Giving Effective Feedback to Employees: Do’s and Don’ts

December 16, 2015 Management & Leadership, Performance Reviews, Teams and Organizations

The Right Way to Give Performance Feedback to an Employee

To my friends, I described it as ‘an out of body experience.’ I made the comment in reference to the annual performance review given to me by my boss a few years back. It was an hour and a half that left me dazed and confused. The reason for my harsh critique was quite simple: he was ill-prepared, could not give any specific examples of how I did, and the whole time it felt like he was talking about someone else.

He sat at another office, and was visiting from out of town to deliver performance reviews – it was one of his two visits per year. Now, to be clear, my rating was not bad; I just had no idea what he was talking about. After a 90-minute lunch at a local diner, I had nothing to take with me in terms of things I could improve upon, no insight on strengths that I should employ more, and did not receive any sort of direction for the next year. And yet, I was glad it was over.

So that you don’t give your staff members an out-of-body experience like the one I had, here are 15 tips for giving effective feedback to your employees.

Why You Need to Get it Right

Every year, most of us spend a lot of time evaluating employees and writing performance appraisals. But giving effective and constructive feedback to employees is about more than just a written document and a swift pat on the back.

Unlike my own experience a few years ago, performance appraisals are about having a genuine, well-constructed dialog with each member of your team to discuss how they are doing, areas for improvement, and what you expect from them in the next year.

Because so much effort goes into the process, the evaluation and the actual conversation, don’t blow off the feedback process. Taking the time to do it right can help steer a high caliber employee in the right direction. Giving effective feedback can also address performance problems on your team effectively.

Above all, your employees deserve it. They’ve spent the past twelve months working hard and putting in the effort to make your team successful. The least you can do is put your phone down, step away from your screen, and have a real conversation.

That said, here is how you give valuable and meaningful feedback to the people who work so hard for you:

1. Do Take Performance Reviews Seriously

Though in the grand scheme of things, sitting down with your employee for an hour or more once a year may seem like a just another task, feedback is a gift.

Performance appraisals are a mechanism to help employees learn and grow, as well as a means of forcing certain necessary conversations that we as managers would sometimes like to avoid. Take the process seriously to ensure the long-term health of your organization. Employees will notice if you’re ill-prepared.

2. Do Plan Ahead for Each Review

To get the most out of the feedback session with your employee, it’s best if you spend some time (before the meeting) going through your notes and preparing specific comments for each employee. “Winging it” is not good strategy, because it’s very likely you will leave some comments behind and miss a few important points. A full teleprompter speech is not necessary, but notes and main talking points are.

3. Do Solicit Input from Others

A good vehicle for providing good, well-rounded feedback to your employees is to get input and feedback from others. We all know you can’t be everywhere at once, so collecting input from other managers who may work with one of your employees on a certain project can give you some valuable perspective you may not otherwise have.

Further, if you do have a formal written system in which you record comments and feedback, include a few lines from the comments you received from other leaders in the business. Comprehensive feedback from multiple stakeholders ensures the employee gets perspectives from those with whom they work regularly, but who are not necessarily required to provide performance commentary.

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4. Do Set Aside a Significant Amount of Time

With all the things that go on throughout the day, finding time to spend with your employees can be tough. But setting aside sufficient time to meet with each employee will ensure you are not rushed and that the review can mature into a conversation. Nothing is more disheartening to a good employee than when their boss blows through their review in order to get to another meeting.

Consider the time you spend giving feedback to the employee an investment into the next 12 months. Although giving performance feedback to your employees should be a regular occurrence, they always tend to remember the comments you provided during their annual review.

5. Don’t Dive Right In

In order to make sure the employee absorbs the feedback you give them, don’t jump right into the commentary. It’s quite likely the employee is walking into the performance review a little uneasy. Take a few moments to break the ice and to help you both relax – talk about the game the day before, or the plan for the weekend coming up. A little chit-chat starts things off on a positive way, and eases you into the more critical aspects of the discussion.

6. Don’t Dominate the Discussion

Employee performance reviews should be two-way conversations, not monologues from you. While you are indeed providing feedback, be sure to allow the employee to respond and reply to your comments. A great way to do this is to ask coaching questions throughout the discussion.

You want the employee to respond and acknowledge your comments. This both indicates they are following along, as well as gives them a chance to ask for clarification or more detail.

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7. Do Make Eye Contact

Eye contact is extremely important when providing feedback to employees, regardless of if it’s a difficult worker or your best staffer.

Even if the conversation is a challenging one, eye contact with employees makes the feedback you give real and sincere, to both you and the employee. Even if they avoid looking at you, force yourself to look them in the eye when you’re telling them that spending all day on Facebook while at work is not acceptable.

8. Don’t Dwell on the Past

True, true, giving effective feedback to employees means you are talking about how they’ve done over the past year and identifying things they can improve upon.

But part of your conversation should also be about their future – their career interests, their goals, your vision for their future, your expectations, etc. Don’t just critique what they’ve done the past year. Treat the conversation as a moment in time, acknowledging the past, but also looking ahead toward the future.

Here are some future-oriented questions you might want to ask:

What do you see as your next step in your career?
Is there anything you’ve been exposed to now that interests you from a development standpoint?
Do you feel you’re learning in this role? If not, what can we do to improve that?
Are you at a point where you are interested in leading others?
What skills do you feel you need to develop to help you reach the next level?

9. Do Say What Needs to be Said

Performance reviews are just that: a review of an employee’s performance, conduct and body of work for the year. Though they can often be awkward for both the employee and you, both of you know the point of the discussion is to talk about their job performance. If you have a performance concern, address it. Even the most difficult conversations can be held in a professional manner.

10. Don’t Focus on the Negative

With limited exception, there are positive comments you can make to even your most difficult employees. Say what needs to be said, but balance your constructive feedback with positive and motivational commentary.

Simply dwelling on the negative will leave the employee with not much to reflect upon except for all the things they’re doing wrong. Giving positive comments to the employee is just as important, and serves as reinforcement of the things they do well.

Here are just a few examples of positive behaviors you might want to consider:

The employee’s attention to detail
How he or she handles customers
Their ability to coach and mentor their peers
His or her presentation skills
Their positive can-do attitude
The employee’s willingness to learn and improve

11. Do Use Specific Examples to Make Your Points

A critical component of giving effective feedback to employees is to use specific examples of his or her behaviors. The detailed examples you include should help illustrate both the constructive and positive comments you include in the written review.

Examples also give the employee a means of understanding to how their behaviors are perceived by others. For instance, they may see their interjection of ideas as a good thing. However, to you, interrupting an executive mid-sentence may not be acceptable conduct.

In short, using specific examples of performance behaviors makes the feedback real and tangible to your employee. And, frankly, it assures the employee you’ve been paying attention.

12. Don’t Fall Into the ‘Weakness’ Trap

Giving effective feedback to employees means you provide perspective – both positive and negative. Too many managers equate feedback with correcting weaknesses. However, everyone is different and sometimes an employee’s ‘weakness’ is a deeply rooted component of his or her personality.

Rather than trying to correct weaknesses, focus on maximizing strengths. By including comments and highlighting an employee’s strengths you focus him or her on continuing to use those strengths in the future.

Please Answer This Question in Support of our Management Research!

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Which best describes the work-from-home policy at your firm?

We have a highly virtual workforce
People can work from home whenever they want
Some people work from home, depending on their boss or job
From time to time, but not too often
We do not really encourage or want people working from home
Rarely, or not possible for our organization

13. Don’t Generalize Where Not Appropriate

Generalized observations are bad form. Using words like always, never, or usually in regards to an employee’s performance may not truly capture an accurate story and should be avoided.

For instance, if an employee came late to one important meeting, don’t tell them they need to work on their timeliness. However, if it was something that’s been observed by others repeatedly or otherwise recorded, it may be ok.

Generalities, when unfounded, can be dangerous because they may lead the employee to believe you do not see their contributions. Only generalize when you have the data to stand behind.

14. Do Document Your Comments

Employees are people and will react to feedback in different ways.

Though some companies may be less formal, it’s always a good idea to document employee feedback such that the individual can go and read comments later.

Even if you don’t have a formal tool at your company, writing down your employee performance feedback serves as a formal record of the conversation.

Further, some employees will simply not hear everything you’re saying because getting in-person feedback can be awkward. A documented set of comments will give that individual a chance to read and digest the feedback later when they’re in a more private setting.

15. Do Ask for Feedback on Your Assessment

At the end of the review, specifically ask the employee if they disagree with any of the comments, or if they feel the feedback was fair and reasonable.

This is a great way to let the employee speak his or her mind, express any concerns or disagreement. It’s not about having them shower you with compliments on how accurate your review was. Rather, their response helps you gauge if your comments were appropriate and fact-based, and to make sure both of you are aligned on the overall discussion.

Best Practices in Giving Employees Performance Feedback

Like you, employees spend a lot of time at work and giving their best effort. Be sure to take performance reviews seriously and take the necessary time to give your staff members genuine, constructive feedback on their work. Not only does this help them improve and grow professionally, but it also helps you enhance the overall capabilities of your team, one person at a time.