It’s Time to Talk …

I’ll be the first to admit – receiving feedback can be uncomfortable. We don’t always want to hear the message – no matter how constructive it may be. Yet feedback is essential. I owe my professional development, personal growth and career to feedback. I’ve had generous leaders, peers and colleagues – not to mention family and friends – who cared enough to tell me where I could be more effective. I wouldn’t be where I am without their honesty. Their courage gave me the opportunity to grow.   

Feedback is how we become self-aware. Knowing our strengths and areas of opportunity is at the heart of professional development and personal growth – it motivates us to do something. With guidance on where to grow, we can gain experience, build confidence and ultimately develop new habits. And the result is higher performance.   

But, in my experience, providing – and acting on – feedback takes focus, commitment and deliberate planning. It doesn’t just happen. That’s why we’ve created clear expectations and guiding principles at AbbVie. 

Make Time to Talk 

One of the most important things leaders can do to support their team members is to provide them with future-focused, developmental feedback. At AbbVie, we expect our leaders to find time to talk with their employees. In fact, Time to Talk, is the name of our formal feedback conversation we ask managers to schedule to focus on employees’ progress toward goals, behaviors and each employee’s learning objective. When every manager intentionally creates the space for a developmental dialogue, we see what the research confirms: when done well, feedback increases performance.   

 We reinforce the following guidelines to ensure feedback is done well at AbbVie:  

1. Commit to transparency. Transparency is a key tenet of how we manage people. We commit to communicating what’s working, what needs to improve and where each employee stands.  
2. Embrace continuous growth. At AbbVie, continuous learning and development is a way of life. We empower our people in that process. While it is not mandatory, we invite all employees to set a learning goal each year. The vast majority of employees do this, and we think it supports our high performance. Our approach is rooted in a key psychological principle: people feel greater ownership and motivation to work on a developmental task they have chosen themselves. Time to Talk offers the opportunity to review the progress of the learning journey, celebrate growth and set new milestones for professional growth.  
3. Prioritize listening. As part of Time to Talk conversations, we expect leaders to ask, “…and how can I help?” Each employee, and their real-world experience, is unique. And in today’s environment, listening to understand has never been more important. When we better understand one another’s experience, trust and mutual respect are built.  

Create a Feedback Ecosystem 

When something matters, you build an ecosystem to support it. You hardwire your intent into the process. To do this, accountability is crucial. We reinforce accountability in many ways, but the most important contribution is probably our focus on amplifying our “clear and courageous” culture – candid, yet respectful and collaborative dialogue that empowers us to grow and succeed. From the beginning, we identified this as a critical AbbVie behavior. When we assess our people leaders, they receive specific feedback on the extent to which they are clear and courageous, including how they provide effective feedback to others.   

Our Employee Survey is another way we drive accountability. Employees are asked if they get what they need to develop and grow. This gives our leaders important insights into their abilities as feedback givers. As a leader myself, I know this can be a humbling experience – but it’s essential if you want to continually improve the experience of every AbbVie employee.   

Focus on Feedback – the Right Way – For Results  

In a workplace focused on feedback done well, people thrive. By having Time to Talk conversations and providing specific guidance on how to do it successfully, we ensure every employee has an equal opportunity to develop and grow.  

The results are clear. Our strong business performance, employee engagement scores and recognition as a Great Place to Work demonstrates Time to Talk is making an impact.   

I’m grateful for the feedback that has supported my professional development – and I’m passionate about amplifying our AbbVie culture so every one of our 48,000 employees can say the same.   

I couldn’t write an article on feedback without asking for yours – leave a comment and share your thoughts!  

This post is approved by AbbVie.