Whether perceived as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, feedback is a vital part of employee management. Feedback helps employees stay on track to reach their goals and KPIs and is vital for ongoing personal development. However, giving productive and helpful feedback is not always easy. After all, it's a skill, and like all skills, it takes practice to get it right.
To help, we have put together five best practices for giving workplace feedback that will help you to get the best out of your employees.
1) Be Constructive
Feedback isn’t always going to be positive, but it should always be constructive. Offering practical and specific solutions for improvement is key, as well as not making feedback feel like a personal attack. There is distinct difference between addressing someone’s actions or behaviour and making assumptions or giving your opinion on what you think that says about their inherent personality. Offering feedback constructively also involves clarifying expectations, so your employees can see how they have achieved a positive result or how they can address a gap between expectations and reality when they haven’t reached certain goals or behaved as they should have.
Constructive feedback helps people to learn from their mistakes and become more skilled and resilient individuals.
2) Don’t Shy Away From Giving Difficult Feedback
Feedback that is perceived as critical can be hard to hear, so it may feel like giving difficult feedback is a choice between addressing an issue or maintaining good relationships, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Honest feedback is crucial to providing an accurate assessment of performance, which sometimes requires having tough conversations.
Managed well and given the proper care, this kind of feedback can be an excellent driver for learning and growth and doesn’t have to go hand-in-hand with negative consequences. To achieve this, it’s important to keep your emotions in check, especially when addressing more serious issues, as well as making sure that conversations are held in a private space, and that you are going into the conversation with the right motives – it’s very difficult to accept feedback from someone who you do not trust has your best interests at heart or is not invested in understanding your thoughts and feelings. Acknowledging positive efforts or good intentions even when addressing unsuccessful outcomes is also good practice.
Showing your employees that you are willing to be transparent and open with them, regardless of the subject matter, shows great leadership, a quality that will not be lost on your people.
3) Be Clear
Clarity is essential for productive feedback. Don't use a ‘one size fits all’ or blanket approach, where you’re not taking into consideration individual circumstances or you're trying to address a string of incidents simultaneously – it’s best to target individual areas for improvement and always stick to the facts. Give as much information as possible, linking performance outcomes to documented goals or role-related standards. The best way for employees to improve their performance is to be clear on where they are going wrong. Being clear applies to positive feedback too, instead of just saying "great job" or "nice work," give a meaningful compliment that shows that you really took the time to observe the persons work and that you truly appreciate their contribution.
4) Be Consistent
Feedback must be consistent to be truly effective long-term. Criticisms or opinions that vary day by day or week on week are much harder for your people to take on board and address because you’re not being concise in what you’re asking them to do. Feedback should be given regularly and in a timely manner, waiting until performance reviews or letting increasing amounts of time pass before addressing issues is not conducive to getting the best out of your people. Having regular discussions will help you to develop two-way communication and foster a positive relationship between you and your direct reports, improving all round performance.
5) Clarify What’s Been Agreed
Before parting ways after a feedback conversation, it’s important to summarise what’s been discussed to confirm that all parties are clear on how you will move forward or what they should be doing next. Be sure to discuss and, if necessary, document any continued actions that are required for their development, and how you will both remain accountable to them. Make sure that your employees know that you are there to support them and that your door is always open.
GRA's Leadership Development Training Programmes
GRA offers leadership development training programmes for leaders and managers of all levels, from senior executives and middle management, to team leaders and first-time managers, helping them to enhance their communication and management skills. Please call 01962 779911 today to discuss your requirements or find out more about our tailored solutions.
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