Praise sales personnel for talent or effort? Person versus process-focused feedback, goal orientation and performance

Purpose The purpose of this study is twofold: to analyze sales managers’ person-focused and process-focused supervisory feedback as a potential goal-orientation antecedent, and to examine the relationship between different types of sales personnel goal orientations and two aspects of job performance: behavior-based and outcome-based. Based on previous sales motivation research, the authors look at the antecedents and outcomes of sales representatives’ goal orientation. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey design was used with a sample consisting of 326 pairs of sales reps and their supervisors. Average sales position tenure was 5.30 years. Findings Sales representatives’ performance-prove goal orientation (PPGO) can be triggered by positive person-focused feedback from their managers, and performance-avoid goal orientation (PAGO) can be triggered by negative person-focused feedback. A learning goal orientation (LGO) can be triggered by positive process-focused feedback. The authors also found that when job performance is broken down into outcome-based and behavior-based components, the process by which goal orientation influences performance is more easily determined. PPGO sales reps in the sample clearly focused more on outcome-based performance, while PAGO sales reps focused on behavior-based performance. LGO was only associated with behavior-based performance among the respondents, meaning that it cannot be used as a predictor of outcome-based performance. Research limitations/implications First, a cross-sectional design may not be the best method for judging variable directions of causality. A longitudinal method is recommended for more detailed research. Second, the variance the authors noted in the three goal orientations may be due to impression management. Previous researchers have not addressed response bias regarding goal orientation; future researchers may want to add social desire response items to control for response bias from impression management. Practical implications The findings can help sales managers understand how their feedback styles can result in different types of goal orientation and different effort allocation in their sales staff. Managers interested in developing PPGO sales reps should offer more whole-person praise. Since negative person-focused feedback can trigger more conservative behaviors, they should use other approaches to criticizing their employees. If their goal is to promote individual learning in sales personnel, they will want to give process-focused feedback, either positive or negative. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on the external influences of goal orientation, especially the effects of social (rather than institutional) factors in manager feedback on goal orientations among their sales staffs. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to study relationships between three types of goal orientations and various performance dimensions. The data clarify the links between two types of performance (outcome- and behavior-based) and three types of goal orientations (PPGO, PAGO and LGO).