Are you scared of negative feedback?
New research has found that employees think that their managers are not very effective when it comes to giving negative feedback.
Andy Clare, partner at Shine Feedback, which carried out the research, said that over the last five years the company has been analysing what employees think are their managers' strengths and where they are less effective.
According to Shine Feedback – a company with 14 years experience in employee research - managers are not finding the time to sit down and talk with individual employees about their performance.
Following the perennial study, Mr Clare said: "About four or five years ago what was emerging was people saying, 'In terms of strengths, my manager is very good at setting my objectives and very good at making sure that we know that our customers are important'."
However, he added that employees believe that what managers are less good at is coaching them and helping them develop skills.
Mr Clare added that research showed managers were not particularly good at having conversations with people when their performance was not good enough.
How do you handle giving negative feedback?
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
YouTube
Comments
I remember having a conversation with some managers who worked within government departments a few years ago. It was quite fascinating that they appear to have picked up on the importance of giving praise but as a result had totally neglected the need to tell people when they were not hitting the mark. Indeed it had become a bit of a taboo.
They were most surprised when I suggested that telling people where they fell short was an important part of feedback - convinced it would just create negativity and reduced performance. I asked them how they expected people to raise the bar and rise to the challenges they faced if they were told what they were already doing was good and that they were being rewarded with pay and bonuses for the level they were already achieving despite this not being good enough? This seemed to perplex them which was worrying.
There are some managers who use the 'praise sandwhich' technique - tell them something positive, then a negative and finish on a positive. The problem with this is that very few managers can do this effectively. What the employee hears is confusing - praise, a negative and then praise again - and generally comes away with an overview that everything was alright! The negative feedback is lost and nothing much changes.
Whilst I wouldn't want to detract from the importance of positive feedback - and some managers need to learn how to do this more often (but properly rather than lip service) - it is also vital to give negative feedback too. This can best be done in a coaching style if possible - getting the employee to explore where the performance might not be so good, why and what they can do to fix it - but in some instances a straight tell might be best. It is important to focus on facts - what actions they did or did not take and the impacts, etc - in order to achieve the best outcome.
There is no doubt that many managers could benefit from a coaching course which would also then benefit their team. Maybe some 360 degree feedback might highlight their own need for development as the research has shown.
I believe any feedback given has to be constructive whether positive-do more of-or negative-do less of/improve. Managers need to move away from tick box reviews and be more of a coach/mentor.
Feedback is so critical to helping people be the best they can be and often it is poorly handled because it is left too long and the manager gets increasingly nervous about saying what needs to be said. The question asked by Aditi is "how do we handle giving negative feedback?" My process is:
1. Evaluate the quality of the relationship - if you have a solid relationship you can just give it, resolve and plan for progress - really quickly and easily. If feedback is something that is just part of your relationship it makes it so much easier. For example if weekly you ask individuals in your team something like 'on a scale of 1 - 10 how well do you rate our .... relationship this week/ the way I've supported you to be your best this week/ ability to hit KPIs etc etc, any of these, then feedback is just the way you all grow.
2. Consider the needs of the individual in the context of their job, e.g. if their job is about communication and you give feedback that they didn't listen or pick up on the non -verbal clues - how well do you think that person will perform in thier next task? Probably not very well. So, in that instance it is about redirection and coaching - who gains from telling someone that they didn't do something that they can't change? No-one, so in that instance a coaching style and helping people see what they can do is far more important.
Giving relevant, timely and constructive feedback is arguably the most fundamental and powerful of management/leadership skills. And yet it is so often left to annual appraisals. Managers shy away from discussions about performance for all sorts of reasons (lack of time, not wanting to demotivate, concern over the response, lack of confidence etc) and yet most employees truly value feedback that is supportive, given with the best of intentions and helps them develop. Individuals want to be successful. Time spent on regular “debriefing” pays huge dividends in terms of establishing trust, increasing morale/confidence and improving overall productivity.
Preparation is key – is the feedback specific? can the person act on it? what is your motivation for giving the feedback? what is the outcome you are looking for?
However, managers can take the pressure off themselves by encouraging their teams to self assess, thereby facilitating learning and ownership. Ask lots of open, coaching style questions about what has gone well, what (with the benefit of hindsight) they would have done differently, what they have learned and would like to take forward etc. I usually find that if you operate in a no-blame culture, people will open up and can often be harder on themselves than anyone else. The task then is more of one of reality checking, and agreeing how to move forward.
Helping people to seek and consider feedback is an important role of the manager (and something the manager should be modelling). Such open communication is key for all relationships and it is interesting to reflect on what conversations we find difficult and why.
It is difficult but it is in fact the most important as from the negative comes the opportunity to improve. A key fact is that if you do not do this it is not just the employee in question you are letting down but also other team members who may be having to make up for something he/she is not doing correctly.
The process you adopt can be as outlined here but should be part of an ongoing 1:1 with your direct reports in terms of looking at how achievement of goals is progressing, how development is going and what good/bad events or circumstances are in play.
I try to do this on a monthly basis but with a global team it is tough. What is hardest is making sure the employee themselves make the time for it. It may be your job as a leader but it is difficult to make the horse drink after leading it to water. Ultimately I do include the necessity to carry out "green n clean" reviews in the targetting.