Positive feedback is a necessity, not an option!

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“Great job!” is a common phrase that employees hear during their feedback but is that enough?

Managers, leaders, and supervisors often resort to phrases like:

• Great Job
• Well done
• We’ll follow up on this
• Think outside the box
• You can do better

But is this feedback meaningful? Does it reinforce positive behavior and motivate employees to work harder?

Unfortunately, these phrases are not powerful or impactful, and employee performance could suffer because of it.

“Businesses are built with purpose by the people” and should actively ensure that their system is doing right by the people that are running it.

A positive feedback system is a useful tool that can be used across an organization to stay actively involved and ensure that their employees are being benefitted at all times by the system. Honest feedback encourages a positive business culture where internal operations thrive. It improves employee performance and validates an employee’s contribution to the company’s growth and success.

Building an open culture to communicate with their peers, supervisors, leaders, and upper management can help everyone stay aligned with company goals.

Receiving and giving inputs in a continuous feedback system can be a game-changer for organizations belonging to any industry.

Most companies today have acknowledged the importance of a holistic work environment for employee growth and development. A successful business ensures that employees achieve their individual goals while making significant contributions to the company.

Employee success and organizational growth are founded on honest and open inputs from everyone, regardless of their role.

Hence, smart leaders understand the benefits of employee feedback and encourage engagement among employees.

Positive feedback can motivate, inspire, and propel an employee in the right direction. Employees rely on input for various reasons. While some may use feedback to work on their shortcomings, for others, it might provide them with a different perspective and be thought-provoking. A healthy feedback system can instill new ideas in employees and be a stepping tool for employee development.

But the question is, why is it exceedingly difficult for employees to give feedback?

Some employees cannot handle the conversation around feedback. They fear conflicting views, risk developing friction in existing relationships, do not want to contradict beliefs with fellow team members, and are cautious about it affecting their appraisals or pay!

Most times, employees write off the impact of giving feedback to their peers and refrain from providing critical feedback. Feedback is not only limited to negative feedback, which is a common notion that employees have. Feedback can also be positive and encouraging!

Why should everyone in an organization participate in various feedback forums?

Impactful Conversations

Every employee should have the opportunity to develop and contribute to the company.

The phrase, “That advice changed my life” is not an uncommon phrase we hear. Impactful moments can happen over any conversation. Employees should feel confident enough to give their inputs when needed, as not every piece of advice is trivial. Employees want to attain perfection in their work, and a little timely feedback can help them achieve the mission they set out to achieve. When employees achieve their goals with valuable feedback from peers, leaders, and supervisors, their work satisfaction increases, and as we say:

A Happy Employee = A Happy Business.

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Practice Leadership

The primary trait of a leader is to have the ability to help people. Before viewing an employee as a colleague, a leader should first view them as people seeking and offering help when required. Sticking to the hierarchical structure in an organization can cause barriers in the feedback system. So the leader has to be a role model and exhibit behavior that encourages providing and receiving positive feedback irrespective of his role in the organization.

A leader can nurture himself is to be at the center of impactful conversations that help people.

Builds a trusting environment

Honest and meaningful conversations are one way to build the trust that will help you receive feedback to improve your skills.

Every feedback can help employees self-introspect and work towards advancing their careers with timely advice from peers and superiors.

Building a trusting environment ensures that a workspace is safe for employees to express themselves without fear of judgment. When employees feel safe, relationships across the organization take a turn for the better, where employees can be vulnerable about their shortcomings and seek advice even before they receive it.

Create an opportunity for positive impact and goodwill

While pointing out the shortcomings of an employee, one must also appreciate achievements. Feedbacks do not only criticize people but also appreciates and encourages them when they’ve done something right. Feedbacks can make employees feel like they’re an asset to the team and that they are valued. Complements, praises, awards, recognitions can help employees stay motivated and acknowledge their contribution to the company.

One may not know how their feedback is being received. Whether the feedback is critical or positive, either way, it can benefit an employee immensely. A continuous effort to make an impact is a great way to improve your reputation and goodwill.

A few pointers to keep in mind while giving feedback:

• Your feedback is essential to some people.
• Your feedback can create an impact.
• Your responsibility is to give genuine feedback.
• If your recipient does not accept your feedback, it’s okay. You at least tried to make an impact.
• Be optimistic about how your feedback is received.
• Make time for giving constructive feedback.
• Personalize your feedback and follow it up with a gesture.
• Pay attention to your body language and your voice’s tone if you want your feedback to be received well.

Giving feedback builds a culture!

With continuous feedback discussions coupled with well-defined goals, organizations build a culture that ensures employee productivity and organizational success is inevitable.

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