Employee feedback should be about the overall performance – by looking at positives as well as negatives, the individual is more likely to accept criticism and agree to do something about it.
Giving feedback about an individual’s performance or behaviour is one of the most challenging things a manager must do.
Do it poorly and it becomes one of the most angst-ridden parts of managing employee performance.
Do it well and managers can avoid emotional responses and long-term damage to relationships while keeping their employee’s confidence and motivation high.
Feedback should be fair, honest and objective and follow three golden rules.
No surprises
Managers should deal with performance or behavioural issues immediately or as soon as possible. The longer the manager waits, the more likely the individual will have forgotten or think they’ve got away with it. Avoiding the issues adds to the surprise and surprising people can lead to emotional responses.
Never feedback about personality
The manager must try to separate the person from the problem by focusing on the individual’s behaviour not their personality. Feedback should be about what a person does or does not do, not what they are.
Praise what you can
A manager should look at what an individual is doing well as well as what they’re doing wrong. Employee feedback should be about the overall performance – by looking at positives as well as negatives, the individual is more likely to accept criticism and agree to do something about it. Balanced feedback is likely to lead to a balanced reaction.
These three golden rules come from one of 200 three-minute pearls of wisdom ® videos that PD Training has introduced to complement our classroom training programs in performance management and other professional development issues.
The golden rules are consistent with what some Australian corporates are doing in replacing annual staff performance reviews with more frequent feedback.
Constructive criticism is challenging to give and to receive – ask our Federal political leaders how they like it!
Employees who display repeated negative behaviour patterns such as tardiness or poor performance should be confronted and reminded of office policies. If not properly handled, it can affect co-workers and disrupt the workflow.
When informal feedback doesn’t work, you need to plan a structured approach to address the problem and get a solution. It’s the manager’s obligation to carefully prepare by gathering the facts, and then deliver clear information to the employee.
Done well, this will result in better performance by the individual and possibly a better relationship between management and employees. The objective of delivering constructive criticism is to encourage the employee to improve and be successful. Here are three important steps:
Create an action plan
Once the problem has been addressed, an action plan will help the employee to make the proper adjustments and improvements they need. Change can be hard for anyone, so the employee will need proper support from management to succeed.
Set goals
It’s not a one way street. Both parties should know the purpose of the goal and realise what efforts will need to be made to accomplish them. When goals are made as a team effort and the employee feels they have your support, they will be more willing to work for it and succeed.
Be as specific as possible
Goals that are specific and precise will work better than goals that are generalised and vague. Goals sound more ‘doable’ when they outline what specifically needs to change and improve.
Paul Findlay, Managing Director, PD Training
