However, not all feedback is created equal. Though constructive feedback is actionable and specific, destructive feedback is harsh and harmful. Destructive feedback uses negative language and makes employees feel worse after hearing it.
Good feedback can help employees do their jobs better while boosting their perception of the organization. In the long run, embracing a culture of clear, constructive feedback could lower turnover rates as your team members are happy to work for your managers and leadership.
Key elements of constructive feedback
Constructive feedback is made of multiple elements to increase its effectiveness. When one of these elements is missing, the feedback won’t be as valuable. Use this mental checklist whenever you are giving feedback.
- Be specific: Provide clear examples and go into detail when giving feedback.
- Stay objective: The feedback process should not change, no matter what you think of each employee.
- Focus on employee behavior: Criticizing personality traits isn’t providing feedback. Focus on your employee’s actions.
- Keep it timely: Providing feedback in a timely manner will help employees remember their past actions and apply the advice in the future.
- Make it actionable: Help your employees apply the feedback with action items they can follow.
For example, it is more effective to provide feedback mid-project with steps employees can make to adjust their workflows than to let them complete the work and then criticize it.
Common pitfalls to avoid when providing feedback
Many leaders mean well when they give feedback to their employees, but that doesn’t mean they do it effectively. Here are a few mistakes managers make when they give feedback:
- They soften the blow too much: They might speak indirectly, which can be confusing, vague, or misleading.
- They wait for formal performance reviews: Gallup highlights how fast feedback in small doses is often more effective than waiting for annual reviews where managers create extensive reports.
- They attack the person: Instead of highlighting behaviors and actions, managers sometimes focus on the personality of the employee they are trying to support.
Fortunately, it’s often possible to rephrase criticism to make it more constructive. Adam Grant, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, recommends leading with the following sentence, “I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.”
Best practices for delivering constructive feedback
Providing feedback isn’t easy and there are several considerations to keep in mind as you develop and present feedback to your team. Here are a few things to keep in mind and recommended practices to follow.
The feedback sandwich method
With the feedback sandwich method, you provide two positive statements around a negative one. This provides a gentler feedback option to people who might be sensitive to criticism. However, there are several drawbacks to this option.
First, constructive comments could get overlooked, which means your employee doesn’t focus on what they need to improve on. Second, the compliments may be irrelevant to the main issue.
If you want to use this method effectively, focus on one topic. For example:
- Do: I appreciate how engaging you are with customers; however, please try to stay on-task while helping them. We appreciate how you help so many people each day, and a little focus will help you reach even more customers!
- Don’t: I appreciate how engaging you are with customers; however, you arrive late every day and other people have to pick up your slack. Thank you for being so good at customer service!
The SBI (situation, behavior, impact) model
Another option is to use the SBI model, which is designed to focus on specific occurrences as examples for improvement.
- Situation: Highlight a specific situation where you noticed the behavior. (“During our team meeting yesterday…”)
- Behavior: Focus on a behavior you want to address. (“I noticed you kept looking at your phone…”)
- Impact: Illustrate how the behavior affects those around them. (“You seemed distracted and forgot my instructions.”)
After reviewing the SBI, you can move on to action items to address the behavior in the future.
The main benefit of using this structured approach is that it gives leaders a pattern to follow. It also keeps feedback timely, detailed, and actionable.
Active listening and two-way communication
Another thing to remember is that feedback is a dialogue, not a monologue. Let your employees ask questions, provide input, and reflect on their actions.
As a leader, you can pause while giving feedback and ask open-ended questions so your team members can share their insights. Listen to what they say and respond clearly. When both parties show respect and practice active listening, they can learn from each other.
Tools and techniques for tracking employee performance
Employers who want to build feedback habits can start by improving how they track employee performance. This can help you identify patterns that should be addressed. There are several things to keep in mind as you improve employee tracking, which can help you streamline this process.
Implementing regular check-ins and 1-on-1 meetings
Implement regular check-ins or one-on-one meetings with your team members. These informal meetings serve three feedback purposes:
- You can provide fast feedback because the meeting is only focused on recent performance.
- You can embrace the SBI method by providing detailed feedback from recent events. Coaching can happen in real time in some industries.
- You can make meetings opportunities for employees to share their thoughts, ask questions, and voice concerns.
Many leaders develop a two-part structure during one-on-one meetings. They start with anything they need to address and the second part is given to the employee to bring up their own agenda items. Topics can include technical questions, career advancement opportunities, and interpersonal issues.
Utilizing performance management software
Investing in performance software can help you collect large datasets that help identify trends. Bring up these trends when giving feedback to your team. The data proves that you aren’t giving feedback on outlying occurrences.
A great example of this is fleet management in the trucking industry. Electronic logging devices (ELDs) can collect and organize data for you. Not only will a modern ELD collect valuable insights, but it will also allow you to provide real-time coaching to help your staff. You can use data to develop feedback and provide it when you need to.
Measuring the impact of your feedback practices
As you start developing healthy feedback habits, take steps to track success. If your feedback is actionable and timely, you should see improvements in employee workflows over time.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) for feedback effectiveness
KPIs are measurable insights that reflect company performance. As you give feedback, consider how changes in behavior can be measured and tracked. For example, if you talk to an employee about arriving late every day, a relevant KPI would be the number of days they arrive late after your discussion.
The KPIs you set will depend on your industry and the feedback you provide. You might collect this data manually by observing employees or tracking data sets through your performance management tools.
Gathering employee input on feedback processes
You can also ask your employees for feedback on your process. Send out team surveys or put together focus groups with small teams so they can share their ideas. Try to ask open-ended questions to guide the discussions.
After collecting feedback, apply it. Your goal is to provide accurate feedback to which your team will listen and respond. If changing your processes makes giving feedback more effective while boosting team morale, it’s worth the extra effort.
Offering employee incentives for performance
The final step is to incentivize people to do their best. Consider investing in incentive programs that tie performance to bonuses or extra paid time off. While good feedback and compliments can make employees feel valued, money also goes a long way.
These programs can reward employees for their performance and improvements. This shows you notice when people accept your feedback and apply it to their workflows.
If you want people to listen to your feedback, reflect on how you’re giving it. Follow the best practices discussed here to make your feedback more timely, actionable, and objective. You might be surprised how changes in feedback habits improve company culture.
