Giving feedback in the workplace is key in developing high performance and a culture of trust and engagement. Feedback helps with every employee’s personal development and skills development. It teaches them to learn from their mistakes and trials and mishaps.
Feedback lets them know exactly what to expect from others and what others can expect from them. In some ways, giving feedback in the workplace helps create an engaging atmosphere of trust where everyone gives and receives feedback freely.
However, feedback does not come easy to a lot of leaders. Many of them avoid giving feedback and avoid difficult conversations. Here are 4 reasons why they avoid feedback:
- Lack of training. Leaders are not given specific training on how to give feedback. It’s not something that is written in their job description. Giving feedback is something that they have had to learn and develop on the job and not everyone learns it easily.
- Hurting other people’s feelings. Regardless of what the feedback is or how it is delivered, there will be employees who will feel badly whenever they receive a feedback, especially coming from their leaders. Because leaders don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, they don’t give the feedback.
- Being judged. Some employees see a leader who gives feedback as someone who is difficult to work with or as a hard-nosed leader. The feedback gets rejected and the leader is resented to the point that the other person sees the leader as a bully or a micromanager.
- Personal assumptions. Leaders expect their team to be doing their part and working on their tasks. If a member of their team is in the position for a long time, leaders assume that they already know better and should not be reminded or told what to do. Once again, based on this assumption, they do not deliver the feedback.
Giving feedback and making sure that their team knows exactly what you expect from them and what they can expect from you is part of every leader’s accountability.
Feedback is the food of champions. If you expect feedback from other people, your team also expects the same from you. Giving and receiving feedback is how you can foster growth and ensure your team is continuously developing to achieve your organisation’s success.
If you would like to improve your feedback skills, I run a one day workshop called Giving and Receiving Feedback that I deliver publicly or inhouse.