Article Importance of Employee Feedback on work place

Importance of Employee Feedback on work place

Employee feedback is an incredibly very powerful tool. Feedback is the final component and one of the important factors in the process of communication.  If offered properly, it has the ability to grow and develop the people of your organization, improve the levels of trust and communication, and strengthen relationship between employees and managers. Feedback clarifies expectations, helps people learn from their mistakes. Constructive feedback is one of the best things Managers can provide to their employees.

Feedback is the final component and one of the important factors in the process of communication. Moreover, regular feedback can prevent conflict from happening in the first place

With the right purpose in place, we need to think about the when and why of giving effective 

feedback., this means your feedback needs to be:

·        Specific: "Feedback should have a clear  and specific into larger overall goal instead of being generic.

·        Timely: "Feedback should be offered as close as possible to the action. "It makes no sense to say, five months after the fact..

·        Meaningful: . Good feedback gives meaningful and actionable suggestions for improvement.

·        Candid: Yes, giving feedback is difficult. you need to be honest or else run the risk of losing the trust of your team.

How you will make sure your feedback is effective. Here are the few best effective feedback methods-

#1. Avoid giving unsolicited advice#

Only a few of people believe the feedback they receive is helpful to them. That’s because more often than not, it’s unsolicited, which can create an immense amount of stress for the person receiving it.

By doing this, you can give the control to your employee and increase the likelihood that they will act on the feedback you share. Empower your people to control the feedback agenda by helping them feel confident and comfortable enough to ask for the feedback

#2. Be specific*

Employee feedback should be solutions oriented, crystal clear, and to the point. If your intention is to offer corrective feedback, general comments, like “Your work needs to be improved” or “I wasn’t very impressed with those reports. You have to do better than that” can leave your employee confused and in the dark as to what aspect of their work needs to be corrected.

Be specific on what you’d like your employee to do and offer guidance on how they can apply the feedback. For example, “I noticed you were late on your last two deadlines. I’d like to work with you on your time management to ensure you’re not committing to too much and completing each of your tasks in a timely manner.”

#3. Come with a deep level of empathy*

“Delivering feedback that exposes a wide gap in self-knowledge demands an extra measure of sensitivity. Before you even approach your colleague, be prepared to give them the space they’ll need to feel shocked upon receiving your feedback. Remember not to interpret it as intensified resistance to your message,

#4.  Don’t wait for a quarterly review#

Employee feedback immediately following an event has the greatest impact on performance. Engagement peaks when employees receive feedback on a weekly cadence. If issues are left unaddressed, they may multiply by a domino effect. So by the time the quarterly performance review comes around, you’ll be confronted with a host of issues that could have been avoided if mentioned earlier.

Another flaw in saving feedback for the performance review process is that problems will be forgotten and the time for offering valuable feedback will have passed. Daily or weekly feedback will help you avoid the recency bias—which mainly reflects recent work and occurs too infrequently to align with the employee’s workflow—and can make tracking and analyzing a colleague’s work much easier for all parties involved.

#5. Keep it private/ Confidential#

“Old saying- Praise in public and scold in Private”.  

For some, even praise is better delivered in a private meeting. Some people simply don’t like being the center of attention. You can also consider offering employee feedback in the form of a written response. This can give you time to reflect and offer a more thoughtful answer.

Feedback isn’t just uncomfortable for the receiver, it can be uncomfortable for the giver as well. By moving the location to a more informal area, you can help to alleviate some of the underlying pressure.

#6. Don’t take the “sandwich approach”#

Helping someone improve should always be the goal of feedback, but sandwiching corrective feedback between two pieces of positive feedback won’t soften the blow. This method creates confusion for the receiver, undermines your feedback, and can decrease levels of trust. Focus on delivering feedback tactfully instead of beating around the bush.

#7. Make the conversation a two-way street#

Lecturing someone on how they should improve is about as effective as talking to a brick wall. Don’t forget the important element of respect when discussing vulnerable topics, and certainly don’t talk at someone when it’s far more effective to open up the conversation and talk with them.

Let the receiver respond to your feedback and allow them to ask follow up questions. Once the issue is clear, then you two can work together to land on a solution or course-of-action.

8. Focus on performance, not personality

Focus on an employee’s behaviors (what they do) rather than on their personality traits (what they’re like). Providing constructive feedback as part of the coaching and development effort and as a way of building initial self-esteem. ... But constructive criticism is also important in building self-esteem.

#9. Keep the conversation going by following up#

Evaluation is tough, and it takes a lot of thought and energy to do it properly. Instead of treating feedback conversations as a one-and-done, follow up with your direct report and show appreciation when you see improvement along the way. This will show them that you care about their success, and it can motivate them to keep up the great work.

Employee feedback is a necessary part of growth and development. These tips can help managers and leaders deliver it more effectively, which will lead to more collaborative, communicative, and higher-performing cultures.

Although you’re most likely giving feedback from a position of power, you should always remember to keep your own ego and emotions in check. To get someone to truly change their behaviors, they need to respect what you’re saying and trust that you have their best interests at heart. This all starts with a willingness to hear them out.

Cheers.

Happy week end and happy reading.