5 Ways to Give Performance Feedback
Giving timely and valuable performance feedback to employees may be the most important duty of a management level role. It’s vital to give feedback that focuses on performance over personality while establishing clear goals for the future.
If you’re looking to increase the success of the feedback you deliver, try implementing these easy but key performance feedback tips;
Detailed and Clear Feedback
When it comes to giving feedback, be sure to avoid roundabout comments; whether in the moment or during a performance review, be direct and clear about the feedback you are sharing. Where possible, use examples for reference that support these feedback points.
Focus on Both Strengths and Areas for Improvement
It’s said that criticism is best received when delivered in conjunction with points of praise. Whether you’re a fan of the compliment sandwich, or you prefer to deliver feedback in a less “pro-con-pro” way, its important to mix positive and constructive notes in a feedback meeting.
Be sure to highlight the team member’s key strength or an area that they’ve excelled in since the last review meeting. Deliver any areas for improvement you’ve identified in clear language. Round out the conversation with a final positive comment or acknowledgement of success. By delivering both strength and growth areas to an employee, it sets the framework for what they’re doing well and where they can place some additional workplace focus.
Open the Floor
“Anonymous Feedback Jar” aside, there’s no better time to find out how you’re stacking up as an employer than in a one-to-one performance review. Be sure to take the time to open the floor for your teammates to express how they’re feeling in the workplace. Listen to their concerns and celebrate in their triumphs, as your team is the livelihood to the organization’s success. By listening to the feedback you receive and then putting elements into action where applicable you’re further building the lines of communication and working relationship.
Document the Reviews
It’s going to be hard to base progress off of memory alone. Save a blank Performance Feedback Template that you can use in each employee’s review to ensure you’re covering important growth metrics and measurable milestones each and every review.
The power here is in the preparation; prepare for the review by pulling the previous meeting’s notes. What commitments were made, have the set milestones been achieved and what areas of improvement are still in need of attention?
Make a Plan
With the feedback delivered, decide together where the opportunities for growth are and how key skill sets can be used going forward from your performance review. End your meeting on a positive note and don’t forget to book the next review into the calendar. Time sure flies when you’re having fun; a missed feedback review is missed opportunity for business development and strengthened working relationships.
Make 2020 your most successful year with these helpful feedback tips, and many other recruitment strategies found at the KAN Recruitment Blog Space.
