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HOW TO GIVE NEGATIVE
FEEDBACK
It’s never easy giving people
negative feedback, but it’s required, in the interest of bringing out the
best in employees. According to research by Columbia University’s Aylet
Fishbach and Stacy Finkelstein, negative feedback improved efficiency, more
so in people who had been at their jobs a long time. “I had a bright young
team member who was almost too cocky about the good work she was doing.
After a point, it started affecting her performance,” says senior marketing
manager with a consumer goods company A Nayar. “But when I sat her down and
pointed out the gaps, while praising her positive attributes, she worked at
making the changes. It helped her become that much better.” There is a
method to the process of giving negative feedback.
1 Make It the Exception No one wants to work in an environment where criticism
and negative feedback are rampant. “There’s nothing more demotivating for
teams,” says a regional operations head in a top private bank, who says
that whenever he gives reportees negative feedback, he also makes sure to
highlight areas in their performance that he is pleased about.
2 Word it Right While giving negative feedback, it is essential to
put it up well, says Sudhir Dhar, senior VP & head — HR, Motilal Oswal
Financial Services. “It should include strengths and accomplishments as
well as areas that need improvement. The feedback should conclude with
corrective action. It is also essential that the superior is fair and clear
while giving negative feedback,” he says.
3 Support with Data
“It’s important to clearly state facts associated with the employee’s
performance and/or give clear examples,” says Sudhir Dhar. “You need to be
specific here. Avoid opinions not relevant to job performance and
descriptions that are harsh or embarrassing. Avoid comparing with
other employees. Instead, use performance guidelines,” he says.
4 Make it a Two-Way Process As a leader, you need to give a
listening ear to the employee to understand his part of the story. You
should be as willing to accept negative feedback as you are to give it. “It
always helps to give the person an opportunity to voice her concerns as
well. That way you can not only uncover the problem, if any, but work
together on resolving it,” says a manager in a consulting firm.
5 Don’t Play the Blame Game It’s very important that no employee
should be labelled or given any kind of blame. According to Motilal Oswal’s
Dhar, this is applicable to all situations — reviews, layoffs, performance
evaluations, etc. “Sooner or later the bad news is forgotten, but the
labelling remains in the mind of the person,” he cautions.
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Sreeradha D Basu ET130419
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