Nobody likes to be told they’re doing a bad job, and with good reason: simply being told you’re doing a bad job doesn’t accomplish anything. There’s nothing there about what it is specifically that you’re not doing well or what you could be doing to fix it. Simply being told this or telling this to someone else doesn’t help anyone improve or grow. This is especially important in the workplace where each person—supervisor and employee alike—should all be interested in each other’s mutual development.
If you’re reading this, however, you’re most likely struggling with how to deliver feedback to your employees. And, hey, we get it: at Payday HCM, we’ve seen plenty of other companies go through this exact same struggle. You want to be able to help somebody improve, but you don’t want to come off as the bad guy. It’s a fine line, but luckily, there are methods for ensuring your feedback is as constructive and encouraging as possible.
In this article, we’ll go over how to provide constructive feedback in the workplace. We’ll look at some examples of poor feedback and the best ways that you can avoid them. By the end, you’ll have all the tools you need to start both you and your employees on the road to improvement.
In this article, you will learn:
- Methods for Delivering Feedback to Your Employees
- Best Practices for Providing Constructive Feedback
- What to Avoid When Giving Feedback
Methods for Delivering Feedback to Your Employees
Before we get into the specifics of providing constructive feedback, it’s important to look at the different ways you can go about providing feedback. After all, it’s not always about what you’re saying but how you’re saying it.
Performance Reviews
Performance reviews have become somewhat of a controversial topic in recent years. Once commonplace in the workplace, performance reviews have drastically declined in popularity. When it comes to providing feedback, performance reviews certainly provide a very structured and organized option.
That being said, there are good reasons for why performance reviews have declined in popularity. A study performed by Textio found that negative bias is extremely prevalent within performance reviews, with women being seven times more likely to receive negative stereotypes than men, and white and Asian people being twice as likely to be positively stereotyped as “intelligent” than Black or Hispanic/Latinx people.
Scheduling Regular Feedback Sessions
A healthier alternative to performance reviews, finding time to have regular feedback sessions with your employees can prove very beneficial in the long run. These conversations can be as formal or informal as you want, just so long as they’re focused on growth.
The best method for scheduling these sessions is to set regular goals so that you can check in with your employees on whether they have met these goals. Rather than relying on numerical ratings or arbitrary performance scales, simply have an honest conversation about where they are at, what they need to do moving forward, and how you can assist them on their journey.
Best Practices for Providing Constructive Feedback
Once you’ve figured out how to go about providing feedback, it becomes time to actually provide that feedback. No need to fear: follow these best practices, and you’ll become a feedback pro.
Think of the Person, Not the Position
When it comes to feedback, the most important thing to remember is that the person you’re talking to is, well, a person. They’re not just the job they are doing. You never really know what’s going on in their life outside of work, and you don’t really need to. What’s important is that you’re cognizant of that fact, and you let it inform your feedback.
Another crucial component of this is remaining positive. Even when delivering feedback that can be perceived as negative, be sure to lead with something positive and maintain your commitment to helping them on their journey. According to a study performed by the University of Minnesota, employees reacted six times more strongly to a negative interaction with their boss than to a positive one. So, choose your words wisely.
Be Aware of When and Where
Feedback works best when it’s expected. Typically, people don’t react too well to unsolicited advice. If you’re scheduling feedback sessions, stick to those sessions. It can be tempting to say something immediately right as it comes up under the guise of getting ahead of the problem, but taking time to think about it so you can deliver the most helpful version of that feedback is crucial.
You also want to be aware of the environment in which you’re providing feedback. This doesn’t mean you need to take all of your employees to Top Golf whenever you want to tell them about something they could improve, but it also doesn’t mean you need to sit on opposite sides of a large boardroom table while you tell them they’re doing a bad job.
Again, they’re a person—you’re just having a conversation. Find somewhere that’s comfortable but still private so that way no one feels intimidated.
Actively Listen
When you’re not the one doing the talking, make sure that you’re also doing the listening. Forbes highlights two important things when delivering constructive feedback: make it a conversation and be open to criticism about yourself.
Feedback doesn’t have to be one-sided. Fostering conversations about how everyone can improve will benefit the entire organization. Ultimately, your team knows itself best. Take what they have to say and use it.
What to Avoid When Giving Feedback
Just as there are best practices, there are things to avoid. Providing any sort of criticism is hard, and there are a lot of mistakes that can be easily avoided.
Say What You Mean
Sometimes, you might overthink what you have to say. You don’t want to come off too harsh, but you also don’t want to change the meaning of what you’re saying. This can lead to confusing metaphors, convoluted analogies, and concealed meanings. At its worst, it can give off the impression that there’s something you’re not saying.
Ultimately, it’s best to be honest. At the same time, take a moment to think about how you might respond to what you want to say. And, if you think what you have to say is too harsh, maybe think more about why that is rather than a less harsh way to say it. Because sometimes the saying is true: if you having nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Listen, Don’t Interpret
When it comes to listening, you want to make sure that you’re actually hearing what someone is saying and not putting some sort of spin on it. Take people at face value. There’s no need to read between the lines. If you can establish a culture of honesty, then there’s no need to guess at someone’s meaning.
It’s always best to assume positive intent when someone is providing feedback. You can’t guarantee your employees might do this, but you can certainly encourage it through your own actions.
Let’s Give Feedback Some Feedback
At the end of the day, providing feedback is a very tricky task. It can be hard to have to tell someone that there’s something they could be doing better, especially if it’s someone that you see five days a week. Again, no one wants to be the bad guy. Luckily, feedback doesn’t always have to be bad. There’s a better way to go about it and as long as you stick to the tips provided here in this article, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a feedback pro.
Providing good feedback can be one way to help improve the culture at your organization. Learn more about different types of benefits and how they can also help to improve your company’s culture.
Topics: