Set a Learning Goal When the Method Is Still Unfamiliar
When assigning a new sales approach or an unfamiliar responsibility, include what the person needs to learn. A goal to acquire knowledge or discover an effective method is a learning goal. A performance goal specifies an outcome such as revenue or contracts.
The management question is whether the employee knows how to produce the result. Seijts and Latham describe using learning goals to direct attention toward discovering methods when knowledge acquisition is essential. Consider both the effort required and the knowledge still missing. (Using learning and performance goals)
This article uses prospecting in a new industry to show how to define learning while continuing to track business results.
Performance goals define the level of results to achieve. Learning goals define what to discover about producing those results. Alongside a target of five new contracts, an employee could investigate barriers to adoption and use the findings to improve a proposal.
Even within sales, renewal reminders for existing customers and first proposals to a new industry require different knowledge. The latter may require discovering who approves purchases, when budgets are set, and what customers dislike about their current service.
Distinguish activity counts from learning. Reading ten documents or holding five interviews measures work performed. What the employee discovered and changed in the proposal describes the learning achieved.
Experiments Found an Advantage for Learning Goals on Complex Tasks
In Seijts and Latham’s 2001 experiment, 96 participants completed a scheduling task requiring knowledge acquisition. A specific, difficult learning goal outperformed a do-your-best instruction; a specific, difficult outcome goal performed worse than that instruction. (2001 scheduling experiment)
Seijts and colleagues’ 2004 experiment randomly assigned 170 final-year business students to three groups in a cellular-business simulation: achieve at least 21% market share, discover and implement at least six strategies to increase share, or do their best. The learning-goal group performed better; the other two groups did not differ significantly. (2004 business simulation)
Market share in that experiment measured simulated performance. It was separate from revenue growth in actual companies. These experiments support a limited conclusion about unfamiliar tasks, rather than a claim that performance goals harm every kind of work.
Rewrite a Prospecting Goal Around What Must Be Learned
Specify the question to investigate and the decision the findings will inform. The following is a practical proposal developed for this article. Its counts and time limits are illustrative, rather than research findings about optimal values.
Goal-design example with hypothetical figures
An employee has two weeks to investigate selling a service to a new industry and improve the proposal. Keep the quarterly contract target and specify the knowledge to acquire during those two weeks.
| Goal component | Example |
|---|
| Question to investigate | Why do prospects keep their current service? |
| Evidence to collect | Decision histories and reasons for declining adoption at five prospective customers |
| Learning deliverable | Three hypotheses about adoption barriers with evidence for each |
| Next decision | One proposed revision to sales materials addressing an evidenced barrier |
| Resource limit | Two weeks and ten hours of investigation |
Five companies provide information about those five companies. Record agreements, differences, and unanswered questions without presenting their most common response as the most common barrier across the market.
Suppose the initial hypothesis concerns high prices, but interviews reveal concern about the work involved in switching. A reasonable next step could be testing materials that explain implementation and the customer’s responsibilities before offering a discount. That decision requires a record distinguishing customer statements from the employee’s interpretation.
Track Learning Alongside Business Results
Evaluate learning by whether the evidence informs a decision. Counting documents read or hypotheses submitted leaves their substance untested. Evidence contradicting a hypothesis can also change the next action.
| Record | Decision it supports |
|---|
| Initial hypotheses and observed facts | Retain or revise each hypothesis |
| Changes to sales materials and their reasons | Check whether findings influenced the actual proposal |
| Proposals made and contracts signed | Track the business results of those proposals |
| Hours and costs incurred | Decide whether to continue the investigation |
More contracts after a trial could also reflect changes in customer size or timing. Keep separate records of knowledge gained, proposal revisions, and observed contracts rather than attributing the result solely to the learning goal.
Once a method is established, consider a subsequent target for contracts or completion time using that method. If the investigation reveals insufficient budget or authority, the manager needs to change resources or responsibilities as well as the wording of the goal.
Choose One Question to Learn About at the Next Check-In
When assigning unfamiliar work, discuss the desired result, the employee’s missing knowledge, and how to acquire it. A learning goal that specifies a question, deliverable, next decision, and limits on time and cost gives the review concrete substance.
When sales research leads to a revised service explanation, reflect confirmed prices and implementation steps on the website. Keep investigative hypotheses distinct from the service information published for customers.
SpreadSite is a no-code website builder that lets you create, publish, and update a website from Google Sheets using ready-made templates.
To turn sales findings into updated service explanations and implementation information on your website, give SpreadSite a try!
Build a website with SpreadSite →
