01 May 2019

5 ideas to help employers give effective employee feedback

As a leader, your connection to your employees is the foundation of a meaningful experience, but often new leaders are promoted to their role because they are good at a certain skill, not because they are particularly skilled at leading others. It takes time, experience and practice to learn to inspire and motivate others to be and do their best. A crucial part of this starts with giving feedback. Check out five of the latest best practices from O.C. Tanner’s Global Culture Report to help guide you through effective employee feedback.

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1. Make it frequent
Don’t wait until the annual performance review to give feedback. The average employee participates in a performance review, but only 15 per cent of employees actually participate in annual, quarterly and regular one-on-one meetings with their leader. Only 60 per cent of employees say their performance is fairly assessed at their organisation and over half wish they could have more conversations with their leaders about their development. Regular one-on-one conversations with leaders and ongoing formal reviews provide opportunities to align employees’ work to the organisation’s purpose. They give leaders a chance to talk about opportunities for development and growth, teach what success looks like, and show appreciation for great work.

2. Lead by influence
Modern day leadership is falling short and there’s a big difference in leaders who lead by telling people what to do, and leaders who lead by influence. Many employees feel a strong difference between managers who tell them what to work on and leaders who help them accomplish something great. One of the most useful things you can do is start to focus on career development with your employees. Try assigning special projects to help highlight an individual’s specific talents and invite them to participate in something new.

3. Be transparent
Now is the time to answer any questions and concerns, to the best of your ability, that your employees may have. This helps your employees feel more aligned with leadership and builds trust. If your employee has an issue, come up with a solution or a plan during the conversation. Then, check back in periodically to see how it is going.

4. Make it personal
Just like with development and growth, employee feedback can be a touchpoint for leaders to support overall employee wellbeing and strengthening the leader-employee relationship. During one-on-ones, check in with your employees mentally and emotionally. Ask them how they are feeling about their current role and work load. Are they stressed out? Do they need assistance? Employees feel more appreciated and supported if they feel like their leaders are advocating for them in all aspects of their work life.

77 per cent of employees felt their leaders were strong advocates for their personal development when the leader took time to get to know them.

5. Give recognition
After all is said and done, show you appreciate them by having an impromptu recognition moment. Recognition provides an opportunity for you as a leader to let them know everything you have been discussing is not going unnoticed.

When leaders effectively recognise their people, employees have 331 per cent higher odds of believing that their leader supports them through mistakes.

Remembering these five aspects the next time you prepare for a one-on-one will help you give effective, meaningful and intentional employee feedback. For more insights like these, download the Global Culture Report here.

This article is provided by O.C.Tanner.