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Is there such a thing as a bad employee? If you, as a manager, hired an employee based on particular skills and experiences, you have already decided that they’re right for the job. They passed the first stage and now it’s time for them to show their skills and achieve their goals.
But before they can deliver excellent results, they need to settle in, understand an organization’s code of conduct and familiarize themselves with its processes and procedures. Employees require training and feedback to be high performing individuals.
A leader or a manager primes their employees to perform well, stay motivated and seek feedback. Employee feedback helps a professional grow and progress.
Read on to discover more about the importance of positive and negative, employee feedback and the best ways to give and receive feedback in the workplace.
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What Is Employee Feedback?
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Examples Of Employee Feedback
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How Does Employee Feedback Help Improve Teamwork?
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What About Negative Employee Feedback?
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Manage Feedback Like A Pro
What Is Employee Feedback?
Employee feedback is when an employer communicates their expectations, observations and suggestions to their employees. The purpose of employee feedback is to help them get better at what they do and deliver improved results.
Say you’ve been working in an organization for 3 months. Not once has your senior given you any feedback about your work style, results or things you can do to improve. Not only is this disheartening, but it also might leave you with unanswered questions about your job performance.
As employees, it’s critical to understand whether the way we work aligns with our organization. Effective employee feedback can help you answer the following questions:
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Am I doing what’s expected of me or do I need to take more initiative or improve my skills?
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Did I do enough on the project last quarter and is my manager happy with the results?
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Do I need to communicate more with my team members?
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Are there any opportunities for growth and development or will I be stuck in the same role forever?
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What can I expect from my job in the coming year in terms of opportunities for promotions, relocation, or even transitioning to a managerial role?
Many people have unanswered job-related questions they’re too afraid to ask. Proper feedback channels can encourage you to ask these questions. Alternatively, if you’re a manager, give your employees a chance to raise their concerns in a space where they feel comfortable.
Examples Of Employee Feedback
In an organization, feedback channels, or methods, may vary. Some organizations have a one-way feedback channel—where a manager tells an employee what they think. Other organizations may encourage 360-degree feedback—where employees seek feedback from managers, peers and juniors. The most effective feedback process is two-way communication where you give feedback but are also open to receive feedback.
Let’s look at several examples of employee feedback to understand what works for you.
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Employee Performance Evaluation
One of the most common examples of employee feedback is employee performance evaluation. Many organizations use this method to evaluate, assess and monitor their employees’ growth, performance and improvement areas. A performance evaluation may be done weekly, monthly or quarterly giving you a chance to discuss future goals. You can follow the SMART (Specific-Measurable-Achievable-Relevant-Time-Bound) approach to set goals for employees in this type of evaluation.
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Regular Feedback
Regular feedback is one of the more effective and more inclusive examples of employee feedback. Managers give regular updates to employees about their performance, new job roles and learning and development opportunities. It’s a quick and effective way to stay on top of things, make employees feel like their contributions are valued and also give them a chance to address their concerns, if any.
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One-Way Employee Feedback
Not the most effective but widely used, a one-way feedback channel is based on authority and rank. This is where a manager gives feedback to their employees rather than engaging in a conversation. An employee may not get a chance to raise their concerns, ask questions or get their points across. One-way feedback is a missed opportunity to learn more about your employee or team member.
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Employee Performance Improvement Plan
Sometimes an employee may not perform as expected. If they make repeated mistakes or skimp on their deliverables, they may be asked to engage in a performance improvement plan. A PIP is a document that lists what an employee needs to do to improve their performance or they may even be let go. It requires regular check-ins, clearly defined goals and updates to keep track of what’s being done.
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360-Degree Feedback
A 360-degree feedback technique is when an employee seeks feedback on their performance, skills, strengths, weaknesses and improvement areas from everyone they work with. This type of feedback remains anonymous. It helps employees make sense of what they can do to be better at their jobs. This is also one of the most effective examples of employee feedback as you’re able to figure out what you’re doing right, what you can do to improve and your abilities.
Positive feedback examples for employees help you understand the importance of communicating what you think about your team. The efficiency of an employee who has no idea whether they’re even doing what’s required as compared to someone who knows just what needs to be done is significantly lower.
If you don’t inform your employee that their performance is lacking or up to the mark, you can’t expect them to deliver quality work, nor can you drive peak performance. You have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Communication is key when it comes to getting everyone on the same page. Ultimately, everyone needs to work together to achieve organizational goals.
How Does Employee Feedback Help Improve Teamwork?
Another positive side effect of sound employee feedback is effective teamwork and collaboration. Think about regular feedback in your team. As a manager, if you’re getting daily updates on work progress, employee relationships and concerns, you’re well aware of how your team is functioning.
Say you’ve noticed two employees not getting along with each other. If you ignore this issue until it escalates, you can be sure it’ll start affecting their performance. Employee feedback helps you monitor what needs to be resolved, improved or changed.
Here’s how employee feedback can improve teamwork:
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Problem Solving
Open feedback channels help you understand how your teammates work. You become familiar with their work style and way of thinking. This eventually comes in handy when you have to solve complex problems. For instance, you may be working on something and you know someone on your team who’s keen to work on that same project. If you hit a snag, you can reach out to them and ask for their help.
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Brainstorming
Brainstorming is all about open and honest communication where everyone gets a chance to put their points on the table. Positive feedback examples for employees often encourage them to speak up in a group. It empowers them to give ideas and opinions on certain projects. They have the confidence to get their points across.
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Conflict Resolution
Employee feedback is one of the most effective ways to resolve conflicts in teams. Managers can help employees negotiate and come to a win-win solution. If someone’s having trouble working with their peers, communicating this to their managers is a way to resolve the matter. Rather than letting it fester, it’s better to address conflict as and when it arises and that’s possible with regular feedback.
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Improved Communication
Effective communication is a direct outcome of employee feedback. You have to prepare for feedback, make points and ask relevant questions in a professional manner. Communicating with your manager or employees helps you improve your communication skills. You learn how to speak well, listen well and more importantly read non-verbal cues like gestures, body language and facial expressions.
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Interpersonal Relationships
Feedback helps you improve your interpersonal relationships. It’s similar to building trust in your personal relationships as well. When you talk about things like how you can improve or how you can help your employees improve, it gives you a chance to understand others. You actively listen to them, help them if they need it and meet one another halfway. Interpersonal relationships are the glue that holds teams together.
Teamwork is what makes an organization successful. The way you work with others to achieve similar goals is what impacts your performance the most. With feedback channels, you can easily resolve conflicts and solve problems, communicate with your team and learn to listen to others in the process.
What About Negative Employee Feedback?
Feedback isn’t always about positive feedback examples for employees. There’s such a thing as negative feedback. It doesn’t mean that as a boss or a manager you discipline your employees or create a culture of fear. Instead, it’s about discussing your employee’s weaknesses and how they can improve. Effective feedback always ends with actionable items and goal setting.
Examples of negative employee feedback are discussing why an employee couldn’t meet their targets or if an employee needed to improve their communication skills. It may also be to shed light on an employee’s behavior in the workplace like missing deadlines, making inappropriate remarks or not getting along with others. Negative employee feedback is also a chance to help your employees be better at what they do. You can use this as an opportunity to guide and mentor them.
Manage Feedback Like A Pro
Examples of employee feedback help you understand what you can do to transform your organizational culture. Building teamwork, improving essential workplace skills and understanding others are elements of a healthy work environment. You can learn more about this with Harappa’s Managing Teamwork course. Frameworks such as the GRIN (Goals-Roles-Interdependence-Norms) framework will teach you how to form effective teams. Understand different work styles and maximize your team’s strengths for optimal outcomes. Enroll today and learn how to be a reliable manager and team player!
Explore Harappa Diaries to learn more about topics such as Elton Mayo’s Human Relations Theory, the Max Weber Theory Of Bureaucracy, What Is Cooperative Learning and Management By Objectives to foster a team culture that helps individuals maximize their potential.
