Feedback is crucial to performance improvement. It enables us to look at situations and ourselves from a third-party perspective. It unlocks self-reflection and growth and opens the door to opportunity. “You are doing a great job” or “You have to do better” doesn’t give the employee the tools to improve or the intrinsic fulfillment to make him or her want to stay with the company and grow.
Effective feedback has three components — strategic, developmental and aligned with the values of the organization — that require us to be aware of our restrictive biases.
Strategic feedback: The employee will benefit from feedback that answers this question: “What should this employee do more or less of to be maximally effective?” If you aren’t sure, ask the employee. Then, you can work with him or her to clear distractions from his or her workload and position the employee to do meaningful, satisfying work. We all like to work on what we do well.
Developmental feedback: Vague labels, such as “inspiring” and “great” that focus on personality traits are interpretive, narrow and binary (one or the other). He is confident (or not). He has a temper (or not). These are opinions. “She is very positive,” essentially says, “Her positivity matches mine and I enjoy her.” Research shows leaders tend to overestimate disposition and capabilities and underestimate the impact of underlying cultural conditions.
Make specific and inarguable observations about where they can develop. Get curious. “Melanie, I don’t know if you’re aware — or even if it’s true — but it appears that Jason might be afraid to execute without your approval because it might upset you. What do you think? What do you think he might accomplish if he didn’t have to check with you as often?” This is more helpful than, “You need to be less controlling.”
Organizationally aligned feedback: How do employees specifically exemplify the leadership competencies or values of the organization? “Thank you for concisely communicating to your employees why this work is important to you, giving them the impetus to re-examine their own ‘Why?’”
During a review, feedback should relate to the employee’s current performance, next performance period and future career aspirations. This is especially important for high performers who probably already have a plan. Frequency is key. The higher the performer, the more frequently you should provide feedback.
This simple tool, FBI feedback, is an easy way to give good feedback.
- How I feel about what the employee did: “It comforted me to notice you took those reports home to finish without being asked, because I know I can trust you to have the organization’s back.”
- The specific behavior witnessed. “You anticipated that we wouldn’t complete the project on time — even though you had an inordinate amount of work — and took it upon yourself to plan ahead and get it done so we’d be prepared.”
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The impact: “As a result, we had the data we needed for the presentation and were able to secure this new account that positions us for growth. It likely wouldn’t have happened without you.”
Mary Lee Gannon, ACC, CAE, president of MaryLeeGannon.com, an executive coaching firm that helps busy leaders thrive, earn and influence from the convenience of their office, an airport, or at their leisure. Mary Lee is an award-winning mindful executive strategist, ICF certified coach and author. She has 20-plus years as a CEO leading organizations worth up to $26 million within 60,000 employee organizations, as well as coaching executives on how to get off the treadmill to nowhere with mindful confidence, connection and calm to enjoy record performance and more time with the people who matter while it still matters.
