The Essential Guide to Feedback Management

Picture this scenario: you’ve worked somewhere for 90 days, and you’re feeling great about how things are going. You sit down for a quick review with your boss – and she fires you. It feels like it came out of nowhere, everyone is uncomfortable, and both you and your manager are stuck wondering about what the future holds. 

This is actually a worst-case scenario, but one that happens every day. It’s completely unavoidable, and yet it’s so common in organizations of every shape and size. The reason it’s so common is because leaders haven’t invested in true feedback management. 

Feedback management isn’t just important – it’s crucial for companies that want to experience enhanced employee engagement, stronger culture and communication, better talent development, and improved customer satisfaction. 

And, isn’t that every company? 

It’s a fact that effective feedback fuels better performance. According to Gallup, 80% of employees who say they have received meaningful feedback within the last week are highly engaged. The key word there is “meaningful.” Not all feedback is created equal, and the feedback that can move the needle in your organization should be: 

• Focused
• Future-Oriented
• Individualized and Specific 

Leadership that does invest in meaningful feedback processes will enjoy increased productivity and profitability. In fact, managers who received feedback on their strengths had turnover rates that were 14.9% lower than those who didn’t receive feedback. Additionally, a whopping 57% of employees value feedback–even corrective criticism– that helps them do their jobs better. It makes employees more loyal, more engaged, and better at what they do. 

Understanding Feedback: Types and Sources 

There are several forms of feedback that can go into a comprehensive feedback process. Ideally, the feedback you provide to employees encompasses more than just one person’s subjective opinion. A robust feedback process will make use of measurable, objective information as well as comments from peers and customers, if applicable. 

Timely Feedback

One of the most effective forms of feedback is a discussion that happens following a notable event, while everything is fresh in the employee’s mind. For example, if a manager and an employee conduct a sales pitch together, the manager might ask the employee how they think it went. The conversation might begin with “I think that went really well! How are you feeling? It did seem like you needed to have a little more confidence when speaking about parts of the presentation. How can we make that happen?” 

Customer Feedback

If part of your team’s job is to interface with customers, then it’s certainly valuable to pull in their input. Obviously, companies with happy customers will make more money. Asking for customer feedback can provide extremely valuable insights that you can apply in a variety of ways. You can conduct surveys, reviews, or face-to-face interviews with customers or clients. 

You can also practice social media listening, view online discussions, or review customer behavior analysis to see if there are trends for certain associates. It’s a good idea to document data somewhere so that you can observe trends over time and share that information with your staff. 

Peer Feedback

How well do your employees work with others? If that’s an important part of their job, then you need to know. 

You can institute a peer recognition or reward system so that you get regular feedback throughout the year. For example, create a system where employees can nominate others in the organization for public recognition. As part of a formal review process, you can also send out feedback forms or emails requesting brief feedback on individuals.

360-Degree Feedback

This type of feedback is often used in corporate annual reviews, and is a reflection of multi-source input from a variety of sources. It typically includes managers, peers, subordinates, and possibly even external stakeholders. 

This comprehensive feedback provides a well-rounded view of an individual’s overall performance, and is particularly effective for middle managers who have both a manager and direct reports. If you need ideas, here are 20 performance questions that can be asked during a review process. We suggest pursuing digital feedback options in these cases, since people will be more comfortable being honest. For example, you can use Vitay’s solution to gather feedback from a manager’s new hires, along with input from their supervisor. In this way, you can gather robust insights from a variety of perspectives, while limiting biases that might be in play and keeping things as subjective as possible. 

New Hire Feedback

You can give feedback at any time, and people do crave it. In fact, new hires find it particularly valuable in the beginning of their employment. Not only that, they likely have important feedback to share with you! 

With Vitay’s talent feedback platform, you can send new hires feedback requests at any time, as frequently as you wish. You can also schedule feedback requests for set periods (for example, 7 days or 90 days after their hire). They can respond conveniently online, and then you’ll receive detailed feedback reports that give valuable insights into how your new hire is feeling and what can be improved. 

Exit Feedback

Some of your most valuable feedback comes from people who are leaving the organization. Exit interviews can offer powerful insights into what is going right– or wrong– in your company, but they’re rarely comfortable conversations. 

Fortunately, you can use Vitay’s exit interview platform to uncover the real data around why you’re losing an employee. Gather high quality information that you can use to improve retention rates and other parts of your business, and identify common reasons for exits. You can even create customized exit questionnaires by role or department to get deeper, more applicable insights. 

Performance Metrics and Analytics

Ideally, you’ll have some reporting to share as part of the feedback process. This is where having clear expectations comes into play. Which KPIs are you using to judge success? Use the appropriate platforms to review those KPIs along with any other data that you’ve been collecting to see trends. 

For newer employees, you can take advantage of Vitay’s talent management process. Gather feedback from managers and supervisors on new hires’ performance and fit for their role to help measure and track new hire quality. You can also use the Vitay solution to be notified of any issues, so that you can resolve them quickly and reduce the time it takes your new hires to get up to speed.

The Power of Digital Feedback

Of all of the types of feedback mentioned, most leaders find their most valuable forms of feedback come through digital platforms. That’s because it’s been scientifically proven that people tend to be more objective and truthful in text or email formats. Many people have a hard time sharing honest opinions when they are face-to-face with someone, but a digital format allows people to share their true opinions without fear of immediate repercussions. 

Furthermore, a digital platform like Vitay can offer detailed feedback reports, which provide data and real insights on everything from how new hires feel about their new role, to ongoing performing metrics. This feedback is particularly powerful in more sensitive situations, like an exit interview.

It’s a fact that most people aren’t honest in exit interviews – it’s simply too uncomfortable, and people with one foot out the door are ready to move on. However, in a digital format, people can be more honest and employers are likely to receive honest and actionable feedback about what they can do to improve retention. If you are a business leader who wants to use feedback to improve outcomes, then honesty is in your best interest – and a digital format is the easiest way to get it. 

Finally, digital feedback management helps to mitigate biases and create consistency. For example, if Manager A and Manager B both have new hires they want to offer feedback to, but offer an entirely different set of criteria, such subjective feedback won’t be as meaningful. Instead, clear rating systems and evaluation criteria mean people don’t have the opportunity for inherent biases to creep in, and everyone is providing feedback against similar standards. 

The Feedback Management Process

A streamlined feedback management process has several steps. While it’s simple enough to have impromptu conversations (and those offer a lot of real value), for a more formal approach, you’ll want to implement the following steps: 

Setting Clear Objectives

It’s difficult for even the most impressive professionals to do a good job if they’re not sure exactly what they should be doing. Within an employee’s first 30 days, make sure they are clear on both daily activities and which milestones they’re tasked with meeting. They should understand specifically what their objectives are, how they relate to the larger company goals, and which KPIs will be used to measure their performance. 

Collecting Feedback

Gather feedback using some of the methods mentioned above. Direct managers should have feedback, but it’s also worth collecting feedback from others who work with staff, pulling accurate data, and even conducting a 360-degree review once a year. As we mentioned, digital feedback is going to be the most reliable, honest, and timely – and people are much more comfortable giving it and more likely to engage in the process. 

Analyzing Responses

If you collect feedback from a variety of sources, take the time to review everything. Are you seeing any patterns? This is also the time to review any reporting or KPI data and look for changes over time. What do all of the insights tell you? 

Providing Constructive Feedback

The way that you share feedback is just as important as what you say. When you sit down with an employee to share feedback, you need to be as objective as possible. You also want to be specific and use a “compliment sandwich” approach if you have some criticism to share. 

It’s a good idea to focus on behavior and outcomes, not the person. For example, if someone tends to be late, rather than saying, “I’ve noticed you are late to meetings a lot, and it’s disrespectful,” you could say: “A few of our meetings have started late because of arrival times, and we need to work on getting the most out of this time together. Is that an area you can work on?” Make sure your conversation is solution-oriented, so employees understand specifically what they can do to improve. 

Listen actively and absorb what the employee is telling you. Always allow time for the team member to ask questions and respond to the feedback you’ve provided. You might learn something that can help you to help them – or even learn how to improve yourself! This is also the time to talk about any ongoing support you can offer. 

Implementing Insights 

The work is not over once you’ve shared the feedback and heard the employee’s response. Now comes the hard part, where everyone takes what they’ve learned and applies it to their efforts. 

To do that, everyone should begin by reflecting on what was said. Take a day or two and really absorb it. Think about common themes or patterns and what those might mean, and then set new goals that address the areas for improvement. The goals should be clear and actionable, with the employee seeking clarification if needed. 

If required, management should work with team members to come up with a detailed action plan that outlines the steps each will take to implement the needed changes. Consider any resources, support, or training that might be needed. Schedule a follow-up conversation where you will check in on the action plan and discuss progress.

 

Specific Benefits of Talent Feedback 

1. Improved performance – The most obvious benefit of a feedback loop is better performance. By providing valuable insights into employee performance, individuals and teams can identify areas for improvement,  address skill gaps, boost  productivity, and achieve loftier goals. 
2. Enhanced communication – Collaboration in the workplace is huge, and feedback is a key component of manager/team communication. Feedback management promotes open and transparent communication within an organization. It’s a great way to encourage employees to express their thoughts and feelings and to bring forward suggestions, generating more trust. 
3. Increased employee engagement – As mentioned, engaged employees are better at their jobs, and one of the best ways to help people feel engaged is to talk about their performance. Regular feedback and recognition make employees feel valued and appreciated, and show them you care about their growth. 
4. Personal and professional growth – Everyone wants to expand their knowledge and skills, both personally and professionally. Workplace feedback allows employees to understand their strengths and weaknesses, which provides a lot of opportunity for self-reflection, learning, and development.
5. Goal alignment – Feedback is crucial in helping your staff understand how their individual goals connect to larger objectives. By providing feedback that is specific and relevant, you can better align performance expectations with corporate initiatives.
6. Conflict resolution – Effective feedback will help to clear up conflicts before they escalate. That’s because a feedback process allows for open dialogue that enables people to address concerns in a safe environment.
7. Continuous improvement – If you hope to continue growing and improving, then you need to make feedback processes a regular part of your business. When people regularly act on feedback, they can improve in specific areas that might be holding back your business, and become more effective in their role.

Continuous Improvement Through Feedback

Feedback management fosters a culture of continuous improvement. By regularly seeking and acting upon feedback, your team can identify areas for improvement, implement necessary changes, and adapt to evolving needs and challenges. 

The business world is constantly changing, and only organizations that can adapt will thrive. By working closely with your employees to encourage their best performance, as well as to address the changing needs of a dynamic business landscape, you’ll increase productivity. Not only that, leaders can set the expectations for the standards they expect. Employees will rise to meet them or manage themselves out of the business. Either way, successful teams will challenge themselves to meet hurdles head-on and continue to improve. 

Use Vitay for More Flexible Feedback

Vitay is packed with functionality that helps business leaders find better candidates, collect high-value talent feedback, and automate review processes. Book a demo to learn more about how our intuitive solutions can help you find, engage, and keep your top talent.