Why businesses must not shy away from feedback
The mere mention of the word ‘feedback’ can be enough to make even the most seasoned managers and employees break out in a cold sweat. For many, feedback is associated with criticism and judgement which can make it a nerve-wracking prospect both to give and to receive.
Managers often worry about hurting an employee’s feelings, with more than a third admitting to feeling uncomfortable about giving direct feedback to an employee if they thought they might take it badly. As a result, feedback is often relegated to the realms of the annual performance review but limiting important feedback to once or twice a year means it often becomes meaningless and prevents employees from being able to learn and develop quicker.
In contrast, regular feedback encourages individuals to grow and play to their strengths. Positive feedback and recognition help build confidence, while constructive feedback allows managers to clarify their expectations and make employees aware of things they may have overlooked or not considered.
Workplaces that actively encourage a culture of feedback, both top-down and peer-to-peer, reap the benefits of greater employee engagement, morale and improved performance. In fact, four out of 10 employees are actively disengaged when they get little or no feedback and nearly a third say that feedback is not frequent enough to help them understand how to improve.
THE DOS AND DON’TS OF FEEDBACK
The events of the past year have made maintaining office culture – and with it, feedback – more challenging. With whole teams now working remotely, the days of asking a question on the spot or grabbing an employee for a quick, informal chat have disappeared. As such, it’s become harder understanding what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’ and reading an employee’s emotions.
But now, more than ever, managers need to keep those lines of communication open with their employees and ensure that in an environment of uncertainty, they’re doing everything they can to keep their people feeling engaged, motivated and valued.
But here’s the deal: businesses need to make sure that their approach to feedback is the right one. There’s a fine line between helping someone improve and just pointing out mistakes and getting that balance right comes down to clear and consistent communication.
Feedback should be an open and honest two-way dialogue that has an employee’s strengths, needs and potential at its core. It’s about sharing useful information to either reinforce or help change an employee’s work or behaviour for the better. What it must never be is a chance to dictate to someone what they’ve done wrong, which will leave them feeling deflated and ultimately create an environment of hostility.
In order to achieve this, it’s important to ask lots of open-ended questions that encourage employees to talk about how they’ve approached their work, how they’re feeling and what more they would like from their manager and/or team. Simple, probing questions such as “Tell me about your project,” “How did you tackle this work?” and “What do you feel you’ve learned from this task?” will help managers to understand where greater support and guidance is needed.
We can all be guilty of not listening enough at times, but listening is a vital part of communication and paramount to creating a culture of openness and trust. When we talk, we only repeat something we already know – but when we listen, we have the chance to learn something new. Worryingly, less than half of UK employees feel that their employer listens to them and this has a detrimental impact not only on employee engagement but on a business’ bottom line. It’s no coincidence that in the lowest performing 20% of companies, a staggering 95% of employees don’t feel listened to.
Feedback should also be descriptive and specific. Making vague statements such as “good job” or “I think you could have done better” isn’t enough to target individual strengths and weaknesses and leaves feedback open to interpretation. According to Gallup, only 2 in 10 employees agree that their performance is managed in a way that motivated them to do outstanding work.
If a team member hasn’t performed to the best of their ability, it needs to be phrased so they understand what’s gone wrong and will leave the conversation with actionable insights around how to change behaviour or approach their work going forward. It’s also important to understand that mistakes may not rest solely on one person’s shoulders – they may have misunderstood what was being asked of them or received the wrong input from others.
It’s equally vital that businesses also champion positive feedback. Leaders can often lose sight of the fact that effective feedback is just as much about reinforcing and promoting great behaviour.
Positive feedback helps individuals to recognise what they do well and how they contribute to the success of a business, which makes them feel a valued part of the team. All of this has a positive impact on personal development and motivation, with employees who don’t feel adequately recognised twice as likely to say they’ll quit in the next year.
MAKE FEEDBACK PART OF THE EVERYDAY
Importantly, feedback should be a continuous process. In a busy workplace, it’s easy to overlook the value of feedback and let it slide to the bottom of the priority list, particularly with the challenges that many businesses are currently facing. However, regular feedback is critical to the health and long-term success of a business. Without regular-check ins and flowing two-way communication, it can be easy for employees to slip back into old habits and lose sight of what they’re working towards.
On the contrary, if employees are continually encouraged and supported to share how they feel about their work and comfortable asking for feedback, they will be much more in tune with their strengths, capabilities and personal goals.
Ultimately, people need to feel inspired and find meaning and purpose in their work. When workplaces recognise and support this, they are rewarded with more engaged and productive employees.
“Workplaces that actively encourage a culture of feedback, both top-down and peer-to-peer, reap the benefits of greater employee engagement, morale and improved performance.”