Feedback is the shortest letter in English language that contains the letters ‘abcdef’. It emphasizes that feedback is one of the essential elements of good communication, which also enhances the Happiness Quotient in organizations. When leaders and employees engage in open and two-way communication across all levels, it creates a positive environment. Such workplaces have a healthy work culture leading to enhanced employee engagement.
CEO Townhall, Employee Engagement Surveys, Skip Level, and other communication meetings in companies are important platforms for genuine, timely, and constructive feedback. In today’s competitive business environment, such platforms are essential for long-term success, increased productivity, and creating a positive employee experience for retention.
Significance of Feedback Culture
According to Gallup research, 80% of the employees who report having received ‘meaningful feedback’ are fully engaged. Hence, it is no secret that engaged employees are more productive, enthusiastic, committed, and aligned with the vision of the organization.
The exact definition of ‘meaningful feedback’ may vary from organization to organization, but it essentially plays a significant role in performance assessments, opportunities for career progression, understanding areas of improvement, and communicating future growth plans. Creating a feedback culture enhances engagement in the following areas:
Clarity of Goals and Objectives: Two-way communication ensures that employees understand the expectations of the management and work towards achieving them. Open and transparent feedback not only builds trust between employees and managers but also provides clarity of what they need to achieve for future growth – for them and the organization.
Motivated Employees: When we give feedback to someone, it indicates that we care about them. Similarly, creating platforms to give objective feedback to employees increases motivation as they feel valued. When all their concerns are addressed, they don’t feel anxiety, either about their performance or of the organization.
Building Capabilities: Structured and timely feedback on areas of improvement is essential so that gaps are identified and addressed. Where there is a culture of constructive feedback, employees become more confident in sharing ideas, taking up challenging tasks, or going for innovative projects. They become capable of handling problematic situations with tact and ease.
Higher Retention: When employees receive constant feedback, they feel that their contributions matter a lot for the overall success of the teams and organizations. In such scenarios, they are likely to remain with a company that values their performance, well-being, and growth.
Stronger Teams: Success depends not only on individual performance but also on other members of the team. Hence, a good feedback culture includes a review of collective accountabilities where colleagues, peers, supervisors, and team managers are involved, which enhances team bonding and cohesiveness.
Creating Platforms for Feedback
Feedback is not just about what went well, what did not go well, or what could have been better, but also about creating multiple channels and platforms so that communication is constant, ongoing, and prevalent across all levels. Some scenarios to enhance feedback culture are:
Formal and Informal: Annual performance reviews, skip-level meetings, and project assessments are formal platforms for periodic and structured feedback. These are essential for detailed conversations, that can be recorded and followed up to ensure completion. Informal platforms or conversations such as catch-up meetings, morning/weekly meetings, monthly check-ins can be informal platforms to take quick updates on progress, address issues or concerns, and provide guidance as needed.
Individual Vs Collective: Individual feedback is when giving or receiving feedback is limited to one employee. Collective feedback is relevant for a group of employees working on a common project or task. Employee Engagement Surveys are examples of collective feedback from all employees in the organization.
For Employees and leaders: An organization is said to have a good feedback culture when there are forums and opportunities for both employees and leaders to give and receive feedback. There are times when leaders also must seek honest feedback that helps them to become better leaders. According to one of the studies, leaders who ranked in the top 10% in asking for feedback were rated, on average, at the 86th percentile in overall leadership effectiveness.
Peer Assessments and 360 Degree Feedback: Success at an organizational level is due to the efforts of employees from every department. There is interdependency and hence, encouraging and making employees accept peer-to-peer feedback will only strengthen the teams to work together for common objectives. 360-degree feedback is usually taken for leadership teams to know the acceptance and ability to manage the stakeholders, which is essential for any leader.
Encouraging a Culture of Feedback in Organizations
Feedback – not just a technique but a skill: Not everyone is adept at giving or receiving feedback because giving feedback is as much an art as it is a skill. Managers need to know, not just what to say, how much to say or when to say but also when not to say anything. Sometimes, it is essential to keep quiet and just listen. Training is to be given to managers on effectively communicating expectations, having meaningful conversations, being assertive on timelines, and delivering feedback with respect. Actively listening also is essential so that it becomes a two-way communication where employees feel empowered to communicate more openly.
Feedback using methods and metrics: Surveys, interviews, observation, performance reviews, etc., are various methods to collect feedback. Metrics can be in terms of engagement scores, retention rate, DEI, L&D, New Joiner Feedback Score, R&R coverage, employee net promoter score, absenteeism, etc. They are indicators of how well and to what extent feedback has been engrained in the culture of the organization. Opting for the right metrics to track quality, quantity, frequency, satisfaction levels etc., is essential to provide meaningful insights, analysis and reports.
Feedback without fear: Leaders should encourage through interactions and demonstrate through actions that it is safe for employees to share their ideas, thoughts, and concerns or give feedback on anything that matters to them. There should not be any slightest indication of retaliation or fear of punishment or having a negative impact on their performance review.
Feedback using technology: With all the digital tools, apps and various technical platforms, it has become convenient for managers and employees to track progress, to give instant comments and to document feedback for future follow-up. Hence, companies can use automation and AI to customize what works for their organization. This provides visibility, real-time updates and analysis to access feedback reports.
Conclusion
An open-door policy shuts back-door gossip. Open, constructive, and transparent feedback is an investment that supports the organization on the path of future growth. It brings employees together to collaborate meaningfully and creates a workforce that is ready for any challenge and to succeed in any scenario. This will create highly engaged, committed and resilient employees who have the capacity to take the organization from “Good to Great”.
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