Employee feedback is the exchange of information between employees and management. Generally, the areas covered are performance, skills, ability, and engagement. Feedback can be between team leaders and their team or even among the team members.
Remember, it is a two-way channel. You provide feedback and receive feedback, no matter where in the hierarchy you are.
The goal of employee feedback is to get the most out of your employee and understand if there are any reasons why they can’t produce the required output.
What is Employee feedback?
Feedback is defined as the giving of an opinion or advice about something, especially in response to a question. It is important to get feedback from employees in order to improve work conditions and maintain employee morale. There are many benefits of employee feedback, which we will explore below.
Types of employee feedbacks
1) Performance feedback- This type of feedback is given to employees in order to help them improve their performance at work. It can be given on a regular basis, or it can be given in response to a specific incident.
2) Constructive feedback- This type of feedback is intended to help employees improve their work performance. It is usually given in a positive and constructive way, with the aim of helping employees to learn and grow.
3) Positive feedback- This type of feedback is intended to promote good work performance. It highlights what an employee is doing well, and can be used to encourage them to maintain their high standards.
4) Negative feedback- This type of feedback is intended to address poor work performance. It highlights what an employee is doing wrong, and can be used to help them improve their work.
5) Coaching feedback- This type of feedback is given in order to help employees improve their work performance. It involves giving employees advice and guidance on how to improve their skills and knowledge.
6) Developmental feedback- This type of feedback is given in order to help employees progress in their careers. It can involve giving employees advice on their development needs, or it can be used to identify training and development opportunities.
7) 360-degree feedback- This type of feedback is gathered from multiple sources, including colleagues, customers, and superiors. It is used to provide a comprehensive view of an employee's work performance.
8) Managerial feedback- This type of feedback is given by managers to their direct reports. It can be used to help employees improve their work performance, or it can be used to provide guidance on career development.
9) Peer feedback- This type of feedback is given by colleagues to one another. It can be used to improve work performance, or it can be used to identify training and development needs.
Why is employee feedback important?
Employee feedback is crucial to a company’s success. According to this article on HubSpot,
- 69% of employees would be happy to work more if they saw any real recognition.
- Due to a lack of feedback, 39% of employees don't feel appreciated enough.
- Companies with a better feedback system have an almost 14.9% higher employee retention rate.
- If managers ignore their employees, they are twice as likely to be disengaged at work.
- Employees are 30 times more likely to be engaged at work if managers focus more on the good things they are doing.
These few statistics clearly explain why employee feedback is essential and plays a huge role in an organisation. Companies often view feedback sessions as mundane tasks, and they can be. However, creating a culture around regular feedback turns it into a fun activity rather than a task.
Five tips for establishing positive feedback loops
Here are five great tips for establishing positive feedback loops within teams:
1. Establish a feedback culture
Your company must have a culture of feedback, where open conversation and information exchange is encouraged. Provide feedback regularly and often ask your employees for their views. This will keep the dialogue open.
2. Act on feedback
While it's not always easy to implement every employee’s feedback, take the feedback seriously and act on it as much as possible. It's not just some data that needs to be stored. If an employee expresses concern and sees you rectify it, they feel more valued.
3. Be loud–be private
They are two extremely contradictory things; however, you must know when to give public feedback to your employee and when you should share it privately. As a general rule, if an employee does a great job, be loud and let everyone know that you are happy with their performance. If they haven’t performed that well, call them in for a private meeting and make sure you inform them of the details of this discussion in advance.
4. Focus on the job, not the person
To reduce bias and keep your feedback targeted, make every effort to focus on performance and the job. Your employees work for you, they aren’t going to change who they are, but you can ask them to change how they work. Keep your feedback related to the job and their roles, be specific and ask for clear results.
5. Be understanding
Remember, it is a two-way channel. You have to listen to your employees too. This means understanding their perspective and why they are saying what they are saying. This is often easier for managers that have come up the ranks. Put yourselves in their shoes and listen to them from their perspective, not yours.
6. Bonus tip
Employee feedback has to be regular. It has to be consistent and must progress with the times. This means you have to be ready to change how you give and take feedback, try different approaches and see what gets you the best results.
These are just a few tips for effective employee feedback. Providing good feedback requires proper thought and a clear process. Take the time to define your strategy and ensure the entire feedback process is transparent. Getting employee feedback right is important.
What are the benefits of employee feedback?
1) Helps to improve communication within the workplace
When employees feel like they can openly give feedback, it helps to improve communication lines between management and staff. This improved communication can help to resolve any issues that may be causing tension within the workplace.
2) Allows you to address problems early on
By getting employees' feedback, you can address any problems that they may be having early on. This is before the problem has a chance to escalate and cause further damage.
3) Helps you to understand your employees better
When you ask for feedback, you are showing that you value your employees' opinions. This can help to build trust and mutual respect between management and staff.
4) Helps to improve employee morale
When employees feel like their voices are being heard, it can help to improve their morale. This is because they feel like their opinions matter and that they are valued members of the team.
5) Helps to identify training and development needs
Feedback can help you to identify any training or development needs that your employees may have. This is important in order to ensure that your employees have the skills and knowledge needed to do their jobs effectively.
6) Helps to improve productivity
When employees are happy and engaged in their work, they are more likely to be productive. Asking for feedback can help you to identify any areas where employees are struggling, so that you can address these issues and improve productivity.
7) Helps to improve customer satisfaction
When employees are satisfied with their work, they are more likely to provide good customer service. This in turn can lead to improved customer satisfaction levels.
8) Helps to reduce turnover
If employees are happy with their work and feel like they are valued members of the team, they are less likely to leave. This can help to reduce turnover and save your business money in the long run.
As you can see, there are many benefits of employee feedback. It is important to ask for feedback in order to improve communication, address problems early on, understand your employees better, and improve employee morale. Feedback can also help to identify training and development needs, improve productivity, reduce turnover, and improve customer satisfaction. So why not start asking for feedback today? Your employees will appreciate it, and your business will benefit as a result.
Continuous feedback is the backbone of modern, agile organizations. Find out how to reinvent your company’s performance via real-time recognition and feedback with the best performance management software out there.
