Whether things go right or wrong, feedback is always necessary. It helps us improve, learn from our mistakes, and grow as people and employees. Being able to provide and receive effective feedback is essential for everyone in the workplace – from fresh hires to top leadership.
According to a PwC survey, 75% of respondents believe feedback is valuable. 60%-72% want daily or weekly feedback as well. Despite that, less than 30% said they actually receive feedback. Feedback in the workplace is essential, and it’s a valuable tool that can help you encourage growth, boost engagement, improve communication skills, increase motivation, promote accountability, and much more.
What is Candid Feedback?
The most effective feedback is candid feedback. This is feedback that is direct, honest, and isn’t sugar coated. That might sound harsh to some, but honest feedback is necessary. It’s also important to note that candid doesn’t mean rude or offensive. There is a difference between being honest about your feedback and being mean.
Say someone was working on a presentation and their closing segment was underwhelming. You can be honest about that and provide specific feedback without personally attacking the person and their work. For example, here are two different approaches to offering feedback:
- The end of your presentation is underwhelming. It almost put me to sleep. You really need to work harder on making your presentation exciting and engaging.
- Your presentation was really well done, and I’m impressed with your work on such a daunting project. However, your ending could use a better closing statement to make a more lasting impression.
In the first example the person is being honest and candid, but they’re also being rude and unnecessarily harsh. They don’t highlight any of the positives, claim the person didn’t work hard enough, and resorts to insults.
In the second example they are honest and candid as well, but they’re going about it the right way. They highlight the positives and note their hard work. However, they also make specific and direct criticism while providing actionable advice. Candid feedback should look less like the first example and more like the second. It’s easy to think candid equals brutally honest, but you can be honest while still being professional and acknowledging the person’s hard work.
How to Give Effective Feedback
Giving feedback that’s effective requires numerous components, so let’s go through each of them.
Start on a Positive Note
Constructive criticism should always start on a positive note. Someone coming in and telling you everything you did wrong without acknowledging what you did right feels unfair and rude. People are much more likely to listen to someone if they start on a positive note.
Don’t Say: The last few columns of your chart are riddled with errors. You need to spend some more time cleaning it up and checking your calculations.
Say: Your chart looks really good, and you did a great job on the first ten columns. However, I noticed some math errors in the last two. If you fix those miscalculations, it’ll be perfect!
That feedback acknowledges the hard work the person did, celebrates what they got right, but also notes what they got wrong. It also provides specific notes (math errors in the last two columns) that the receiver can actually act upon.
Be Timely
Effective feedback also needs to be timely. Feedback isn’t of much use if it comes too late, after the project has been completed or after the person has already gone back to make changes and fix things. Feedback that works happens very close to an issue arising, not days or weeks later.
For example, say you’re with a coworker and notice something in the sales pitch they’re working on. Instead of waiting for them to submit it/use it and run into problems, provide the feedback right away. Get ahead of it and offer feedback before it becomes an issue. This gives the receiver the opportunity to make changes and be proactive. They can’t go and fix something if your feedback comes a week after that project was due. So don’t be afraid of giving feedback as soon as you notice something.
Do it Regularly
Good feedback should also be regular. As the stat mentioned in the intro stated, most employees want very regular feedback—daily or weekly. This is important for a couple reasons.
First off, it gives employees a chance to make changes. Again, feedback should be timely, and providing regular feedback helps ensure you are noticing problems and providing feedback in a timely manner. Secondly, it helps build connections and sets a standard. Weekly or daily feedback helps employees get in the habit of giving and receiving candid feedback, standardizing that as a normal and regular occurrence in the workplace
Be Specific
This might be obvious to some, but effective feedback needs to be specific. You need to tell the receiver exactly what they need to improve so they can pinpoint and target those areas. It also helps to limit it to a couple of things instead of a long list, which can overwhelm the receiver.
Don’t Say: Your presentation was unclear and inconsistent. Make it better.
Say: I liked your presentation and thought you had great energy. However, the point you made about our marketing strategy was unclear, and it seemed to contradict the point you made about sales. Could you clarify that point and make it fit better with the rest of the presentation?
That first example, though it may be true, gives the receiver nothing to work on. What is unclear? What is inconsistent? They don’t know, and now they’ll have to spend time trying to figure out what you were referring to. With the second, the receiver knows exactly what was unclear and inconsistent, and they can quickly start working to fix those aspects of their presentation.
Provide Suggestions
Suggestions are one of the most important parts of giving effective feedback. The whole point of feedback is to help someone make changes for the better, and providing suggestions gives them some ideas for how to improve.
Don’t Say: This sales strategy won’t work.
Say: You put a lot of effort into this sales strategy, and you were clearly trying to think outside the box. However, similar strategies have failed in the past. Look into Ella’s proposal from last year, and see what you can learn from it. I think a more traditional strategy would be a better fit for this.
As with the previous example, the first criticism gives the receiver nothing to work with. The second however provides a clear suggestion the receiver can act upon—check out a past proposal to gain some insight and consider a more traditional approach
Follow Up
Lastly, candid feedback requires follow up. You can’t just provide feedback and forget about it. You need to check up on them and make sure they follow through on the suggestions you provided. This helps in a few ways. It gives the receiver a chance to make adjustments as they go, and it gives you a chance to continue making suggestions throughout the process. It also gives you a chance to give them praise as they make changes, which can help increase their motivation.
Benefits of Giving and Receiving Feedback
As we wrap up, let’s quickly go over some of the benefits of giving and receiving feedback. Here are a few of the key ones:
- Improves Performance: As expected, providing feedback can help employees gain knowledge and boost their performance.
- Encourages Growth and Development: Feedback also helps encourage growth and employee development by emphasizing the need for continuous improvement.
- Boosts Employee Engagement: Employees are more engaged when they’re interacting with those around them for feedback, which can also prevent resenteeism.
- Enhances Communication: Communication is key for effective feedback, so you’ll increase communication as you give and receive feedback.
- Facilitates Problem-Solving: Giving feedback encourages employees to problem-solve, helping them develop better problem-solving skills.
- Promotes Accountability: Accepting accountability for your mistakes is also a key part of feedback, so regularly feedback can create a standard of accountability.
- Increases Motivation: Receiving actionable feedback can be a great motivator and incentive for employees that keeps them striving towards their goals.
- Supports Goal Alignment: Feedback helps people stay focused on their goals, whether that’s internal mobility or improving their skills. This also encourages them to align their goals with the company.
Prioritize Employee Feedback and Recognition
Effective feedback is essential for employee growth and business success. It encourages employees to grow and get better, improving their skills to become better people and better employees. And ultimately, that drives employees and business towards success.
While feedback is key, it’s not the only thing that matters. Employee recognition is closely related to feedback, and it can help your employees and business grow in numerous ways as well. Recognition should be prioritized right alongside feedback. Want to know how your employees prefer to be recognized for their hard work? Download our employee recognition survey for free and get started!
