Unlocking Potential with Feedback - What Can You Actually Get Out of It?

The concept of feedback within a company should be taken as an action plan, not just a conversation; and not only about sharing improvement points or recognition but about empowering people to move forward in their careers with the company’s support. It is a win-win situation between employees and employers - you can and will benefit from it if it is done right.

At Probatix, our People & Culture Team works in the continuous improvement of our feedback culture, adapting it according to each employee's needs and to our business stage at that specific moment.

Why is this such a popular topic?

Upbeat topics are upbeat for a reason. Being open to giving and receiving feedback and knowing how to do it may sound like common sense at first, but the reality is that good performance is not universal, and it can’t be transferred from one person to another - it is not a one size fits all.

That is why it's important to get to know yourself and your team - how they like to work, manage, and be managed. If someone whose intentions are not clear tells us what we need to do and how, we are unlikely to get the right results. Regular feedback comes up as the best solution for miscommunications and managing expectations.

Let’s go through some numbers: According to Oak Engage , 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week compared to 18% of employees with low engagement; A study by Gallup found that employees who receive feedback from their manager are more engaged and productive at work, leading up to a 19% increase in productivity; a survey lead by Gartner concluded that managers who regularly give feedback have teams that are 8.9% more productive and 15.3% less likely to leave. These positive outcomes also include higher levels of job satisfaction, productivity, and a greater sense of commitment. Another example comes from Forbes , which found that 54% of senior managers feel it's common for staff to quit due to lack of recognition.

In the past years, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of feedback in the workplace. This was influenced by the rise of the ‘quiet quitting’ concept - the disengagement an employer has towards their job, up to ultimately leaving without a formal notice or explanation. Feeling like their needs are not being addressed or having a sense of unappreciation are among the many debated reasons.

Well, this is a big wake-up call for companies and managers.

The goal of a stable organization is not only to recruit talent but to keep it. COVID-19 has changed the way employees feel towards their workforce and workplace - juggling work and family, communicating remotely, and having new needs and concerns. The sum of these work-life balance issues, managers that do not adapt to this new reality, and a lack of both company culture and feeling of belonging lead, more than ever, to disengagement and turnover.

Instead of doing 360-degree feedback sessions once a year, many companies are now doing these quarterly, providing employees with timely feedback and enabling them to make adjustments more quickly. This type of feedback involves gathering information from managers, peers, subordinates, and sometimes external stakeholders (e.g candidates or clients). Counting on all of these perspectives and angles, feedback is more accurate and reflective of the employee's actual performance. At Probatix, we opted for having two 360-degree Performance Review cycles per year, with mandatory feedback talks. In addition, we have two manager-employee Performance Reviews per year, with feedback talks that can be held upon request. Every employee's goals are set up after each cycle, following thorough documentation of the development process during the quarter.

Feedback is included in performance reviews, and some companies - mostly employee-oriented ones - count on the extracted quantitative and qualitative data to build action plans that include goal definition, targeted training, and development opportunities to help their teams cope with possible challenges and to reach their full potential.

At Probatix, since one of our main focus points is on time-bounded feedback, our Monthly Pulse Survey gives us a regular overview of our team’s opinions, ideas, and concerns. We inquire how they feel towards their team, management, work-life balance, tasks, and responsibilities. We have an extra NPS question regarding how likely our employees are to recommend us as a good company to work in. This allows us to identify areas of improvement and work on better decision-making on a monthly basis, as well as compare different satisfaction rates - and their causes - over time.

To ensure long-term satisfaction and transparency of our company structure and changes, we have put in place one People & Culture - Employee check-in per year. As the name suggests, this is a conversation that each employee has with our People & Culture department (and not their managers or subordinates) to check in on their alignment with company processes, mission, goals, and possible changes.

As we rely on data for decision-making, we have recently implemented Leapsome, a people enablement software designed to help us improve our performance, assessment, and feedback analytics.

The reactions and results we have been getting from this framework are quite refreshing - this year we have so far a minimum of 86% employee satisfaction rate per month and a 90% satisfaction rate from the latest feedback talks.

How does this type of feedback culture benefit you as an individual?

You will understand and confirm your strengths, as well as steps you can take to improve. Whether you are junior or senior, you are constantly learning and gaining new challenges, from your technical skills and tasks to your project management experience, or even work relationships and team cohesion. Adapting to different situations and different people, becoming more confident, and also more empathetic towards yourself and others.

Be sure to act on the feedback you receive. Your manager should keep up with your set goals and requests, as well as make sure you receive the necessary tools for improvement, but you must be both critical and active on this and take time to reflect and notice what you know works for you and what you feel you need. Would you be interested in performing other tasks? Is there some process you think it's inefficient? Would a specific training program help you improve your performance?

See yourself as a crucial accelerator for your company's performance. Your opinion is in fact very important, as someone who knows internal tasks, processes, and departments. You can help identify where changes need to be made, as well as share innovation and creativity! In a flexible working environment, the best idea will always win - regardless of position.

In an accelerated company environment, these moments are one of the few where you have the chance to improve your workplace relationships and communication skills, while both being respectful and helpful towards others and receiving support and recognition for your work.

When a company, department, or team is going through some sort of change, it is normal to feel less secure at times. Make sure you clarify expectations - what is expected from you and what you expect from your employer. This will help you set goals for your performance. Align to evaluate if they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Feedback sessions can also be an opportunity for you to receive recognition for your hard work. Make sure you go through your previous feedback sessions and are aware of what you have achieved in the meantime - the more measurable information you have on your side, the better. Don’t stress about possible mistakes - just make sure you recognize and justify them. This will help boost your morale and motivation, by understanding how your work contributes to the success of the company!

How can you be a great feedback giver and receiver?

At Probatix, we recently held a feedback workshop with guidelines and best practices on how to both give and receive feedback effectively and according to our values, such as integrity and openness. We are happy to share some of our tips with you:

• There are some very common and not-so-obvious pitfalls to avoid: Focusing on failures, giving only positive feedback and not coming to the point you are not satisfied with, losing one’s temper and missing on objectivity, being under time pressure, or skimming over topics. Let’s see how this can be avoided.

• Don’t wait for the next feedback session to give valuable feedback. By giving prompt inputs, you avoid letting something unpleasant escalate. But be cautious and check your motives - are you doing it because you are irritated or genuinely want to improve the situation? Check also your mind state - are you frustrated and feel like lashing out? If you have some criticism to make, take some distance and time first to evaluate how you can communicate your concerns better. You should understand the purpose of the feedback both given and received, and take these moments as a support to improve your and/or your team’s performance.

• When giving feedback, make sure to schedule a time and place where you can do it privately and respectfully - never in public or in a rushed environment, unless it is a compliment.

• Be self-reflective and acknowledge that you may carry a responsibility for the failure or success of a project. When doing this, use specific examples of behavior or actions that you did or observed. This will build a common understanding of what you are referring to and make it easier for both to improve or acknowledge work well done.

• Focus on specific behaviors or actions, rather than personality traits. If you are managing someone, it is not the best idea to say "you're lazy”, right? But you could say “I noticed that you missed several deadlines last month. I would like to understand why this is happening and how we can work on it.”

• If you want to share a concern with your manager, don’t go for “You never listen to my opinions.” You can advocate for yourself while explaining why you are doing it, and what makes you feel a certain way. Try something like “I value your input and expertise, but in our last project, I felt like my ideas were not considered. I understand we may not always agree, but I would appreciate more recognition. Could we discuss ways to work on our communication in this sense?”.

• One very famous (and effective) way to give feedback is to use the sandwich approach. Start with a positive comment, then provide constructive criticism, and end with another positive comment. This can help soften possible negative feelings and make your colleague more receptive to your suggestions.

• Don’t focus too much on a comeback answer when someone is giving you feedback - take time to actively listen, and do not assume that everyone has the same background context of a situation. This approach and having a critical capacity are connected, and not the other way around.

• Make sure to provide actionable suggestions for improvement. Instead of just pointing out a problem, consider possible solutions beforehand and offer suggestions for how to improve. Be honest and respectful, bringing a positive attitude and a desire to help.

• Take notes both when you are preparing a conversation, and of what is said during. Although this is ideally an informal conversation, support your thoughts and received information with written material - check the KPIs you are relying on, state obvious achievements and improvement points, take notes on points you both fully agree on, and use them to formulate a general statement about what works well, and also on pain points.

By following these guidelines, we are confident you can expect fruitful results. Again, why is this such a popular topic? Due to its efficiency and results, when handled correctly.

This is a crucial time for you to have an active role both in your growth as well as in your company’s success. If you do have a feedback talk coming up, prepare it and use it as an opportunity to listen, build trust and identify improvement points, but also to ask questions, share concerns and wishes, and advocate for yourself. Don't underestimate the power of these feedback moments, and instead prioritize them as a key aspect of your personal development, management, and project strategy.

References

Oak Engage. (2022, February 28). Employee feedback statistics: The ultimate collection

Lipman, V. (2017, April 15). 66% of employees would quit if they feel unappreciated. Forbes.

Gartner. (2021). The importance of feedback in the employee experience.

Gallup (2018, May 2nd). How a focus on people's strengths increases their engagement.

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