How Much Do You Really Know About Giving People Feedback?

Feedback is defined as providing someone with your observations about something that you witnessed in order to provide him or her with information he or she can use to repeat success, improve performance, and correct deficiencies.

What Gallup Says About Feedback

The Gallup Organization has been tracking employee engagement for several decades, and their research consistently shows the correlation between employee engagement and receiving effective feedback.

Here’s some recent guidance from Gallup on how employees perceive feedback: “Employees are hungry for performance feedback from their leaders, managers, and peers. They want to gain insights that advance their abilities and future potential. And more than ever, employee feedback is pivotal for engagement. Gallup data show that 80% of employees who say they have received meaningful feedback in the past week are fully engaged.”

How much does feedback cost? The breath in your lungs and a commitment to see people grow and reach their potential. It is one of the most cost-effective methods to develop people known to man.

Put Your Knowledge to the Test

Take our 9-question true/false quiz about giving effective feedback without looking at the answers. Then see the answer key for how you did.

Giving feedback is an important management and leadership skill. If you are a member of management, recognize that your people will naturally look to you for feedback on how they are doing. Your feedback can build a sense of confidence in others and communicate that you care about them. Conversely, a lack of feedback can create a feeling that what one does is not valued, nor the supervisor committed to his or her success.

Now for the answer key:

1. F – Employees simply don’t understand where they stand with you when they hear nothing – many may assume that you have little interest in them.
2. T – Recognition is consistently ranked in the top three while money is often in the next tier down.
3. T – Non-specific thanks puzzles people as to why they are being thanked, while insincere thanks can feel a bit manipulative.
4. T – When superior effort goes unnoticed, people wonder why they should bother pushing themselves when their supervisor seems not to care.
5. F – Recognition is seen by most people as evidence you see value in them and what they do.
6. T – When feedback is balanced between being positive, instructive, and corrective, people are more willing to hear it and accept it. Conversely, if the only feedback they receive is corrective, people begin to believe their supervisor does not see them as a productive and valued employee.
7. F – When receiving feedback, it is the specifics that tell people that you were paying close attention to them, which makes the feedback more sincere and genuine. On the other hand, general generic comments like “great job” are often seen as insincere.
8. T – A sincere, from the heart THANK YOU tells people that you value and respect them.
9. T – Always tie specific performance to how it impacts the whole team in order to foster teamwork. Connecting someone’s work to the team helps them to see the importance of excellent work.

Bottom Line

Feedback is one of the most powerful forces to move people to action. Yet there are still misconceptions about when and how to deliver feedback. Successful leaders seek to master its use.

This article was excerpted from Module 6 (Staff Development & Performance Management) of our acclaimed leadership development program, Leading Through People™.