How to Provide Feedback to Employees
Employees need to know how they’re doing at work. Hence, it’s crucial to receive feedback from the management team. It’s also a part of the learning process. They need to improve, and getting constructive criticisms is crucial. However, some employees don’t take criticisms lightly. They get upset. Others even end up leaving the job. If you can’t make them feel good while you have these difficult conversations, it would be a disaster. These are some tips to help you provide quality feedback without making your employees feel bad.
Create a culture of accountability
The first thing you need to do is to create a culture of accountability. Everyone should feel that they are accountable for something. It prevents employees from not taking the job seriously. They know that when they do something wrong, they will be held accountable. Part of it is to receive feedback from the management team. If everyone already got used to it, no one will feel bad. Employees will realize that it’s part of the learning process and it will only help them improve.
Speak in a gentle manner
The way you provide the feedback is also crucial. Your employees will feel good about your constructive criticisms if you say them gently. They will feel that you provide feedback because you care and not to hurt them. Try to stay as calm as possible even if you’re about to say heavy criticisms. Besides, even if you get angry, it doesn’t lead to your desired results. If anything, it will only strain your relationship with the employees.
Don’t provide feedback to blame
When you provide feedback, the goal is to improve. Look at the bigger picture. It’s not only for the employees, but for the entire company. It’s a problem if your goal is to find someone to blame. It’s counterproductive. No one will feel good about working with you if you create a culture of blame around the office. Besides, if you blame someone, it will only take motivation away.
Always end on a positive note
You don’t want to have a private conversation with an employee and end on a low note. The conversation should be positive and encourage the employee to do a better job. You can also talk about other issues apart from the topics you raised. At work, everyone should feel part of the family. Even after a difficult conversation, nothing should change.
Hopefully, you can succeed in helping your employees become better at their job. You should also welcome suggestions. If there are valid reasons for making certain decisions, you have to listen. If there are other ways to get to the end goals, you have to be open-minded. You might think that your feedback is correct and it’s the only way to move forward, but it’s not. Your employees also had alternative methods of doing the job right.
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