Imagine if this were to happen to you. Your manager has set a time for you to meet and discuss your end of year performance review. During the course of the discussion you receive feedback that your performance needs to improve in critical areas — consequently you will be placed on a corrective plan under strict guidance of applicable metrics. But as the resulting anxiety grows and then the ensuing frustration accumulates you may think to yourself: “Wait! Where did this discussion come from?” Or even, “I didn’t see this coming at all; where have I gone wrong?” But the most important question remains as you wonder: “Where do I go from here?”
This scenario highlights the value of clear and consistent feedback, which is essential in today’s workplace, not only because of its significance to employee performance and development, but because it is a critical tool for effective communication at every level of an organization. The outcomes for ineffective feedback are clear: demotivated employees and a negative work environment. These factors ultimately damage the organization’s cohesion as well as the agency’s ability to produce desired outcomes.
Interestingly, scientific research has contextualized this premise. A study reported in Harvard Business Review found that negative feedback caused employees to adapt their roles in the organization to avoid those who gave it, and if that wasn’t possible, to seek out peers who provided more positive reactions.
Researcher Paul Green explained, “The idea behind performance appraisals, and feedback in general, is that to grow and improve, we must have a light shined on the things we can’t see about ourselves. But in fact, it just makes them go find people who will not shine that light on them. It may not be having the intended effect at all.”
Green’s finding raises interesting questions about how management can balance an individual’s self esteem — and thus their motivation — against the realistic need to address performance, particularly as it relates to metrics established within the workplace. If feedback does not create incentive for improvement, what is the next logical recourse? Is this issue more about how feedback is delivered or the nature of feedback in and of itself?
More to the point, perhaps this is less of a critical response to individual scenarios and a more prevalent example of the need to create a positive feedback culture in the workplace. One concrete place to start is to look at strategies for reframing feedback as a tool for growth and development, rather than solely for criticism. As Lucy Georgiades wrote for the Elevate management training website, “By providing feedback consistently as an expected part of our daily interactions, not just for annual or quarterly performance reviews, this normalizes the process, making feedback a routine part of our professional growth”.
But this also may necessitate some changes in your management style: Are you creating a safe space for your staff to ask questions and share their own insights? Be open to feedback from your staff yourself as a way to lead by example. Building a community amongst your staff is challenging: not only are individual personalities a factor but external stressors necessitate that these relationships are continuously shifting and in some cases evolving.
A culture of feedback, however, not only better connects employees to their work but with one another, and promotes more satisfaction within the organization. So if you want your employees to feel valued for their contributions, maybe it’s time you find the right words to tell them so. Only then will you be able to build an environment that inspires your team to grow.
Erin Farquhar is a Branch Manager for DC Public Libraries in Washington, D.C. Erin holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in English Literature and Folklore, as well as a MLIS. She has worked in quite a few of DC’s wards, and enjoys working with the varied communities and rich cultural heritage she serves.
Erin has stated, “Now, as a manager within this infrastructure I look to further develop the practices of strategic thinking and plan implementation. As libraries continue to develop their social role in order to build strong vibrant communities, I would like to mirror this direction in order to help shape the ideas and perspectives that are central to an innovative society. Any metamorphosis can be a slow process but a caring workforce reflects the commitment of all its employees.
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