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Feedback seems to be a business activity that is often fraught – often managers don’t like giving it, employees don’t like receiving it, and it can have undesired results or no useful impact

Make feedback normal. Not a performance review

Ed Batista

About giving and receiving feedback

Feedback seems to be a business activity that is fraught with difficultly – managers don’t like giving it, employees don’t like receiving it, and it can have undesired results [1] or no useful impact – research from Gallup has found that only 26% of employees strongly agree that the feedback they receive helps them to do better at work [2]. 

This problem is likely related to the traditional management teaching of giving feedback as a ‘complement sandwich’ – and to the practice of storing up feedback for an annual performance conversation.

What we do

Our approach to feedback, and the one we focus on developing in the managers we coach and train, is that feedback should be simple, close in time to the behaviour, actionable, and as part of an open, two-way dialogue.  We emphasise developing the skills of asking for, receiving and giving feedback, as a way to improve conversations and route the performance of both managers and staff, leading to a culture where good feedback is the norm.

Bibliography

[1]	M. D. Cannon and R. Witherspoon, “Actionable feedback: Unlocking the power of learning and performance improvement” Academy of Management Perspectives Vol. 19, No. 2, 2005.
[2]	B. Wright and N Dvorak, “Feedback is not enough“