y practices in the workplace. It is imperative that employees receive equal treatment on the job. Though discrimination today is subtle, it continues to be problematic. If we continue to act preferentially, employee motivation will be adversely affected, and eventually performance will cease. By participating in such practices, we are steadily building the foundation for disaster. Goal-Setting Theory The final cognitive theory mentioned in this paper is the goal setting theory. While I don't doubt the value of equity theories and expectancy, goal setting theory is a motivation theory that works and is easy to apply. The basic suggestion in this theory is that people are motivated by specific, challenging goals. Goals tell us what is important (i.e., directs our attention). are a source of motivation. act as a benchmark of performance. Research has concluded that challenging goals lead to higher performance. specific goals are better than general goals (that is, it is not enough to tell a person to "do your best"). feedback improves the effect of goals on performance. This theory is similar to expectancy theory idea of expectancies. Goal setting research has found that a goal that is perceived to be difficult, but attainable (i.e., high expectancy), will be a source of motivation, but a goal that is perceived to be impossible (i.e., low expectancy) will lead to low motivation. On this point the two theories agree. A major benefit of this method is that it allows a supervisor to take a "hands-off" approach to motivating and managing a subordinate. By giving a person a challenging goal to accomplish a task, the supervisor does not need to worry about motivating the person minute-by-minute or telling them how to accomplish every step of the task. Research has found that people who are given specific, challenging goals will often develop their own strategy for accomplishing the goal and will maintain motivation in pursuit of the goal. They d...
