Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Managers, you really can empower your team for success and cultivate a motivated and engaged workforce. Follow along as we uncover five steps to building a productive work environment.
Employees want to hear feedback about their performance. This isn’t a generational thing. Specifically, individuals like getting well-thought out feedback, with an emphasis on the “well-thought out” part.
When it comes to employee feedback, it can be easy to fall into the trap of not giving enough positive feedback. You know, the whole “No news is good news.” thing. But “no news is good news” isn’t a feedback program. Sure, organizations must give employees negative / corrective feedback when necessary. However, if the only time we call an employee is to deliver negative feedback, then they will avoid interacting with managers.
If there’s one thing that organizations could do to improve the performance of their team, it would be to focus on giving effective positive feedback. Here are five steps that can help:
- Deliver timely feedback. When an employee does something great, tell them. Don’t wait weeks or months. There’s a connection between positively reinforcing behavior and encouraging it to continue. For instance, use a regularly scheduled one-on-one meeting to let an employee know about their performance.
- Be specific. There are times when the ubiquitous “Good job!” is acceptable. However, for real impact, feedback must be specific. Telling an employee that “I really appreciate getting your TPS report two days early. It helped me finalize my end of month reports.” conveys specifics that will be remembered.
- Give it value. Speaking of specifics, make sure to connect positive performance to the employee or company’s goals. Employee engagement happens when a person can connect their work to the bottom-line. So, it’s valuable to tell an employee their actions “helped close the deal” or “saved the department money”.
- Don’t fake it. Employees want genuine, authentic feedback. They can tell when it’s forced or insincere. Find your own words to express positive feedback to employees. Remember the more you deliver positive feedback, the easier it will be.
- Use the right medium. Every employee has their preferred ways of being recognized for good performance. Some are okay with public displays, others, not so much. When delivering positive feedback, use a medium that the employee is comfortable with. And if you’re not sure, ask them. “Hey – I’d like to recognize the great work you did on the client proposal. Are you okay with me bringing it up at our next department meeting?”
One more thing…these feedback tips are not exclusive to managers. The same principles apply with peer-to-peer feedback. Be timely and specific. Deliver it in an authentic way using the right medium. Organizations can use this as the foundation for their internal feedback model. Positive feedback is a powerful tool that employees want to hear.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby after speaking at the HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas, NV
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