There is nothing more difficult for the management in a business than learning how to give proper feedback. It is easy to give someone negative feedback on their performance as an employee. The true show of skill in leadership is to do it in a way that feels constructive. Once you learn how to do this, you will be creating corrective feedback. If in doubt, our HR Consultants can help ensure that you cover all required bases.
There are many mistakes made by managers when they are attempting to correct issues with employees. The good news is that you can easily turn those mistakes into very reliable strategies for feedback that help your business grow.
The following six tips are going to be optimal to help you achieve the best results when implementing corrective feedback.
1. Frequency of feedback
There are many business owners that decide to give their employees feedback on their performance only once every six months to a year. This is a significantly long period of time to wait for this interaction. It is a much better idea to approach this on a weekly, or at the very least, monthly basis. Ideally, feedback and more importantly, corrective feedback should be provided every time it is required.
2. Learn to focus your feedback on the task or behavior
Always avoid making things personal and criticizing your employee. A good example is to say, “I think I could share a few ideas on how to make this even better” instead of saying “you made a mistake, this is how you do it”. You can see how the first approach makes this a much more amicable experience. Not only that, but it makes the employees pay attention and maintains high morale. This is essential if you want to see better performance in the near future.
3. Use the traffic light method for feedback
There are some situations when feedback is given without maintaining any consistency. This means that people start with positive feedback, then switch to something negative, then back to positive, and so on. This creates a sense of disorientation in the employee and it makes feedback sessions dreadful. Avoid making that mistake by utilising the method below or alternatively one of our consultants can also be of assistance.
The best way to avoid this is to give feedback with the traffic light method. This means you will start with green, then yellow, and finally red.
• Green would be something relating to the good work that the employee did in any given project.
• Yellow could be a suggestion on something that could be done slightly better or enhanced in some way.
• Red is for the feedback relating to something that is not correct and could have a negative effect on the business.
4. Keep things authentic
It is always important not to give exaggerated high praises to people on any job well done. For example, saying something like “You are the greatest and we would never be in business without you” is a sure way to sound disingenuous.
In contrast, saying something along the lines of “You did a great job with this and it sets a great standard for your future work and that of your peers” is a much more convincing and honest approach. It praises, but it also reminds the employee of the importance of keeping the momentum going.
5. Use the feedforward interview method
Researchers came up with a great method that makes use of positive psychology. Our hr support services utilise this method to ask the employees what they feel is working for them and use that feedback to find ways to support future efforts.
6. Allow a feed up culture
Not to confuse this with “fed up” because that is the last thing you want your employees to feel. The “feed up” culture is one that allows constant feedback from the bottom to the top. This means that everyone from the receptionist to the person running copies at the printer should feel confident about providing feedback.
Final thoughts
Corrective feedback is something that comes with many layers. We hope that these six tips gave you some useful material to consider implementing in your business. At HR Expertise, our HR consultants in Melbourne and across Australia support the delivery of corrective feedback. Contact us today, we would love to work with you.
Cedric has 13+ years of demonstrated experience as a senior HR generalist with a broad commercial and project-driven background within leading global organisations across a range of industries. He is qualified with an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business (AIB), an Advanced Diploma of Management specialising in Human Resources and an HR Consulting – Business Partnering course from the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI).