
Reward Management (RM) has been defined as the distribution of monetary and non-monetary rewards to employees in an effort to align the interests of the employees, the organisation, and its shareholders (O’Neil, 1998). In addition O’Neil (1998) also suggests that a RM system can serve the purpose of attracting prospective job applicants, retaining valuable employees, motivating employees, ensuring legal requirements relating to direct and indirect rewards are not violated, assisting the company in achieving human resource and business objectives, and ultimately assisting the organisation in obtaining a competitive advantage.
Effective reward management, as a system, is the most powerful tool available to reinforce organizational values and translate them into employee actions (read behavior). Here, the ‘organization’ does not only refer to a business structure, but any institution (or activity) that involves people working together, and requires their voluntary contributions in order to operate successfully. Whether it is a school, a hospital, an NGO, a government agency, a political party, or a religious foundation, all require a matrix through which the performance of its individual members can be measured, and rewarded. Although, each organization may have its own manner, and means, of achieving this objective; their practices may differ but the general principles largely remain the same.
Setting goals is the most important thing you can do in your life. Without goal's you are going to have no direction, no ambition to be successful, no drive to stay in school, and trouble finding a career that will provide for you. Without these three things, achieving your goals is going to be one of the toughest tasks in the years to come.
Being rewarded and recognised for their work or contribution is what keeps an employee motivated to work towards achieving the organisational as well as personal goals. When the employees is motivated by rewards, they will have job satisfaction consequently increasing the productivity of the organisation. It necessitates the need of managers to pay more attention in understanding their employees and come up with suitable types of reward systems for the organisation so that the employees are intrinsically and extrinsically motivated all the time. The hypotheses that I put forward here is to support this statement that effective reward management is critical to organisational performance as it helps in enhancing operational efficacy and in turn production output.
When creating a rewards system one needs to consider why they are rewarding the employee, do you reward employees for the daily aspects of the job, or the work that the employees have completed beyond the daily aspects? A good reward system will also encourage the employees to do more for the company, and show them that they are not forgotten when the company benefits. It is not always necessary for a company to use monetary compensation, but in some instances, a form of monetary compensation is preferred. If a company wants to compensate monetarily it can use bonuses, stock sharing, and salary increases but most companies prefer to use non-monetary rewards such as paid days off, extra vacation time, personal days, and benefits such as gym memberships. Organizations such as non-profit or human service agencies have to find ways to reward the employees without added expense, since the money donated to the organization is limited, a...
Rewards and incentives can be monetary or simply acknowledged. Employers could give an extra hourly wage if employees arrive at their scheduled work time. Gift cards or prizes are also good incentives. Leaders may want to have breakfast or lunches for employees who have managed to change their behavior. Even just acknowledging that they have changed their vital behavior is worth any amount of money.
According to the person saying this phrase, a reward system is the world’s greatest management principal. If the organization rewards a certain kind of employee behaviour, good or bad, that is what the company will get more of. Every existing company has some form of reward system, whether it is outspoken or not, it exists. People correspond positively to praise, and praise in the right moment creates loyalty and affinity. Rewards come in two different types it can either be in form of incentive motivation or personal growth motivation. The former is the kind that comes from within the individual, a feeling, being proud over something, feeling content and happy by something that you have done. The current system is developed by Ford and has been used in Comapny since the takeover. The compensation program includes both fixed and incentive elements. The fixed part is given as a base salary. Furthermore the incentive program is divided into two parts, the first one is called; Annual Incentive Compensation Plan, aimed to reward the short-term performance and achievement of annual goals that are set a year in advance and the second is the Long-Term Incentive Program
There can be no success without goals or targets. This is because success is relative to a set target and whether we have achieved it, or at least making steady progress towards attaining it. For you to succeed, set a goal, a measurable target that represents what you envision: that is what you want or where you see yourself in future. A goal should be measurable so as to enable you to monitor your progress and help you know whether you are on track or you have gone off.
A person needs to achieve certain goals in one's life before you can call them successful. Success is to achieve goals, you have set. I have set certain goals I would like to achieve in my lifetime. Some of these goals are personal while others are professional. My professional goals in life are to find a good job that makes me happy, get a good education, find a job that makes enough money for me to support my family, and help people. Goals it is very important for me to receive a good education. Most job fields require a descent education. If I don't have an education I would not be able to function properly at the work place and I would not understand what to do. To maintain a good job that will make good money will require me to go thorough schooling or training and maybe even both. Education is the first and foremost way to become successful, because the job I will choose will need me go to school and maybe even beyond college. My happiness in what I do is also a goal for me I my life. There is no way someone can become successful if they are not happy with what they are doing. ...