Creating a Feedback Rich Culture
Senior leaders often tell us that they want to create a work environment that is engaging for its employees, and encourages everyone to give 100+%. What they don’t often recognize is that the single greatest lever to making that vision a reality is the same lever that will make their business more profitable, safer, more customer-friendly, and more successful. What is that lever? Feedback. Feedback that tells a person how they are doing in a way that is specific to them and conveyed with sincerity and gratitude.
Many companies see feedback as something that happens primarily during the time-consuming annual performance appraisal process. And while performance appraisals, ratings, and 1:1 discussions using consistent forms and worksheets are intended to let employees know how they are doing, the fact is that this process generally falls short of meeting your leaders’ needs for proper evaluation of employees’ performance and progress.
The Power of Feedback
As repeatedly demonstrated through the science of behavior, feedback is the most powerful consequence out there. Monetary factors are typically insufficient in motivating performance. Feedback, however, is. Employees want to know how their performance is perceived by their supervisor, and how their contributions are making a difference in the company. They need to feel supported by the company in their professional development and growth – that there is a career path available to them at their place of employment.
This level of communication and cooperation can only be achieved when your management teams maintain an ongoing dialogue with their employees. A once a year, time-bound performance appraisal will not be enough to make your employees feel valued and understood.
Building a Feedback Rich Culture
Ideally, every business would have a stated value in ensuring that there are ongoing discussions about performance to help create a feedback-rich culture. Such a culture promotes an environment that encourages employees at all levels to be focused on doing the key things well.
If you haven’t yet developed a plan for building a company culture that endorses feedback, consider these findings:
- A culture rich in feedback can be the single most important lever that any company employs to impact its performance
- Feedback is the least expensive and most effective lever for influencing behavior
- Feedback-rich cultures are a primary reason successful businesses are able to retain key people, create a positive work environment and motivate employees to exceed performance targets
Change Your Culture with CLG
CLG helps you understand the behavior patterns that are presently in play within your company’s culture. Together, we identify the barriers that are preventing you from ensuring the routine presence of feedback needed to take your business to the next level. We help you develop the feedback and coaching skills required at all levels to ensure there are frequent performance-based conversations occurring around the topics that matter most to your business.
Our consultants model world-class feedback as they work hand-in-glove with your executives, managers, and supervisors. We ensure that you have tracking tools to know how your feedback delivery is going, and where you need continued focus. Our years of experience in this area prove over and over again that effective feedback delivery not only positively contributes to your bottom line performance, but also significantly improves employee engagement and retention.
To learn more about the diverse categories of feedback and how CLG can help you create a feedback rich culture, visit http://unlockbehaviorunleashprofits.com/book.aspx.