Continuous feedback matters

In the Times of India (Pune edition - Friday 8th) there was an interesting article that my CMD Vikas Joshi shared with some of us.

In many companies, formal feedback was only provided once or twice a year via the performance appraisal. Although leaders used to advocate continuous feedback, it happened adhoc and was not tracked – so during appraisal time many employees were given shocks (most of them not so good!). 

That is why there are many apps being built to capture feedback and performance on a real time basis. I feel that this is not a "nice to have" feature but something that is an absolute must! All of us have at some point of time in our lives been given feedback (by our family, friends, or bosses) which we wish we were given a few weeks or months ago, that would have helped us to take corrective action at that time. 

At Harbinger, we've been promoting continuous feedback for many years via our One on One (O3) app. This is a strong tool and is used in combination with the appraisal tool so as to remove the “recency” bias.  

In O3’s, we can have short conversations with our managers where we can share highlights since the previous O3, receive feedback as well as get coaching and development inputs that can help us grow more as professionals.

Our O3 app also provides for giving positive and negative (we call it adjusting) feedback. It’s important that we get this feedback quickly so that we can continue on what we've been doing well as well as take course correction of what we need to change.

Also, there is a section where the direct can also add her comments. This is a feature to be used, in case the direct wants to add something that was forgotten to have been added or add or comment on something that the Manager has written. It’s also a good idea for the direct and manager to review their KRA's frequently.

So via the O3, the employee the performance trends becomes quite clear and feedback on areas to be worked happens all through the year – instead of being a yearly or bi-annual process. It also provides bonding between the Manager and her direct.