When a workplace is a safe place to give and receive professional feedback, everyone benefits. Leaders grow stronger, productivity rises, and all employees become better at their jobs.
Think you need to encourage more feedback in your organization? You’re probably right. According to Gallup, just 19% of Millennials say they receive consistent feedback at work — and even fewer report that that feedback is meaningful.
So how can you work to create a so-called “feedback culture”? Read on to find out how people operations professionals can help leaders, teams and colleagues start sharing their input with one another in respectful, meaningful ways.
Key Takeaways
- Finding the right methods for sharing feedback is key. These include implementing surveys and polls, making the most of mentorship arrangements, doing regular check-ins, performing formal annual reviews and gathering 360 degree feedback.
- Employers should also set an example of how to receive constructive feedback by asking for feedback on their own performance, practicing active listening, acting on the feedback they receive and reframing “failure” as “learning” by focusing on problem-solving rather than blame.
- Providing a feedback framework also helps create a feedback culture, by helping employees communicate clearly and respectfully within a specific structure. Methods to try include: the Situation-Behavior-Impact framework, the Stop-Keep-Start framework, MadLibs-style feedback, role-playing and giving examples of the types of questions and comments that are appropriate.
- Managers and HR can also ask employees for input on how they would prefer to receive feedback, so that everyone feels included in the process.
- Creating a feedback culture requires deliberate and continued effort. Feedback needs to flow in all directions and be requested and acted upon regularly.
- Using professional performance management software like Primalogik makes it easier to build a feedback culture, as the suite includes a variety of tools for collecting and organizing feedback throughout the year.
Table of Contents
1. Step One: Find the right methods for sharing effective feedback
2. Step Two: Model how to receive constructive feedback
3. Step Three: Provide a feedback framework
4. Step Four: Ask employees how they prefer to receive feedback in your workplace
5. Step Five: Always act on the feedback you receive
6. General tips for creating a feedback culture
7. Use Primalogik performance management software to build a culture of feedback
Step One: Find the right methods for sharing effective feedback
A recent Gallup report about performance management shows that only 14% of employees strongly agree that the performance reviews they receive inspire them to improve. Unfortunately, in many companies, annual employee reviews are the only time set aside for direct manager-employee feedback.
Clearly, it’s time to implement new methods for year-round interaction and exchange. Here are a few proven approaches:
Employee surveys and weekly polls
Consider using a survey tool to put in place a weekly poll or monthly surveys. According to Forbes, implementing a weekly poll helps employees feel confident that they can share feedback on a regular basis. And it shows you value their thoughts! You can include open-ended questions that solicit detailed input and fresh ideas, and add some variety with rating scales that will give you quick statistics on how your employees feel about any given issue.
A mentoring system
Another potential channel is a peer-mentorship relationship. Two colleagues who each possess a particular skill that the other is working to develop could pair up and give each other regular feedback on their progress. The type of relationship is time-tested and proven to promote positive feelings about receiving feedback, since both employees know they’re supporting the other’s growth and receiving support in turn.
Quick check-ins (real-time feedback)
Employee feedback comes in all shapes and sizes, and today’s most successful workplaces prioritize ongoing dialogue. Managers, team leaders and HR can do quick check-ins at any time to get insights or see how people are doing in their professional roles. It’s an easy way to note an accomplishment or give support or a nudge in the right direction where needed. Real-time feedback is personal and highly effective when communicated correctly.
Formal reviews and 360 degree feedback
Despite the changes evolving in workplace culture and employees’ expectations, traditional reviews still provide a structured, formal space in which to give and receive professional feedback. And while more casual, sporadic feedback may suit some younger employees or newer organizations, other companies may be more comfortable with a standard annual or bi-annual review set-up. Whether you choose to implement standard performance reviews, or go further with a holistic 360 degree feedback approach, the choice should be grounded in the specific needs and expectations of your staff and your unique company culture.
Step Two: Model how to receive constructive feedback
As a manager, it’s your responsibility to set an example of how to invite and receive constructive feedback with grace and appreciation. To do this, you can:
Ask for feedback on your own performance
Regularly and genuinely ask team members, “What’s one thing I could do differently next week to better support you?” or “What part of my presentation could have been clearer?” Getting feedback on your own communication skills is highly important.
This models vulnerability and shows the team that feedback is a two-way street, making it safe for them to offer their own opinions and critiques.
Practice active listening
When receiving feedback, the leader must resist the urge to immediately justify or explain their actions. Instead, they should listen, take notes, thank the person, and say, “That’s helpful. I need to process that and will follow up with you.”
A defensive response shuts down all future honesty. A calm, appreciative response reinforces that the messenger is valued, regardless of the message.
Take action on the feedback you receive
After receiving feedback (even minor feedback), implement a small change and then explicitly communicate the change back to the team. For example: “Based on the feedback I received that our meetings run too long, I am trying out a strict 30-minute agenda starting today.”
This proves that giving feedback is not a pointless exercise; it drives tangible, positive change, incentivizing the team to offer more of it.
Reframe “failure” as “learning” and thank people who offer difficult feedback
When a project goes wrong, the leader should publicly focus the discussion on what the team learned from the mistake, rather than who made it. They should thank the person who brought the problem or mistake to their attention quickly. Familiarizing yourself with examples of constructive feedback can help you make the right choices when making difficult communications about problems or mistakes.
This transforms feedback from a judgment system into a problem-solving system, encouraging quick identification of errors and psychological safety for risk-taking and innovation.
Step Three: Provide a feedback framework
Many employees may not have much experience with sharing feedback (and some may not have been exposed to strong examples of how to share it). Having a framework for giving feedback can help tremendously, building their confidence and competence in articulating their opinions in a productive way.
Here are a few approaches to try:
The Situation-Behavior-Impact framework
In this approach, the person giving the feedback describes the situation they have experienced, then the behavior they have witnessed that contributed to it, and lastly, the way that behavior has affected them or other employees.
The Stop-Keep-Start framework
In this framework, the feedback-giver describes a behavior they would like the recipient to change, followed by something the recipient does well, and finally, a behavior they would like to see the recipient adopt. So, they address something they’d like the other person to stop, something they’d like them to keep doing, and something they’d like them to start doing.
MadLibs-style feedback
The MadLib method is a structured review process that uses fill-in-the-blank sentence templates (like the classic game) to guide reviewers in writing specific and actionable comments. This standardized format makes the writing experience easier for reviewers, provides a better narrative for the employee, and makes it easier to synthesize the collected feedback and identify patterns.
Role-playing
When training groups of managers or employees on sharing feedback, you could also try a role-playing activity that uses one of the above frameworks. Everyone will benefit from witnessing positive examples of how to share input and advice.
Sample questions and comments
Performance management software often includes templates with questions that can be tweaked to suit your own organisation. You can also encourage employees to take active steps to learn how to communicate better. This could include learning what to say in a performance review, or learn more about team communication.
Every step the direction of improved communication encourages a greater interest in providing and receiving feedback in constructive ways.
Step Four: Ask employees how they prefer to receive feedback in your workplace
At any point during your journey toward building a feedback culture, you can take a moment to find out how employees like to hear feedback. That way, you do not have to guess how to communicate as effectively as possible. You could ask employees to fill out a questionnaire with questions, such as:
- “How do you like to receive feedback?”
- “How often do you wish to receive it?”
- “What type of follow-up support do you typically want to have?”
Employees may feel more open to feedback when they have a say in how it’s delivered, and managers can work to share it in the most effective way possible.
Step Five: Always act on the feedback you receive
When multiple employees express a need for a change to occur, you’ll know it’s time to take action. Try to respond quickly so they’ll know you value their input.
Include employees in developing the action plan whenever possible. That might involve asking follow-up questions, inviting ideas for solutions, or giving them particular tasks to carry out to move the plan forward. Involving them in the plan will show you take their ideas seriously and help create a solution that works for everyone.
Conversely, asking for feedback and not following up on what you receive can be very discouraging. It’s a sure way to put out the flame of enthusiasm right from the start, and it could take a long time to rekindle any interest in participating afterwards.
General tips for creating a feedback culture
As employees grow more comfortable and skilled at both sharing and receiving feedback, you’ll see helpful feedback flowing throughout your organization on a daily basis. As a result, everyone will have the opportunity to improve their performance every day, and your entire organization will become more effective.
Here are a few extra tips for creating a feedback culture:
- Continue training new employees on how to deliver and receive constructive feedback (and holding periodic workshops on this topic).
- To gain authentic feedback, all employees need to feel free to speak their mind. That means you need to make them feel invited to share their opinions.
- Find ways to promote peer feedback within your team. That way, not all feedback is from the top down. This is where choosing the right framework becomes key to avoiding hurt feelings or misunderstandings.
- Feedback needs to flow in all directions — not just from managers to their direct reports, but from employees to their supervisors and other leaders as well. That means educating managers at all levels of the organization on how to solicit feedback from their team. It can also involve learning how to harness 360 degree feedback for leadership excellence.
- Implement regular feedback loops and encourage other leaders to give direct reports to their teams regularly. Ask for other leaders’ direct reports’ input frequently.
- Remind managers that getting consistent feedback from their team will strengthen their leadership skills. (Plus, as everyone gets more used to giving and receiving feedback, the experience will feel easier and more natural!) They’ll be showing real strength as a leader by welcoming the opportunity to grow.
- Encourage leaders to be transparent about how the feedback they’ve received has benefited them. For instance, at team meetings, a manager could thank a particular employee for feedback given during that week, describing the growth it has fostered (or how they’re continuing to utilize it). Other employees will then know their feedback will be valued and welcomed.
Use Primalogik performance management software to build a culture of feedback
At Primalogik, we believe that happy employees help organizations thrive. That’s why we developed a top-of-the-line performance management suite that includes everything you need to implement a feedback culture.
Need to gather 360 degree feedback, make the most of instant employee feedback, set up annual performance reviews, or automate quick surveys?
Companies of all sizes can enjoy fast set-up, intuitive dashboards, and full customer support with Primalogik. Book a free demo today!