Recently the Gallup organization published an interesting finding from their “Q12” employee satisfaction survey. Almost 70% of employees stated that they had not received any feedback from their immediate manager in the past six months. Gallup has substantial information that effective feedback builds engagement and engagement is a driver of productivity. Consider the potential improvements in performance if every manager would even occasionally visit with his people about performance.
Feedback comes in many different flavors such as the spontaneity of an “attaboy” (easy to overuse) to the formality of an annual review. The best have these characteristics:
Respectful
Timely
Direct but sensitive
Private
Participative
Focused on performance, not the personality
For a more in-depth discussion of effective feedback go to Feedback! What’s That?.
“I can live for two weeks on a good compliment” – Mark Twain
