Performance focus: FEEDBACK culture

Perhaps you’ve heard the current debate over communication protocols within any mid-sized to large company. The basic choice is presented as monologue versus dialogue: whether to have communications travel exclusively top-down or going two-way.

the nature of the message matters at least as much as the direction of travel.

I heard a more nuanced version when I interviewed two commodity trading professionals who have authored a book on corporate management. They argued that the nature of the message matters at least as much as the direction of travel.

Take those individual performance appraisals conducted by many companies. Should the manager be openly critical of a team member? In the opposite direction, what sort of feedback should managers seek or accept from their team?

Should the manager be openly critical of a team member?

 Either way, according to the book’s authors*, to install a feedback culture is still challenging in many organisational settings simply because people are nervous of speaking their mind. They're afraid to say what they really mean. Plus, most people associate feedback with confrontation, as if its only purpose is to raise something which the other person doesn’t want to hear.

They're afraid to say what they really mean.

This reticence cuts both ways, it seems. In the conversation I was told that managers frequently make the mistake of softening their criticism in order to avoid hurting the target of the comments, when in fact a dose of honesty would be better by offering the individual more opportunity to improve.

a dose of honesty would be better by offering the individual more opportunity to improve

But, said these C-suite professionals, it's not just the one-way street of a manager giving feedback to employees. Organisations have been talking for years about encouraging employees to offer feedback to the manager. The barrier lies in convincing them to be confident that what they say will not be misconstrued.

 One of my interviewees insisted from his own experience that, in a trading company environment, you have to request feedback and promote its exchange also between colleagues. Over time it becomes a natural way of doing the job and establishes it as part of the corporate culture.

Over time it becomes a natural way of doing the job and establishes it as part of the corporate culture.

 “People actually want feedback,” he went on. “Of course, it needs to be balanced. You have to describe both the good things and the negative ones. And this should be done often, not just when you meet once or twice a year. If the manager waits that long to deliver a tough feedback, everyone is completely surprised that it was not mentioned earlier. You’re talking about something that happened months or years ago and you didn't pick up the phone? Why didn't you tell me right away?”

 Providing feedback drives performance as long as it tells the whole story, was another message from these executives. Their book includes some examples where it pays to be precise. Such as, it’s nice to hear that I did a good job but tell me something more specific about what I did at that meeting or in that presentation which worked well, and I should continue doing. Was there something that that did not work out? More details, please, because that's the only way the person has a chance to change and improve.

More details, please, because that's the only way the person has a chance to change and improve.

 As I was reminded, psychology comes into everything. Human beings generally prefer working in a good atmosphere with colleagues and management. Being critical is not our preferred choice.

Being critical is not our preferred choice.

There are some business leaders who are not very comfortable with the idea of conflict and therefore go for the approach of positive psychology, meaning to maintain a friendly atmosphere and talking only about someone’s good attributes. And yet, people at work actually want to know where they stand. We all want to improve and that should be the motivation for sharing comments on an honest and open basis.

 It’s often said that feedback is the breakfast of champions. From my conversation, a trading house with a corporate culture that encourages feedback in both directions has a recipe for greater success.

 *Jakob was talking to Henrik Lind and Dion S?rensen, both formerly of Danske Commodities - CEO and HR Leader respectively, about their recently published book ‘TAKE THE LEAD – YOU ARE IN CHARGE’.