How to Avoid Having to Give Tough Feedback

Even the best employee needs feedback. There’s no way to avoid it. Almost all leaders dread those difficult conversations about performance.

The good news is that there is usually a way to at least minimize the discomfort and instead offer opportunity for growth. You can even increase loyalty and improve leadership growth at all levels of your organization. But it is an investment. Here’s how to avoid having to give tough feedback.

The Approach Matters

An otherwise high-performing employee can shut down and become disengaged if a conversation about performance doesn’t go well. There’s a lot on the line when providing feedback. Empowering with constructive criticism can drive higher achievement.

Negative criticism can impact the entire team and employee morale. Rising talent, overall retention, dwindling confidence in leadership — all are fallout from improperly handled criticism. Discouraging, overly-harsh feedback or comments without context can drive people to air their grievances among coworkers or, even worse, publicly or on social media. When it is recorded for all to see, it could impact future hiring. In a 2020 survey by Fractl, one in three job candidates admitted to turning down an offer after reading negative online judgments about a company. And no leader wants to be categorized as a #badboss. With all this at stake, learning and teaching your team how to give effective feedback is essential to any leadership development program.

Effective professional development programs include working with leaders on how to correct actions or behaviors constructively to build high-performing teams. Here are a few ways to ensure that is happening in your organization.

Don’t Make Feedback a Bad Word

Some leaders only provide “feedback” when they have something to correct. Silence when something is done well and only voicing when it isn’t turns feedback into a negative word. Create an opportunity for ongoing dialogue instead.

When it is given regularly and made part of everyday conversation, feedback can be a highly effective tool. That means — say something when things go well and when there is room for improvement. Although pointing out what went well or what actions should be mirrored by employees can be provided in public. But one-on-one is best for criticism on areas/processes needing improvement.

Concentrate on Conversation and Open Dialogue

Termination with the assistance of HR is the only time that formal feedback is really necessary. In fact, inviting periodic conversations and opportunities to touch base on how things are going is a very effective way to develop ownership, accountability, and leadership at all levels of your company.

Conversational feedback results in less anxiety surrounding an episode and is more likely to be processed with an understanding of what next steps to take. Both leader and employee will likely look forward to those conversations as an important part of their professional development as it elevates performance.

Feedback and input from the employee is also essential to the conversation. What do they think is going well? What do they see as obstacles getting in the way of their performance? An open dialogue creates opportunity for ownership and fosters leadership development.

Make a Compliment Sandwich

Keeping an employee engaged in how they and the business are performing is another way to maintain an open dialog. Open and finish with something positive–place the constructive criticism between two compliments. You can imagine why this is often referred to as the sandwich approach.

This approach used as a simple compliment, something to work on, followed by another compliment, might seem insincere and obvious. Making it part of an ongoing dialog can seem less apparent. When speaking to an employee about a failed project, for example, you might say, “You put a lot of work into that project. I could tell it was something you are passionate about. And it showed in your team’s level of engagement with the project. How did you feel about it?”

After their input you could add, “What do you think you could’ve done differently to impact the project so that we would’ve met the goal?” Listening and asking appropriate questions helps create the dialogue. End with a specific action or how you want them to perform in the future, and close with their area of strength or what they bring to the team.

Explain the Why and Focus on Growth

If an employee needs some course correction or even fails to follow directions, it may be that they didn’t fully understand the assignment or the expectations. The why behind the request or project is critical to ensure you get the output you need and illustrate the importance of the project. Explaining the why leaves them more invested in the outcome.

The second part of this is adopting a growth mindset. This is not about right or wrong. It’s about creating opportunities for professional growth. Employees who achieve their professional best are more confident and become more valuable to the company. When providing feedback, look for ways to show them the ladder to further their own career growth.

Liddell Consulting Helps Leadership Development

Having good leaders at all levels of your organization who believe in what you are doing and, better yet, how they can support future leadership development is critical to your company’s success. An objective leadership expert can provide perspective on your overarching business goals and strategies and how that translates to leadership development. Our experienced perspective can assist in identifying opportunities for improvement, and our time-tested methods can provide clear steps to greater success. Contact us today.