What is the hardest part of managing people? For many managers, the answer is: to give employee feedback.
There is always a level of anxiety when hearing constructive criticism. Many team members immediately think, ‘Oh no. I’m going to lose my job.’ Often managers avoid giving feedback because it makes them uncomfortable. It will be uncomfortable, but it is worth the discomfort because you are helping your people, your team, and your company grow.
If you do it right, you can create a culture of feedback within your team such that it becomes a normal part of the workday and doesn’t cause fear. Then feedback becomes a tool to engage team members and inspire them to meet personal, team, and company goals. Create a culture where people want to come to work and know that their work has value. You need them to understand how their work supports your company and contributes to society.
Benefits of Effective Feedback
Happy, engaged employees are more productive, more creative, and more likely to advocate for your company. Companies that use effective employee feedback see real-world benefits, including 10-19% higher sales and 14-29% higher profit. Life science employees who receive regular feedback report having a better relationship with their manager, more trust in senior management, and feeling more inspired to meet goals, according to Proclinical’s 2017 Benchmark for the life science industry.
The Power of Feedback
Praise and constructive criticism are important tools that managers can use to clarify expectations, create accountability, and reinforce and support learning. Employees need to receive both positive and developmental feedback on a regular basis.
Use feedback to connect each person’s goals and objectives to the bigger picture and to create a team environment. Each person in a team has their own goals and responsibilities. If you talk about these goals and responsibilities as a team, everyone can see their own part in each other’s goals. Team members can see that as they progress, the team also progresses towards company goals. This helps them to stay focused, feel confident, and be motivated in their work.
I would often have my team members come to me and say, “This person can’t deliver on their project because I have their resources. What can we do? Should we reallocate my resources to them?” Feedback opens doors for collaboration. It makes everyone aware of the critical things required for the company, as a whole, to succeed.
Simple Ways to Implement Effective Feedback
Take Away the Fear of Feedback
Things fail when something is broken in the process. If you take away the fear of feedback, every team member can help you identify what was broken and come up with a solution. You may have to dig. Keep asking questions until you understand the source of the problem and how to best help your team address it. If you can create open fear-free communication between you and your team, you will become aware of problems much earlier and will be able to implement timely solutions and maintain productivity.
Create a Culture of Regular Feedback
Feedback becomes easy to give and easy to receive if it becomes part of the normal daily dialog between co-workers. Work out the best way to incorporate feedback into daily or weekly activities. When working as a manager, I made my rounds in the morning and provided informal feedback to my team members. My team came to expect non-threatening feedback on a regular basis, so it wasn’t difficult to bring up hard topics and offer constructive feedback. I have found the following phrases to be helpful:
“Great work on that report. It was really well done. The figures were spot on, the length of it was perfect and the conclusion supported the hypothesis.”
“You missed the deadline on your project. Can we have a chat? What is getting in your way? Let’s figure out the best way to meet the deadline. What would you need to do differently so it doesn’t happen next time?”
Stick to the Schedule
It can be really demotivating for your team if you set something up and then abandon it. If you decide to have one-on-one meetings, make sure you keep your appointments. If you cancel, people feel undervalued. Keep the appointment and have a quick five-minute check-in.
“How are you doing?”
“How am I doing?”
There is always something to discuss and these regular, supportive interactions will build a strong relationship between you and your team members.
Make Feedback a Two-Way Street
A lot of managers say they want to receive feedback but they don’t really want to hear the truth. To get to the truth, you need to build a strong relationship with team members so they trust you and feel comfortable giving you constructive feedback. Even then, you will probably have to dig for it. Don’t just send out engagement surveys. Have an open discussion. Open the door and create the opportunity for team members to tell you what needs to change. Every month I would talk to my team and dig for constructive feedback. I would say things like:
“What am I doing right that I should continue doing?”
“What am I not doing that I should start doing?”
“Do I need to change anything?”
Respond to any feedback immediately and follow through. Make sure it’s not just lip service. Show your team that you value their feedback and you are taking it on board to improve the working environment.
Show That You Care
Employees respond best if managers are genuinely invested in helping them succeed by building their skill sets, expanding their experience and improving their knowledge. Constructive criticism is one of the best ways to help people grow.
You can be kind when you give constructive criticism. This doesn’t just mean using kind words, it also means understanding that change takes time. Once you have asked someone to change a behavior, be patient and be supportive. It’s your job as a manager to support and guide your team members through difficult changes. Give them the help they need to make that change, whether it is more training, a course, some coaching, more resources, or more of your time. You have to care enough to see them through the change. If you walk away because you are uncomfortable and they are uncomfortable, you are not genuinely invested in seeing them grow.
Be Open, Honest, and Straightforward
While it can be tempting to try and sugarcoat any constructive feedback, employees are more likely to respond when a manager offers honest, straightforward feedback. Sugar coating can confuse people. No matter how you say it, it’s going to be hard for employees to receive straightforward feedback. The key is to explain why you are giving the feedback, and how it relates to company goals, team goals, and personal goals. You can say things like:
“There’s something I need to tell you and it’s going to be hard but my job is to make sure you are growing and developing. I want you to leave me better than when you arrived. So, I’m going to give you some feedback and I want you to reflect on it.”
“Our company values are very important to us. Whatever you do outside of work is your choice but when you walk through the front door, I expect you to support our values.”
Give Feedback in Real Time
The timing of feedback is critical. If someone knows they are failing at something and you don’t address it, your tension and their tension build up and that can become bigger than the problem itself. Pull them in and talk to them. Say something like:
“Before I forget there’s a couple of things I need you to be aware of.”
Be Specific
Clearly state the expectations for the team and for each employee. Help employees come up with personal goals that align with team goals and company goals. Relate feedback back to these goals and reset goals as necessary.
Giving feedback is cookies vs crumbs. Crumbs are confusing. People won’t know what they have done right if you say things like:
“Great job.”
“Thumbs up.”
Instead, you should tell them exactly what they did well so they can continue on that path.
“Those results were great. The experiment was very well designed with the right controls.”
The same goes for negative feedback. Be specific about where people could improve. Do not label the behavior or action, just state the facts.
“You were rude to Joanie.”
Instead
“I noticed that you had a difficult time communicating with Joanie in the meeting. You were cutting her off and not letting her finish her sentences. Can you tell me why?”
Ask Employees for Their Ideas
When giving developmental or constructive feedback, empower employees to solve their own challenges. They understand why they behave a certain way. If they participate in the discussion and can reformulate your message back to you, which means they actually took in what you said. Help them figure out a solution. Then you can provide the resources they need to do their job better.
Think about Tone and Body Language
Emotions often show through our body language. Tone and body language play an important role in providing constructive feedback.
When I am coaching people, I tell them, “If you are intimidated, angry, or tense when you are delivering constructive feedback, people will feel unsafe. This will prevent them from listening to your words or acting on your suggestions.”
If you view feedback as helping your team members grow, it will be reflected in your body language, your tone, and your words. It really gets picked up by people. Role-playing can help you become comfortable with giving feedback.
Measure the Effectiveness of Your Approach
If someone isn’t moving in a positive direction after feedback, stop and ask yourself whether your feedback method is effective? Why aren’t you getting the results you need? Assess whether your team is working better together? Are they engaged? If not, re-evaluate and revamp your way of communicating. You can also collaborate with your HR for ideas and suggestions.
Conclusions
Feedback is an important managerial skill. Learning to give effective feedback will make you a better manager. It will also help you build more effective teams and keep your employees engaged and invested in their work. Effective feedback should be part of a larger clear communication strategy for your company and should form the backbone of your long-term employee development plan.
When feedback is implemented well, it improves the daily performance of each team member, every team, and the entire company. It boosts creativity and supports personal and professional growth. Effective feedback fuels company success.
To learn more, contact us for a complimentary consultation.
Reference
1) Brandon Rigoni and Jim Asplund. Developing Employees’ Strengths Boosts Sales, Profit, and Engagement. Harvard Business Review. 2016. (Online) Available at: https://hbr.org/2016/09/developing-employees-strengths-boosts-sales-profit-and-engagement (Accessed 8/1/2018)
2) Jack Zenger and John Folkman. Your Employees Want the Negative Feedback You Hate to Give. Harvard Business Review. 2014. (Online) Available at: https://hbr.org/2014/01/your-employees-want-the-negative-feedback-you-hate-to-give (Accessed 8/1/2018)
