How to GIVE Feedback When You Are The Leader

What really motivates people? Feedback. Performance feedback has been called the number one motivator of people. Why? Think about a time when someone really praised you for achieving a goal. How did you feel? Energized? Did you want to do it again?

Think of a time when someone gave you genuine constructive feedback about what you were doing wrong. How did you feel? Disappointed, but determined to do better? Contrast these with a time you did good work and no one noticed, or a time that you did not do a good job and were criticized.

The Power of Feedback

A leader's success is defined by his or her employees' success. Employees want and need to know what they do right and where to improve.

A recent survey by HBR found 52.5% of people felt negative feedback helped them more, if it is done constructively. The rest felt positive feedback was more helpful. There were some different perspectives by age and country. Only 12% were surprised by negative feedback, implying that many people felt they knew how well they performed. 72% say managers can be more effective by giving better feedback (another study found that the best managers ask for more feedback; see my post-How to GET Feedback When You Are the Leader).

For years, one of the largest automobile manufacturer’s performance review system required its managers get the highest rating in order to advance in their careers. Managers’ ratings were based on how high their employee ratings were. Soon, nearly all managers were giving and receiving the highest ratings. The system’s lack of specific feedback created cultural mediocrity – not continuous improvement. All the while, the company was losing market share to competitors, and eventually went bankrupt and needed a bailout.

Baseball player Kirby Puckett helped the Minnesota Twins win two World Series titles. When he first came up to the big leagues, everyone could see he had talent. Twins hitting coach Tony Oliva helped Kirby polish his game by standing behind the batting cage when he took extra practice to talk about the game and give him constant feedback on his techniques. The rest is history as Kirby became a perennial All-Star and was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.

Olympic athletes train 10,000 hours for 4 years to compete in the games. Their coaches give them relentless feedback to help them excel. How many employees get this kind of support in their jobs to help them succeed? Too many managers use a once or twice a year performance review for giving the good or bad news.The best managers give feedback naturally in their regular communication or coaching with employees. Consider these feedback guidelines.

Feedback Guidelines

• Give it as soon as possible. Be sure your intention is to be honest and helpful.
• Be prepared. Learn what is really happening before you speak.
• Be specific-negative or positive: “You have to do a better job,” or "Good job," is too broad. “I want you to improve handling of customer complaints by asking a few more questions. For example…” or, "You did a nice job on summarizing the details of the market study. Particularly helpful was...thank you for the effort."
• When giving negative feedback about poor performance, do it privately.
• Use “I” statements to own the feedback. Don’t say, “Others said,” or “We think…”
• Eliminate the feedback sandwich: positive comment, negative comment and positive again. It sends a confusing message.
• Check for understanding, if needed. “Can you summarize what we discussed?”
• Pay attention to the person’s emotional response, especially when giving negative feedback. Say, “You seem concerned about this." or, "What questions or comments do you have?”
• Offer additional help or follow-up.
• Encourage the person to seek others’ feedback and to keep an open mind to learning about other ways to get better.

Some managers do not do much at all with feedback. Others try to sweet talk people with recognition fluff. Yet, The Jackson Organization Study shows that praise and recognition of employees will improve perceived leadership effectiveness and a company's bottom-line. The CEO of IKEA, Anders Dahlvig, concurs in his book by saying, "Recognition is the greatest motivator of all."

Managers frequently do not give enough feedback.Or, they give too much negative feedback in harmful ways: blaming, criticizing, yelling and threatening. This leaves the employee dejected, resentful and less productive. Research shows many managers do not know how or want to give negative feedback, so they delay it or save it up. Some use the seagull management method. A seagull flies in, makes a lot of noise, dumps on everyone and then leaves.

In conclusion, feedback with integrity is either about redirecting or recognizing an employee to help the person succeed. Bill Gates said it nicely, "We all need people who will give us feedback. That's how we improve."

By the way, do you want to learn how to increase employee engagement and inspire your team? Check out our complimentary eBook: How to Motivate-No-Inspire People.

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