FEEDBACK: Your Most Powerful Performance Management Tool!

After years of research on what drives employee performance, my conclusion is clear: The number one factor to high performing employees is a good manager. I have never seen a poor performer become a top performer thanks to an annual performance review. Only a good manager can make this happen. And to achieve that result a good manager does not wait for the end of the year review to share their feedback: they guide, coach, mentor and encourage their employees ALL . YEAR . ROUND !

But sharing feedback is not as easy as it seems. And to be effective, even a perfectly baked feedback should not come out of the blue. You need to set the scene first...

THE PREREQUISITES TO SHARING GOOD FEEDBACK

1. Clarity of goals

BEFORE being able to track performance and be able to provide constructive feedback, good managers first have clearly communicated to their direct reports what is expected of them and what they must achieve. And this has to be communicated on an on-going basis, not just once during the onboarding or at the beginning of the year. This is why weekly 121 meetings are so important! These are the best tool for the manager to make sure that

• the employee is fully aware of what is expected of them,
• they know where they are at, and
• they are updated on any new context or changes that may impact their work.

2. On-going monitoring?

Once objectives are clearly defined and communicated, good managers also need build monitoring tools to track progress and help their team accomplish their work on time and at the expected standard. Monitoring is essential for identifying red flags and anticipating issues. This data is critical to feedback. It provides the flesh and bones to drive constructive conversations, which in turn enables the employee to take proactive actions and informed decisions.

??? Employees who perform poorly usually do not know about it. Setting clear expectations and on-going monitoring will provide that essential clarity needed for employees to perform.

WHY ALL THIS FUSS ABOUT FEEDBACK ??

... Because it is the most efficient tool to drive PERFORMANCE !

The Importance of Sharing Positive Feedback

Here are three reasons why employee recognition is critical to the company culture and should not be overlooked:

• Recognised employees are happy employees. And happy employees are on average 12 percent more productive than their less-happy counterparts. Sounds like a win-win.
• Appreciative leaders are appreciated leaders. You’d be surprised by the degree to which simply thanking your employees fosters an atmosphere of trust. When employees know their efforts contribute to a cause and are noticed by people higher up the food chain, they feel a deeper connection to leadership. Unsurprisingly, nearly 90 percent of employees who received recognition or thanks from their boss in the past month indicated higher levels of trust in that boss. Among employees who received no recognition, only 48 percent indicated they trusted their higher-ups .
• When employees feel recognised, they stick around. The costs of a bad hire can be devastating (see the Real Cost of a Bad Hire ). It’s not just the wasted time, money and energy, but a bad hire can have a demoralising effect on both your current team members and the new “bad” employee when you have to let them go. Bad hire = bad fire, almost every time. With a little bit of recognition, you can reverse these trends and keep your talent around for much longer.

... And Constructive Feedback?too!

This being said, too much praise doesn’t improve performance either. Another behavioural study found that when a group of students were constantly praised, they failed to understand what was required of them to continue to progress and grow.

Finding the right balance between positive and negative feedback

The first mistake I see about sharing feedback is to always try and put a positive twist on what we’re saying. Why are we doing it? First because sharing negative feedback is not always that easy and comfortable. And because we have an unconscious bias to think that positive comments are more useful than negative ones.

It turns out that giving good, actionable feedback isn’t a black and white process. There is actually a shift in the type of feedback needed from positive to negative feedback as people gain expertise. Those who are considered experts in their field are keen to hear how they can improve — even if that feedback could be perceived as negative. Whereas people who are still mastering their trade seek more praise.

?? THE GOLDEN RULES ??

Feedback is a GIFT ... This is why it has to be done in the PRESENT!

??? BE TIMELY

Feedback needs to be immediate to really be impactful. This will reinforce the behaviour you want to encourage. Waiting for mid-year and year-end reviews is too late, and even monthly recognition is too infrequent. As soon as you notice something worth discussing (being something bad or amazing), go to the employee and speak about it! You will save time. Corrective action will be implemented faster. And in the case of recognition (positive feedback), you will show your employee you see the good work they are doing and they’ll do even more of it!

It’s easy to let feedback slip through the net in a busy world, so to solve this problem, start scheduling time in your calendar to provide feedback whenever it’s needed. For example, if you can’t drop everything to provide feedback right away, find the next 15–30 minute gap you have and set a reminder to do so.

?

??? BE SPECIFIC

“Good job” or "This is not good" do not work unless you give specific examples of what they did good or not so good, what were the consequences, what is expected of them, what they could do instead, etc. Be as specific as possible. We all respond better when we receive specific feedback.?

Saying something like: “You need to be more vocal in the team” might sound clear, but is actually ambiguous and hard to quantify for both you and your colleague.

Instead, something like “I’d like you to provide weekly recommendations on our marketing strategy in our team meeting”, is much clearer and helps the person receiving the feedback to understand exactly what you’re asking of them.

Unspecific feedback leads to delays and misunderstandings. With concise, specific feedback things definitely move a lot smoother.

?? ? DON'T AVOID IT !

It is too easy to avoid giving feedback, especially when you know it will elicit a negative response. The truth is that without giving feedback (negative or positive), we do not progress. All of us are a little afraid of rejection and hearing negative things about ourselves. Most of the time feedback is put off as a way to avoid conflict.

The irony of this is that when feedback is given openly and honestly, it can be extremely valuable to all. Look back at your career and recall all the times truthful, constructive feedback have helped you develop.?

?? Good managers are not stingy with feedback and take every opportunity to share this gift with their teams... Be generous too, and trust me, it will pay off!

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About the author:

Anne Caron is an international speaker, author and People Strategy expert. Drawing on her 10 years' experience as a senior HR executive at Google, she set up her consulting practice in 2015 to support leaders in building high performing and positive organisations. Through her experience working with entrepreneurs, she developed a practical methodology for startups to grow the right organisation and teams, which she describes in her book?From Zero to 1,000: The Organisational Playbook For Startups .

Find out more about Anne Caron:?www.annecaronconsulting.com