The Case for Effective Feedback
As businesses today become increasingly agile and collaborative, it’s imperative for employees to receive course-correcting feedback in a timely manner to do their work effectively.
Fast, frequent, and meaningful feedback benefits organizations in a number of ways:
- Companies with feedback-friendly cultures have 14.9 percent lower turnover rates.
- Employees are 3.6 times more likely to report feeling motivated to do outstanding work when they receive daily — and not annual — feedback.
- Employees who frequently receive strength-based feedback are 12.5 percent more productive. They’re also upto 4 times more engaged than those who do not. Further, teams with higher engagement bring in 21 percent greater profits.
- Managers who receive feedback on their strengths also show 8.9 percent greater profitability.
Sources: Forbes, Gallup
Best practices research indicated that managers should have ongoing feedback conversations with their employees at least monthly, and if possible, even more frequently.
60 percent of employees, too, report wanting feedback on a daily or weekly basis, and 68 percent say that ongoing developmental feedback has a positive impact on their performance.
And yet:
- Only 28 percent of employees report receiving meaningful feedback at least once a week.
- Another 28 percent receive feedback a few times a year.
- 19 percent of employees receive feedback once a year or less.
- Only 26 percent of the feedback employees receive is effective.
4 out of 10 employees who receive little to no feedback are ready to quit their job or are already looking for a new one.
More than 85 percent of managers do not strongly agree that they are effective at giving feedback.
44 percent of managers say that giving negative feedback is stressful, and 21 percent admit that they avoid the act altogether.
Sources: McKinsey, PwC, Gallup, Harvard Business Review
Behaviors Learned
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What success looks like, for a feedback conversation -
Prepare thoughtfully for a feedback conversation -
Set the right intention for yourself and the recipient -
Inquire and learn about the recipient’s context and perspective -
Tune into and respond to recipient’s emotional reactions -
Choose the right moment for sharing feedback -
Develop a feedback-friendly culture
Core Ideas
Six Principles of Giving Effective Feedback:
Practice the Growth Mindset
Practice the growth mindset in how you think about the recipient, and help them practice the same for themselves.
Understand, then Act
People are sensitive to what you think of them and whether they see it as accurate or not. Be careful not to jump to conclusions too soon.
Make Feedback a Gift
Feedback is a gift for the recipient; a data point that will help them achieve unrealized potential. It is also a gift to the team and organization, to help the recipient serve the common purpose more effectively.
Manage Emotions and Thoughts
A feedback dialogue has the potential to be upsetting to both parties. It is important to stay balanced in your emotions and thoughts, and to do your best to help them stay balanced as well, throughout the conversation.
Coach Them
For feedback to be effective, it needs to extend from the “what” to the “how”. Prepare and guide the recipient on their development journey.
Build a Feedback-Friendly Culture
When feedback is embedded in an organization’s culture, it makes the process of giving and receiving it easier, less stressful and more effective.
