Establishing a culture of feedback is the best way to ensure managers receive feedback openly and encourage their team members.
A culture of feedback encourages honesty across power differentials – employee to employee, employee to manager, and manager to executive.
It empowers each member of the organisation to deliver constructive and accurate feedback, without fear of retribution.
It frames any criticism as constructive, thereby increasing the chance that employees and managers will act on the criticism rather than reject it.
There are several steps you can take to implement this culture within your organisation. These include:
+ Teaching employees and managers on how to provide good feedback. It is important to approach at the right times, be specific, explain the impact of any behaviour discussed, listen to responses, and suggest an actionable solution.
+ Provide structure and opportunities for feedback. Plan one-to-ones between employees and their managers, distribute feedback surveys at regular intervals and provide time slots where employees can approach you and discuss any issues they may be facing.
+ Use feedback tools which provide confidentiality and convenience. Make it as easy as possible for your employees and managers to provide feedback – and where required, ensure responses remain confidential so employees don’t feel any barriers to providing this feedback.
+ It may be disappointing to receive feedback that isn’t positive. Instead of letting it negatively affect you, view it as an opportunity to improve your performance and subsequently that of your employees.
Implementing these steps will ensure managers will receive feedback more positively and make the effort to address any developmental areas.
Please contact our Head of Organisational Psychology at michael@peoplogica.com if you would like to discuss.
Written by Michael Mancinone
