We are now seeing an emerging trend in high-performing organisations where all employees, not just the leaders, are being taught how to give great feedback and also how to receive feedback with equal candor and grace.
Organisations that do this are in their ‘feedback flow’. But there are far too less that are gaining this as their competitive edge.
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Why is this and how do we fix it?
Learn to value organisational feedback
Too few organisations and individuals understand the value and power of giving and receiving feedback. They don’t see it as their lever to improve engagement and productivity with their employees, customers and stakeholders. Ask your people want they want and need through an engagement survey. I’ve not seen a survey to date that says “we don’t need anymore feedback”.
Training is not enough
We send our people to a training program in the hope they will come back transformed and able to tackle all issues, to create outcomes not outbreaks. Organisations need to develop a program to embed the learning outside the training alone to ensure we get the best return on investment for people’s time and the organisation’s money.
When we get clever about how to embed the learning, the change then becomes effortless and the cultures is able to self sustain. These are the great places to work.
Overhaul performance reviews
We set up bi-annual or yearly performance reviews thinking it’s enough to drive performance and sustain people’s engagement. It’s not enough and worse still, they often have the opposite effect. If you are bold enough as the many of the ‘best places to work’ then drop your performance reviews, after you have equipped your people with the confidence and skills to do it in the everyday.
Give and receive
The people who are giving the feedback and the people who receive it do not ‘own their stuff’. That is, they are not self aware to understand the impact they create when they deliver poor feedback or react inappropriately.
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Ensure that your training and expectations are not just focused on those giving the feedback but those who receive it.
Ensure your program includes focusing on individual triggers and why we react the way we do. Giving and receiving feedback is not about a script. It’s more profound than this.
Georgia Murch is an expert in teaching individuals how to have the tough conversations and create feedback cultures in organisations. She is the author of ‘Fixing Feedback’ and a highly engaging speaker. Visit www.georgiamurch.com or email georgia@georgiamurch.com