HR professionals may feel like the sole drivers of performance and development processes, but even though they are responsible for kick-starting continual feedback in the organization, their success is dependent on managers and employees embracing it. When employees feel comfortable sharing, asking for, and receiving performance analyses, notable changes will occur in your company’s operations. Here are five positive changes you can expect.
1. Improved Performance at All Levels
Feedback is critical to improving performance across an organization—and is a two-way street. Not only is it important for managers to regularly provide feedback to their direct reports, but employees also should share feedback with their managers and peers. As the amount of feedback increases, it provides managers with insight into their leadership skills and employees with insight into their work from those they work closely with. In a recent Impraise survey, 72% of users reported that feedback contributed to their performance improvements. Thus, the result is that everyone can reach better decisions, improve performance, and succeed in their roles.
2. Transferred Ownership of Professional Development
Everyone has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses, making it difficult to apply a “one-size-fits-all” model to professional development, but you can put people in the driver’s seat of their development by implementing an easy and structured way to request feedback when it matters most. We have found that workers who ask for feedback at the end of a meeting, project, or sprint want actionable insights in a timely and contextualized manner. With this shift, people become accustomed to requesting feedback when they want or need it, which creates a workforce of empowered employees and takes pressure off of HR.
3. Diffusing Office Conflicts Before They Happen
A culture of feedback also provides the benefit of giving employees the tools to address issues before they escalate. When people feel they aren’t able to share feedback with each another, even on smaller things, these problems can transform into larger issues, but when people regularly share their feedback, they become more comfortable with having difficult conversations, meaning they won’t be afraid to ask their coworkers to speak lower when on the phone or to have their part of a project completed on time. Therefore, sharing feedback consistently will better equip employees to address any kind of situation instead of bottling it up.
4. Increased Employee Engagement
There is a strong correlation between feedback exchange and employee engagement not only because of its potential to resolve issues quickly and increase knowledge sharing but also because it creates a way for team and individual successes to be recognized regularly.
Remember that feedback isn’t just about development—it’s also an opportunity to celebrate wins both big and small. In fact, 72% of employees in a recent survey ranked recognition as having the greatest impact on engagement, demonstrating that when people feel valued and recognized for their efforts, they feel more motivated and engaged.
5. Giving Your People Something They Actually Want
According to PwC, nearly 60% of employees surveyed stated that they would like feedback on a daily or weekly basis—a number that increased to 72% for employees under age 30. Although there are many reasons why people don’t get the feedback they are looking for—it’s time-consuming, stressful to give constructive feedback, and difficult in the beginning, for example—building an employee-driven feedback culture can break down some of these barriers. With supported technology, the correct training, and resources, you can create a process whereby people can freely exchange feedback with anyone in the organization.
Steffen Maier is the co-founder of Impraise, a people-enablement platform. Impraise’s belief is simple: Grow your people—grow your business. It helps unleash people’s potential, doing more than just performance reviews, which means accelerating performance, fostering career development, and seizing all the moments that happen in between.