How to Give Effective Employee Feedback [ Types, Ways ]

Employers have to make sure that everything in their business is going into the direction of success. So that means looking at each and every single employee and their performance. One way to let these employees know how well they are doing is by giving them proper employee feedback.

By conducting feedback, employers are able to present information to these employees on the areas that they need to improve on, as well as providing them with solutions on how to do that. It will help remind the employee of the goal that needs to be achieved, as well as what needs to be done to achieve it.

Types of Employee Performance Feedback

You will need to find the best style of performance feedback that best suits your employees to guarantee that they understand how well they are performing within the company. So here are a few examples:

• Objective based. It’s a type of performance review that views the objective facts such as tardiness and more. This is best suited for employees whose position involves doing certain tasks repeatedly. So this type of feedback answers questions regarding how the task was completed, and if the employee was able to complete the task at all.

• Numerical Scale. This is the kind of feedback that bases an employee’s performance on a particular rating system. This rates things such as the employee’s ability to carry out tasks, communication skills, punctuality and much more. These are usually rated in a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest rating one can give and 1 being the lowest) but it all depends on the one creating it. This is a helpful way to provide feedback on an employee’s performance as it allows employers be more specific on what needs to be improved and what the employee is excelling at.

• Descriptive Scale. This is somewhat similar to the numerical scale, but instead of using numbers, those providing this type of feedback can give descriptions regarding the certain aspects of the employee that needs to be assessed. This is a great way for employers to provide the employee with information about his or her own competency level. However, one must take note that this  not the best method if one has to manage a large number of employees as it this requires one to go in depth about an employee’s performance. So only use this method if you aren’t worried about time.

10 Ways to Give Effective Feedback to Your Employees

If you’re a manager, then it’s your job to let your employees know how well they are doing. And they won’t be able know that if they aren’t told how good of a job they’re doing, or if they aren’t doing enough. Because if you were to receive feedback on your management skills, then even you would want them to do so in a professional and truthful manner. So follow these steps for when you are going to provide employee’s with the feedback they need to improve.

• Never provide feedback too late. If you’re going to appraise an employee’s performance, it’s best to do so right away. If you’re going to wait too long to do it, there is a very high chance that the employee might not even remember what he or she did wrong. So always try to do so as soon as possible.

• Try to do it as often as you can. You will need to find the most opportune moments to provide the employee with feedback. Whether they have done something positive or negative, you will need to point it out to make sure they understand that you are keeping a close eye as well as making sure that they achieve success.

• Be specific as possible when providing feedback. When providing any type of of feedback, you have to be sure that you go into detail. If the employee did something right, then do not just say “good job” but instead you provide specific information regarding how the employee did a good job. This is even more important when providing negative feedback so that the employee can know that errors he or she has committed.

• Always be fair with your employees. Just make sure that you are objective as possible. Avoid criticizing employees for small errors as this could have an impact on your on your relationship with them.

• Never let your emotions get the better of you. If during the feedback process, the employee has triggered an emotion within you, then try to remain calm and clear your thoughts before engaging with him or her again. This will prevent you from saying or doing anything unnecessary.

• Focus on the positive. It’s always great to hear the positive no matter what type of feedback you receive. So once you review an employee’s performance, be sure to take note of what he or she has achieved and compliment the employee. Although you should never forget to point out the negatives as well, it’s best to start off with the good the employee has done and provide praise when necessary. This will tell the employee that you and the company values him or her.

• Try to get all the information that you need form the employee. If you know the employee has encountered problems with his or her work productivity, it’s best to ask why the employee has not been doing well. This will give you a view on the employee’s side of the story.

• It is always best to give feedback in person. This is especially true if it’s for positive feedback where you reward an employee for achieving certain goals, much better if done in public. Negative feedback should be done privately because nobody wants others to hear what they did wrong.

• Follow up after you have done giving feedback to see if the employee is meeting the goals that the both of you have set. This will help track the employee’s progress easier. Take note of this and consider including the information for the employee’s annual performance evaluation.

• Encourage the employee’s to provide feedback on you and how you manage things. This can help improve communication, as well as make you a better leader.