Many people treat the annual goal-setting exercise as a box to tick. Some question whether it does anything at all. It is a fair question, and the honest answer is: goal setting works very well when it is done properly, and wastes everyone's time when it is not.
What the evidence says
Goal setting is one of the most researched ideas in workplace psychology. The consistent finding is that specific, challenging goals lead to better performance than vague instructions like "do your best". The effect holds across roles, industries and countries.
Did you know? A 1981 review by Locke, Shaw, Saari and Latham found that in about 90% of the studies they examined, specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy goals or "do your best" instructions.
The catch is in the words specific and challenging. Most goals that feel pointless are neither. They are vague, easy to game or copied from last year.
When goal setting is not worth it
Goal setting fails in predictable ways:
- Goals nobody looks at again. Written in January, discovered in December.
- Goals that are really tasks. "Complete weekly reports" is your job, not a goal.
- Goals imposed with no context. If you do not know why a target exists, you will not care about it.
- Too many goals. Ten priorities is the same as none.
If your workplace does all of these, your scepticism is justified. The fix is not to stop setting goals but to set fewer, better ones. Read why work goals feel pointless for how to turn that around.
What happens if you do not set goals at all?
Skipping goals rarely means freedom. More often it means:
- Your work becomes invisible. Without agreed goals, reviews default to whatever your manager remembers.
- Priorities get set for you. The loudest request wins, not the most valuable one.
- Progress is hard to prove. Promotion and pay conversations need evidence.
- You drift. Months pass doing reactive work without building skills or results.
In short, if you do not set goals, someone else's goals set your agenda.
How to make it worth your time
Treat goal setting as a planning tool for yourself first and a form for HR second. Pick two or three outcomes that would genuinely improve your work or career, write them clearly (see how to write work goals that make sense), and review them monthly rather than yearly.
The bottom line
Goal setting is worth it when goals are few, specific and reviewed. It is a waste of time when it is a once-a-year form. The difference is almost entirely in how it is done, which is exactly what our Business Planning and Goal Setting course teaches.