Help Employees Improve with Constructive Feedback

Now, more than ever, employees need a positive feedback loop.

All managers want employees to grow within their position and broaden their skill set. A good way to provide growth to employees is through constructive feedback. Reaching out on a regular basis helps your employees improve — and build the confidence that they are in fact evolving.

According to data gathered by the Harvard Business Review in 2014, the same employees that seek to hone and broaden their skills will usually rate their managers with high remarks. They appreciate honest and straightforward information and realize that such assessment will help them advance their career.

Here are 11 tips from talent management organization Reflektive’s blog to help managers facilitate productive and respectful conservations:

1. Cultivate a company culture where employees are not afraid to make a mistake. Let them know that everyone makes mistakes and, if not repeated, it will help the employee grow.
2. Begin a company policy of conducting frequent one-on-one meetings with all employees. Make these conversations face-to-face, private and productive.
3. Make sure your entire team knows their goals and objectives.
4. The goal is encouraging change in their skill set or behavior. Make your information useful and provide direction.
5. Remain positive in your approach. Begin the conversation with positive feedback about the employee’s overall performance.
6. Be clear and specific about what you would like to improve or change. Be sure to ask open-ended questions so the employee is able to process the situation and see how they could improve or evolve.
7. Remember to focus on the employee’s tasks, skills or behavior and not the person.
8. Only bring up one or two areas of improvement at a time.
9. Help the employee create actionable steps on how they can improve. Follow up with these action items during your next one-on-one meeting.
10. Be sure to provide support and ask what roadblocks you can help them hurdle to achieve their goal.
11. Finally, make sure your employee understood the purpose of the conversation and that you are there to help. If there is any tension, ask the employee for feedback on how they would prefer constructive assessment in the future. 

Remember that constructive feedback brings about improvement. You are there to help your employees develop their professional skills.

https://www.reflektive.com/blog/real-time-constructive-feedback-7-tips/