Three Tips to Transform Performance with Feedback

Marcus had been working for months on a project that culminated in a presentation to Senior Executives. He asked his leader to provide him with some feedback.  At the end of the presentation, Marcus’ leader did have two pieces of feedback for him.  One, his font size was too small on his presentation slides, and two, he did a “really nice job.”  While Marcus was happy to hear that he had done “a nice job” it still left him wondering—what about his presentation was “nice” and what could he do better in the future.

Maybe Marcus is the rare employee who actually asked for feedback, but too many times leaders miss out on opportunities for their employees to grow through feedback whether they ask for it or not.  The type of feedback depicted above I would call “trivial” feedback.  It is trivial in the sense that it is insignificant and inconsequential.  I doubt that a font size on a slide would ever stall Marcus’ career.  However, not being able to present a clear and professional message might prevent Marcus from moving into the positions he would like in the future.

Redefining Feedback

If we breakdown the word feedback into two parts (feed and back) we get a clearer picture of the purpose of feedback.  Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “feed” as: “to furnish something essential to the development, sustenance, maintenance, or operation of.”  While the word “back” has many definitions, I chose to focus on this particular one, “capacity for labor, effort, or endurance (as in the phrase ‘put your back into it.’)”  If we put these two definitions together, they become one wholistic definition of feedback, “to provide feedback is to furnish something essential to the development of a person who we believe has the capacity for further effort or endurance” (i.e. worthy of development).

Transformative vs. Trivial Feedback

Building from our definition from above, to transform something means to renovate or to change.  While much of the feedback we get gives us an idea of how to change (i.e. next time select a bigger font size), not all the feedback we get is transformative. 

I once worked with a leader who said, “it is not my job to build the skills of my employees—they should have the skills already to do their jobs.”  There is a flaw in this thinking.  Yes, employees are hired to do a job and they should have the basic skills to do their job.  However, leaders need to think beyond the employee’s current job. 

It is a leader’s responsibility to grow the skills of employees so they can fit into a variety of roles for the company.  Whether implicit or explicit, every company has a stream of positions that it will need to fill as retirements occur or people move on to other companies.  If leaders are not actively building the skills of employees, eventually that stream will run dry.  The best way to build employees is to get into the habit of providing feedback that helps them make meaningful improvements to their performance.

Providing Transformative Feedback

1) What feedback do employees absolutely need to hear?

When you are thinking about how to provide feedback, focus on the items that will make the biggest impact.  Is there something about the employee’s performance that needs to be changed?  Is there an item of performance that is very visible to others?  Focus on the one or two items that are the most meaningful to the employee’s future performance or career.  Even if you have five pieces of feedback—whittle it down to one or two.  If feedback items 3, 4, and 5 continue to persist—you will have a future opportunity to talk about those items.

In addition to corrective feedback, you should be regularly identifying positive pieces of feedback.  What do they need to hear about the positives surrounding their performance?  Make it specific and genuine.  Did you appreciate the insight they brought to the conversation at the meeting?  Tell them!  Did they do a great job fielding questions from an executive?  Tell them!  When it comes to feedback, an employee is more likely to accept and act on corrective feedback if he or she knows that their leader cares about both their strengths and their opportunities.

2) Feedback needs to be actionable.

Trivial feedback is not only easy to give, but it is often easy to put into action (i.e. make the font bigger, wear a different tie, don’t serve BBQ chips).  On the other hand, transformative feedback may be harder for an employee to translate into action.

For performance to be changed, the behavior must be in the employee’s control.  I once had a microphone malfunction during a presentation.  After the presentation, I received feedback that I needed to test the sound equipment prior to my next presentation.  I had tested the microphone and it worked fine—sometimes you cannot avoid all technical glitches.  There are many things that are in the employee’s control—how much they prepare, how they handle their emotions, how they run a meeting, etc.  Make sure that what you are giving feedback on is a behavior that the employee can change.  Be prepared to help them come up with some ways to practice or demonstrate a new behavior.

3) Have a two-way feedback discussion.

Many leaders avoid giving corrective feedback because they don’t know how the employee will react or they mistakenly think the employee doesn’t want the feedback.  In fact, a 2014 study by Zenger and Folkman found that 57% of employees preferred corrective feedback.  In that same study, employees were asked what would be most helpful to them in their career.  A full 72% said “managers providing corrective feedback” would be most helpful.

It is true that some employees avoid feedback.  If you were to dig into their avoidance, you most likely would find a negative experience with feedback.  Maybe a leader delivered feedback in a way that was hurtful and not helpful.  Maybe they were given feedback that they struggled to put into action.  Maybe the only time an employee has received feedback it was negative and never positive. 

For someone to apply feedback they must be ready to hear the advice.  Make sure the feedback you are about to give is transformative, but also think about “how” you will give feedback.   Make sure the employee is not rushed; you are not rushed, and you have thoughtfully prepared.  Think not just about the words you will say, but how they will best be “heard” by the employee. 

Next time you are about to give feedback, think about what they really need to hear, determine if the feedback is actionable, and plan to set the stage to create a two-way discussion conversation.  If you treat feedback like a “check the box” activity it is a waste your time and your employee’s time.

Sources:

Harvard Business Review – Your Employees Want the Feedback You Hate to Give