Abstract
Improving workers’ motivation and performance is crucial for contemporary organizations. Both goal-setting and empowerment approaches have been reported to positively influence team collaboration, interpersonal communication, and leadership effects, thus establishing a productive atmosphere (Shoaib & Kohli, 2017). As such, Locke and Latham’s goal-setting theory suggests executives should follow a set of requirements creating corporate targets, such as respecting the workers’ perspectives and adjusting the aims according to the team’s abilities (Latham & Locke, 2018). Empowerment, on the other hand, is connected to the concepts of delegation and development and can also positively affect performance. While these frameworks have been abundantly researched separately, the impact of the goal-setting practices on employees’ empowerment levels has not yet been thoroughly studied. The current research reveals that goal-setting and goal clarity positively influence the workforce’s empowerment levels, with empowerment mediating goal-setting and performance.
Introduction
Organizational leadership is a vital field of academic research in the current age. With numerous companies expanding and attracting numerous employees, effective leadership strategies become of tremendous significance to ensure the maintenance of productivity among the employees. As such, sustaining a high level of motivation and interest in professional activities is a valuable concern for organizational behavior (Kim et al., 2018). Locke and Latham’s goal-setting theory, one of the prominent approaches to creating organizational goals, suggests that enhancing professional performance and workforce motivation hinges on identifying relevant objectives (Locke & Latham, 2018). However, the concept of empowerment also appears to occupy a crucial role in the workers’ productivity, enabling them to make decisions efficiently under the given circumstances. Although empowerment has a distinct motivational factor and hinges on establishing appropriate goals, its link to the goal-setting theory has not yet been properly studied. Thus, the present research focuses on Locke and Latham’s goal-setting theory and empowerment, proposing a connection between these organizational leadership concepts and supporting it with the review of current literature.
Topic Importance
Identifying the strategies for efficiently enhancing the employees’ motivation and performance levels has always been a crucial concern for companies and organizational behavior researchers. While it has already been established that clear goals, proper delegation, and developmental initiatives can positively affect the workers’ productivity and desire to participate in professional activities, some aspects of goal setting and empowerment are still to be studied (Jong & Faerman, 2020). It is crucial to understand how goal-setting influences not only motivation but also decision making and whether employees who are presented with specific targets are more likely to make competent and well-informed decisions (Kim & Beehr, 2018). After that, the motivational components of empowerment must also be appropriately evaluated to reveal how these aspects might be impacted by goal-setting approaches (Nazarian, 2018). Considering that both goal setting and empowerment methods incorporate various psychological variables and organizational constructs, a comprehensive assessment could tremendously improve the understanding of these ideas, covering effective approaches two employee motivation and performance.
Research statement
The present research aims to investigate the connection between goal-setting theory and empowerment, conducting a literature review on the topics. This study is based on the theoretical foundations of the two constructs, which are utilized to propose possible associations and formulate relevant research questions. The main goal of the study is to establish whether the basic elements of the goal-setting theory, namely clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback, and task complexity, contribute to the improvement of the psychological components of employee empowerment. The following research questions are formulated:
- Which elements of the goal-setting theory might enhance the workers’ empowerment levels in the organizational environment?
- Which of the two psychological aspects of empowerment are more likely to be positively influenced by implementing the goal-setting theory strategies?
- What is the current scholarly position on using the goal-setting theory approach for facilitating empowerment in the workplace?
Theoretical foundations
Locke and Latham’s Goal-Setting Theory
Goal Clarity
Clarity is the first principle outlined by Locke and Latham to uphold the necessary level of performance and motivation in the workplace. This framework suggests that leaders must develop appropriate goals for the employees, ensuring that the devised objectives incorporate the aspects of the working environment, workers’ abilities, and external circumstances that could impact goal attainment (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). As such, executives are expected to create clear and justifiable targets, which are understood by the assigned workers and can be easily measured. Such leaders are typically perceived as more influential and professional, resulting in a higher level of compliance from the workers (Locke & Latham, 2018). Therefore, adjusting the corporate targets to be more comprehensive and straightforward is necessary for the workplace.
Challenge Creation
The next element of Locke and Latham’s theory is challenged, which outlines that the established aims should create a moderate challenge for the workers. While clear goals ensure a proper understanding of the expected results, challenging objectives enhance the interest in participating in the given activity. Locke and Latham argue that productivity and motivation levels are usually increased in an environment where the workforce’s objectives are aligned with the individuals’ potential (Locke & Latham, 2018). As such, executives who propose more challenging and personalized targets tend to exert a higher degree of influence over the employees, contributing to elevated levels of motivation and productivity in the workplace.
Although creating distinct goals and connecting them to personal targets and organizational visions can be challenging, in the long term, this practice can tremendously enhance the workers’ motivation and outputs. For instance, studies report that after utilizing the goal-setting approach, according to Locke and Latham, employees report greater levels of commitment, effort, and overall performance (Landers et al., 2017; Shoaib & Kohli, 2017). In addition, such activities are highly beneficial for increasing the leaders’ authority and followers’ confidence. Therefore, implementing the discussed motivational theory by aligning the teammates’ goals with corporate objectives appears advantageous for creating a productive workplace.
Commitment Enhancement
Securing commitment is imperative for forming an atmosphere with high interpersonal interaction and strong coworker relationships. Locke and Latham’s theory proposed that commitment is highly dependent on the individuals’ acceptance of the assigned goals and the aims’ connection to personal and professional interests (Latham & Locke, 2018). Employees whose individual aims are recognized when creating new objectives will be more likely to participate in team activities, complete their assignments, and be engaged in the working process (Latham & Locke, 2018). In contrast, workers whose personal aims are unaccounted for have worse interpersonal relationships, lower motivation, and decreased performance (van der Hoek et al., 2018). Thus, the framework suggests that team and individual targets should correspond with each other to improve goal commitment and personal efficiency.
Feedback Delivery
Feedback is another critical aspect of the discussed theory, and it is considered advantageous for the process of goal-setting. Specifically, Locke and Latham argued that feedback on employee performance must be constructive and consistent, outlining the major benefits and limitations of the individual’s performance in the given period (Locke & Latham, 2019). Offering relevant appraisals allows the workers to feel cherished and valuable for the organization, as well as provides them with an opportunity to improve their outputs in the future. Furthermore, consistent performance examinations are beneficial for assessing the chosen targets and their compatibility with the employees’ skills (Dias & Borges, 2017). Through feedback, the employees understand their productivity levels and learn how to improve them.
Task Complexity
The final aspect of Locke and Latham’s theory is task complexity. According to this element, each assignment should be devised according to the workers’ capabilities and perceptions of the task (Baruah & Gogoi, 2021). If the objectives are too simple, the employees typically manifest a lack of interest and motivation; however, high levels of pressure and stress may occur if the goals are too sophisticated. In the long term, the absence of alignment between the targets and professional capacities might lead to loss of engagement or anxiety, resulting in lower levels of achievement and performance (Baruah & Gogoi, 2021). Thus, Locke and Latham’s theory encourages carefully assessing and adjusting the established aims according to the employees’ skills and perceived complexity of the assignment.
The Empowerment Approach
The empowerment framework has been the subject of scholarly debate for several decades, creating confusion between academics and practitioners. The lack of a clear definition for this concept and unresearched implementation techniques have led to unsuccessful strategies utilized in the organizational environment (Hughes et al., 2021). Nevertheless, employee empowerment has been thoroughly clarified and studied in the current age. As such, empowerment is divided into delegation and development, two crucial aspects of empowering the workforce to make informed and professional decisions (Hughes et al., 2021). However, the two psychological factors of empowerment must also be assessed to grasp the nature of this concept fully.
Delegation and Development
Transferring responsibility from the superior officer to the subordinate is vital for creating an atmosphere that promotes empowerment. As such, each worker must possess the capability to make a relevant decision in a specific environment (Monje Amor et al., 2021). Given that many subordinate workers are more closely involved in the organizational processes and are thus more likely to be well-informed about the ongoing issues, their capability to resolve a particular problem should not be undermined (Monje Amor et al., 2021). Thus, each superior officer should properly delegate both leadership and responsibility roles, ensuring that their subordinates can solve an emerging problem if needed.
The second component of empowerment, development, is also imperative for facilitating effective decision-making. To ensure that the employees are empowered to complete their assignments and propose solutions, the executives must provide them with the relevant resources that can help the workers enhance their skills (Panda et al., 2022). The lack of professional competencies often leads to poor decision-making and loss of engagement, which, in turn, negatively affects the workers’ empowerment levels.
Psychological Components
In addition, two psychological components to empowerment have been identified. The macro-level component is divided into motivation, learning, and stress, which can tremendously enhance the employees’ performance if correctly implemented (Hughes et al., 2021). On the other hand, the micro-factors are self-determination, meaning, competence, and influence, which allow establishing whether the necessary empowerment levels have been achieved (Hughes et al., 2021). Overall, each of the discussed psychological aspects plays a crucial role in employee empowerment.
Previous Research and Literature Gap
The productivity of an organizational team and individual workers is closely connected to the motivation to complete the professional assignment. The goal-setting framework has demonstrated that employees with specific, attainable goals manifest higher productivity and job engagement (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). After that, the concept of empowerment is also closely linked to employees’ motivation in the workplace and provides a unique approach to creating personal goals and improvement of decision making.
Empowerment incorporates several psychological components, which must be properly assessed before implementing this technique. Properly applying the empowerment elements can enhance the employees’ motivation and decision-making skills, leading to higher personal and team outputs (Panda et al., 2022). It is also suggested that empowerment strategies hinge on the identification of clear, attainable goals, as well as the employees’ competencies (Hughes et al., 2021). These concepts are also utilized by the goal-setting theory, which emphasizes the targets’ clarity and relevance for the workers. From this perspective, it might be proposed that the techniques of goal setting theory might be advantageous for empowering the workforce, contributing not only to enhanced motivation and performance but also to better decision making. However, the specific connections between the identified organizational internship notions are yet to be established, meaning that there is a prominent research gap to be addressed.
Proposed relationships
Given the described theoretical foundations and the aspects of the analyzed frameworks, it is possible to propose specific relationships between the named variables. First of all, it is expected that the main element of the goal-setting theory, goal clarity, will positively affect the overall empowerment among the employees, increasing the empowerment levels demonstrated. Secondly, the theoretical evidence suggests that the goal-setting theory approach can enhance the workers perceived empowerment due to their close connection to the empowerment principles of delegation and development (Hughes et al., 2021). Another expected outcome is that individuals who were influenced by the goal-setting theory and have achieved empowerment will manifest better decision-making skills (Harwiki, 2016). Finally, this study proposes that the current academic stance on the use of the goal-setting theory to enhance empowerment will be positive.
Literature Review and Analysis of the Propositions
A literature review on the discussed topics was conducted to support or discard the creative propositions. Eight studies were reviewed, with the majority of the research utilizing quantitative measures to collect the necessary data. All of the chosen articles were published incredible academic journals focused on the investigation of organizational behavior, peer-reviewed, and published no later than five years ago to ensure the recency of the information.
The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment
Firstly, several studies report that goal clarity is significant in promoting empowerment. Jong and Faerman (2020) report that goal clarity plays a mediating role between transformational and transactional leadership and the employees’ psychological empowerment levels. The findings suggest that goal specificity is the mediating variable, which can be achieved through goal setting approaches; its relationship with empowerment is examined in transactional and transformational leadership settings. Another study by Razak et al. (2016) supports this finding, stating that using the Balanced Scorecard method, which is based on the goal-setting theory, can considerably enhance the workers’ performance through empowerment. In this research, empowerment is suggested to be a mediating variable used to influence employee productivity indirectly.
Similar conclusions are presented by Panda et al. (2022) and Kristiansen (2017), who claim that the goal-setting theory approaches can be utilized to enhance job performance through psychological empowerment. Individuals whose goals were clearly stated and corresponded to the workers’ skills were more likely to demonstrate higher productivity levels (Kristiansen, 2017). Psychological empowerment also played a mediating role in this research, altering the relationship between organizational culture and performance (Panda et al., 2022). Monje Amor et al. (2021) report identical findings, connecting goal-setting practices with higher empowerment and job performance. Overall, it is clear that the goal-setting theory approaches can indeed enhance the employees’ productivity, with psychological empowerment being a mediating variable between these concepts.
After that, the influence of delegation and development components of the empowerment approach has also been researched by several studies. Harwiki (2016) explains that traditional cooperative management, which hinges on the principles of delegation and goal-setting, can positively influence the employees’ empowerment levels. According to this study, employees’ participation in the goal-setting process, clearly outlined as a contributing factor in the goal-setting theory, can substantially increase the workers’ perceived psychological empowerment.
In addition, delegation is a crucial factor in this process, which contributes to the level of reported empowerment. Similar to the discussed research, Nazarian (2018) proposes that delegation is a crucial instrument in promoting the workforce’s empowerment, arguing that goal-setting theory includes the primary components of delegation into its framework. Given that goal-setting promotes delegation, it allows executives to establish an empowering environment more easily, which, in turn, improves the employees’ empowerment levels. Development, however, is suggested to only moderately enhance empowerment and decision-making (Kim & Beehr, 2018). Thus, the delegation component of the empowerment framework is most positively affected by the goal-setting approach, contributing to the increase of the workers’ performance.
Finally, a significant finding of previous research is the connection between the goal-setting theory and employee decision-making skills facilitated by empowerment. Several studies suggest that implementing the principles of the goal-setting framework allows improving the employees’ decision-making skills (Harwiki, 2016; Kim & Beehr, 2018; Nazarian, 2018). Increased delegation and autonomy contribute to higher empowerment levels, which, acting as a mediating variable, enhance the workers’ decision-making capacities. Thus, goal-setting not only strengthens the workforce’s commitment but also leads to better empowerment, ultimately resulting in increased performance and professional decision-making.
Discussion and Research Implications
As demonstrated by the present study, there is a strong connection between implementing the goal-setting theory in the organizational environment and improving employee empowerment levels. By following the principles of goal-setting and creating an objective-driven workplace, the executives can promote the workers’ likelihood to achieve psychological empowerment, which subsequently leads to better performance (Kim & Beehr, 2018). The recent research demonstrates that goal-setting practices are highly beneficial for creating a working environment that embraces delegation and development, the two main components of empowerment. However, it has also been noted that delegation is more positively impacted by the goal-setting techniques, meaning that additional activities should support the developmental aspect.
Future research should focus on the distinct components of goal-setting and their relation to the psychological elements of empowerment. Up to date, the scholarly articles primarily focus on the connection of these constructs to various performance and motivation levels, as well as their relation to the implemented leadership practices (Jong & Faerman, 2020). In addition, only one factor of the goal-setting theory, goal clarity, has been studied in association with employee empowerment. Thus, new research should consider investigating the main psychological variables of empowerment on the macro-and micro-levels, exploring how their facilitation might be conducted using the goal-setting approach.
Christian Worldview
From a Christian perspective, the set goals should address practical issues, helping to change the world to a better place. In specific scenarios, goal-setting is implemented in connection to surface-level problems, while the more broad organizational difficulties remain unaccounted for; such trends often negatively impact the employees and the firm’s outputs (MelĂ© & Fontrodona, 2017). Thus, when conducted from a Cristian worldview, the goal-setting procedure should be thoroughly assessed and planned according to the principles of Christianity, which exceptionally values guidance, leadership, and spirituality.
Faith and humanity can influence numerous decisions made by executives. If a Christian worldview were to be applied to the present study’s findings, it would become evident that aims establishment connected to personal objectives is more beneficial for empowering the workers. In this regard, the executives should discern whether some individual’s targets should incorporate spiritual development or growth as a Christian (MelĂ© & Fontrodona, 2017). Thus, for some employees, spiritual guidance might be a necessity to achieve empowerment. In addition, the Bible’s perspective on employee empowerment suggests further implementation of the Christian worldview. If goal-setting practices were applied in the organizational environment, they could lead to empowerment by recognizing the coworkers’ virtues and promoting strong interpersonal relationships.
Another essential factor is how the executives could empower their workers to achieve their God-given potential and serve God. The Christian worldview suggests that individuals should behave according to the Bible’s recommendations and practice the act of faith in every aspect of life in every environment. As such, ethical and spiritual aspects of goal-setting should be applied to the findings of this research, highlighting the significance of improving others’ welfare and supporting them in the workplace (MelĂ© & Fontrodona, 2017). For instance, the executives should follow the Christian guidelines while creating targets, ensuring the objectives’ beneficial nature and positive impact. Overall, Christian faith and reason contribute to the emergence of ethical criteria and virtues in the organizational environment.
Conclusion
To conclude, the connection between Locke and Latham’s goal-setting theory and employee empowerment was discussed in detail, revealing that goal-setting practices can significantly contribute to the employees’ levels of empowerment. According to the goal-setting approach, clear and challenging objectives should be established to maintain motivation and professional interest. From the empowerment framework’s perspective, delegation and development should be incorporated to promote two psychological components of empowerment: the macro-and micro-level variables. Although the goal-setting strategy’s primary aim is to ensure that targets created by the leaders are aligned with individual and team interests, this tactic has been shown to improve the workers’ empowerment levels. In this regard, goal-setting mainly relies on the delegation principle, while the development aspect is less impacted by this method. Future studies should explore the components of goal-setting and empowerment more closely, distinguishing which aspects of goal-setting are more likely to contribute to higher empowerment levels. In addition, it is crucial to establish which of the two psychological factors of empowerment are most affected by the goal-setting techniques.
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