The most important part of employee coaching and performance management is giving and receiving employee feedback.  Constructive criticism is another word that organizations may use, but feedback is preferred because the word criticism conjures up negative thoughts.

When was the last time you gave an employee feedback?  If you’ve done it today, you’re on the right track.  However, most managers don’t enjoy giving feedback and don’t give it as often as they should.

Just as managing performance cannot be done only once a year during performance reviews, feedback cannot be given sparingly either.  It needs to be an ongoing process throughout the year so that there are no surprise performance reviews or terminations.

Managers assume that people do not like to hear what they’re doing wrong so they don’t confront employees.  The truth is that people would much rather hear what areas they need to improve in, rather than be terminated or receive a negative performance review without having been given developmental feedback.

Most managers want to do the right thing and just haven’t had enough practice in giving constructive, timely employee feedback.

Tips on Giving Effective Employee Feedback

1.  Employee feedback must be timely.  Talk to the employee as soon as possible after you observe the behavior.

2. Employee feedback should be based on job performance and not on personality traits. When feedback focuses on personality, a person’s first natural instinct is to get defensive. Instead of saying to someone, “You didn’t finish the project on time because you’re lazy,” offer them tips on time management.

3.  Feedback is a dialogue.  Make the employee feel comfortable asking questions and engaging in discussion around the feedback.  If you just give the feedback without involving the employee, it’s not as likely that the person will buy in and act upon the feedback.

4.  Employee feedback should be related to a specific incident or behavior.  The receiver of the feedback is not as likely to listen to you or make a change if you don’t give them specific examples to illustrate your point.

5.  Employee feedback should be given for good and poor performance.  Don’t give your employees feedback only when they do something wrong.  Sometimes you can get so caught up in worrying about what is not getting done correctly that you overlook what is being done correctly.  Make sure that you are recognizing and employees for positive behaviors as well.

6.  Employee feedback should be given in a confidential place if necessary.  If you feel as if the feedback is going to embarrass the employee or make them self-conscious around co-workers, it’s best to set up a time to speak with them where others cannot hear.

7.  Employee feedback should have a goal.  There must be a purpose for you to deliver the feedback rather than giving it just for the sake of giving it.  The purpose may be to help the employee improve in a certain area or it could be to encourage someone to continue a certain behavior.

8.  When giving feedback, tailor it to the specific individual.  You may need to deliver feedback differently for different employees, taking into account how they react to feedback and what type of communication style they prefer.

9.  If compensation is based on specific goals, give feedback to the employee pertaining to his or her achievement of those goals.