If employees are told the goals but performance standards are not shared, which function will face difficulty later?

Correct answer: Controlling

Controlling requires a clear benchmark against which actual performance can be measured. Goals express what the organisation wants to achieve, but operational standards make expectations specific by indicating quantity, quality, time, cost or other measurable criteria. If employees know only a broad goal and not the standards, the manager will struggle to decide whether performance is satisfactory, to calculate the size of a deviation and to select appropriate corrective action. Thus option A, controlling, is correct. Staffing concerns people acquisition and development, organising concerns structure and authority, and financing concerns funds, so these alternatives do not address the missing performance benchmark.