It takes thought and planning to deliver valuable feedback in a neutral manner to drive performance improvement. A blog post from Select International discusses three steps managers can take to strengthen the feedback process with employees.
1. Create an environment that's conducive to feedback. The workplace should promote learning to better achieve organizational and individual goals. These types of environments make feedback easily accessible and salient, according to the blog post. This encourages employees to actively seek feedback, and those who do so tend to have higher performance.
2. The degree of performance improvement depends on the content of the feedback. Employers should avoid comparing an employee to his or her peers. Instead, feedback should be kept relatively neutral. It should also focus on a task. "Individuals are less likely to accept feedback when it is focused on the self, rather than the task, and when compared to peers it can hurt individuals' self-concepts," according to the blog post.
3. But while focusing on content, also consider delivery. Maintain a sense of respect throughout. Even if the feedback content is challenging, a sense of composure can reduce employee reaction. Prepare for the meeting and begin with the employee's strengths, then move into areas for development. "It's often the case that providing a few unfavorable statements or areas for development motivates employees to make changes and therefore is a critical part of the session," according to the blog post. Finally, end by creating goals and long-term steps for development.