Feedback Culture
Good Day All, I hope everyone is well. Lately, I am hearing a lot of chatter regarding the topic of a "Feedback Culture". I am curious to know if your organization employs the historic annual/semi-annual employee performance feedback (performance to goal) or is your organization using a more frequent, informal, "on the fly" feedback process. I would appreciate to understand what is currently is use (and is if successful) in your organization. Much Appreciated.
Best Answer
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Hi Darryl,
From our perspective, we take a multi-layer approach to feedback. First, there is the people aspect, which is covered in weekly/bi-weekly 1 on 1s. These are used for the employee and manager to connect on whatever topic they believe is important to discuss at that particular time. Then, we have the operational/performance objectives that are set every quarter and reviewed on a monthly basis during monthly team meetings, quality reviews and 1 on 1s. We do have a bi-yearly performance review process where every 6 months, we review the employee's overall performance and areas of improvement. This serves as a check point to ensure we recap the last 6 months and set expectations for the next 6. We also review their individual development plans to see their development and track career progression.
We believe that feedback needs to be given on a consistent basis on all aspects related to the work our team members are doing day-in day-out. I hope this helps.
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I am not sure that performance reviews are the way to think about feedback. There are many problems with performance reviews. (i) They are removed from the context of doing work. (ii) They seldom have much to do with performance or the skills and behaviors that drive performance. (iii) Most people view them with trepidation and dread, from both sides of the desk.
I would take a step back here and ask what you are trying to achieve here. A number of things come to mind.
- Understand the performance, not of the person, but of the business results they are accountable for
- Help people acquire the skills and adopt the behaviors that drive performance
- How can people be combined in more effective teams
Feedback is an important concept, but it needs to be feedback about impact on the business.
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@Darryl Benjamin not sure if this information helps, we are moving towards a more frequent quarterly OKR format of feedback , this helps to review and set goals on a quarterly basis , this is the first year we have implemented this so the assessment regarding effectiveness of this format is to be seen. Hopefully in the next few months we would have enough feedback.
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One way I think about this is that it takes three data points to establish a trend. Then it probably takes another three to see if corrective steps are working. In today's world I think that means weekly (six weeks to correction) or at most monthly (six months) are needed for people and the organization to be agile and responsive to (i) their people, (ii) their customers and (iii) to environmental change. Given the current instability I think an investment in weekly interactions is the best practice.
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Hi Sumit, thanks for your input regarding implemented quarterly OKR format in your organization/company. Would be curious in 6 months how the program is going and are you achieving the desired results for the business and your employees! Thanks again! Darryl
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Hi Steven, you make a great point about differentiating Performance Appraisals/Reviews and Frequent Feedback. You have me sitting in my chair and thinking about the differences in Performance Appraisals(formal performance to goal) frequency annual/semi/qtly vs. a feedback culture(performance, development, teaming) which can be weekly/bi-weekly/monthly/real time. I will take the feedback and work it internally...Thank you!
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