Feedback is a complex process which deserves a skilful approach to get the better out of it.
So what is and what is not?
Feedback is more than filling forms
When you hear the term “performance evaluation,” the first image that often comes to mind is lot of work in many forms: from checklists to evaluations, and balancing reports that each of us has addressed from times to times.
This is a huge issue.
Anyone who identifies feedback with completing forms has already lost the battle for a meaningful assessment before it even starts: Using forms a basis for performance discussions risks to transform a helpful conversation into an anxious review.
I am not saying that process doesn’t need to be prepared and documented but should merely serve to confirm that a review has occurred, not as the tool for the review itself. The essential medium for our analysis is conversation and a good approach to it.
And we as managers need to use in full the opportunity of a candid conversation to provide our thoughts and directions.
Timeliness is all
It’s often mistakenly assumed that performance reviews are unpleasant and infrequent. Which makes it not meaningful.
There are many techniques to expedite how people give and receive feedback, from incorporating feedback into regular meetings to regular but empathic discussions. But is essential that is timely and precise otherwise is like not giving it.
Surf the feedback wave
It is a mistake to blame all the issues with performance reviews on the individuals providing them. Feedback operates similarly to any other business process: you only get out what you put in. Feedback is all around us and we have to use every occasion to let it appear. And this is valid as well for us as managers: if we’re not receiving enough feedback, simply we have to ask for it.
A raise in salary is not feedback
It is challenging to argue against the principle that the better you perform, the more compensation you should receive. However, most performance management professionals assert that explicitly linking evaluations to raises can lead to potentially unmanageable consequences. Feedback is about success for the organization, while compensation deals with economics and market skills. Pay and feedback aren’t always directly correlated: good feedback enables access to raises, but it is not their direct cause.
