How good are you at giving feedback? A recent survey conducted by Threshold found that less than half (45%) of employees feel they receive helpful feedback regularly from managers, and only 44% felt that the feedback they get helps them to do their job better.
“Unless managers have honest performance conversations, they are in danger of leaving staff feeling isolated, lacking in direction and demotivated,” says James Brooks, director at Threshold. “Constructive feedback generates clear messages and allows employees to address weaknesses and build on strengths.”
In her article 2011 trends for managers Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, warned that improving the “desperately low levels” of morale currently affecting UK workers would be a “key challenge” for businesses and HR this year.
The key to this? Providing appropriate, practical, solutions-focused training for managers, to help improve morale and make staff feel more engaged. Yet only 34% of those surveyed felt that managers were well trained to give effective, honest feedback.
Communication drives performance
The survey also revealed a lack of communication between managers and employees. Of 965 employees surveyed, 52% felt their line managers clearly described the performance levels that they currently expected, but only 42% felt that the performance benchmarks that they were actually being evaluated against had been communicated to them.
“We all need feedback to improve,” says James, “But our minds are hard-wired to respond to feedback that is frequent and in the near-term, so line-managers need to be having performance conversations throughout the year. This is the only sort of feedback that drives performance.
“It doesn’t matter how thorough your appraisal or review process is, it’s only as good as the quality of conversations that support it,” James affirms.
So how can you give appropriate, effective feedback to your employees to help their levels of engagement and motivation?
James’ top tips for giving effective feedback:
- Start from a position of integrity. You’re not trying to manipulate or exploit, and your honesty and clarity will help to reduce defensiveness and suspicion.
- Ensure you establish and keep re-affirming your commitment to the best outcome for you both.
- Watch out for defensive body language. If you spot it, use simple, positive non-verbal techniques to re-establish a ’safe’ environment.
- Develop authentic rapport as a foundation for an effective ‘performance conversation’, but don’t be afraid to break it judiciously.
- Don’t fall into the trap of arguing harder and stronger in order to influence someone, they’ll just dig their heels in further.
- Make sure your feedback draws on the facts that illustrate the points being made, not on specific events that have occured. The real issue is the pattern and its consequences, so focus the conversation on these.
- Be specific, brief and clear – don’t fall into opaque generalisms.
- Make your questions consequential – direct them precisely and clearly to the areas that matter.
- Have confidence in yourself – this is crucial in confronting potentially difficult, sensitive or confrontational issues.
