For Feedback To Be Effective, Put First Things First

First things first.

This wise little maxim is the underlying theme of “Stop Teaching People How to Give Feedback,” a thought-provoking post written by Fistful of Talent guest blogger, Ben Olds. When Olds instructs us to nix the feedback lessons, he means temporarily of course. Just until we’ve put first things first.

The “first thing” in this case, according to Olds, is for us to recognize that simply teaching managers to give feedback “doesn’t work.” The reason? “Because this approach starts in the wrong spot! There are four traits that have to exist to have a strong feedback culture, and we typically need to foster each,” writes Olds. These four traits are: 1) the will to receive feedback; 2) the skill to receive feedback; 3) the skill to give feedback; and 4) the will to give feedback.

Olds’ position is that giving feedback is part of a larger continuum and we need to instill other necessary feedback proficiencies across our organizations before and after we train managers.

Olds’ points are eminently sensible but it’s not entirely true that teaching managers to give feedback effectively doesn’t work. Our employees want feedback and the vast majority say it improves their performance. Read the Harvard Business Review post, “Your Employees Want the Negative Feedback You Hate to Give,” which makes a strong case for the value of both positive and negative feedback. And even if 100 percent of employees don’t put feedback to use, many do.

Undoubtedly, we would be better off if we took Olds’ advice and created workplace environments in which all four of his traits could take root in the proper order. These environments would be true “feedback cultures,” nurturing continuous learning and improvement, inspirational performance reviews, and universal accountability.

But even in our less-than-perfect workplaces, managers who know how to give feedback effectively do make a difference.

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Connect with the individuals and sources highlighted in this post by clicking the links below:

@FistfulOfTalent

Benjamin Olds (LinkedIn profile)

@HarvardBiz

Revisiting Employee Motivation … and the Power of a Single Word

Part of the challenge of managing people is learning how to motivate them.

In a previous post, we asked, “Is Employee Motivation Increasingly Beyond Our Control?,” citing research that claims employees are less motivated by traditional extrinsic rewards (raises, bonuses, promotions, etc.) and increasingly motivated by intrinsic rewards (an internal sense of achievement and satisfaction) that can’t be handed out by employers.

The good news is that motivating employees to greater levels of achievement is definitely not beyond our control, and both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards can be powerful motivational tools. But it’s important to remember that motivation isn’t driven by “rewards” alone.

A recent post on the Harvard Business Review blog site tells us that “Managers Can Motivate Employees with One Word.” That word is … together.

The post’s author, Heidi Grant Halvorson, quotes new findings from researchers at Stanford University who brought people together in small groups, then separated them to work alone on challenging puzzles. But the researchers also did something quite fascinating: they told a portion of these individuals that they would be working on their puzzles together, despite being in different rooms. These people were also told they would receive a tip at some point from a team member to help them solve their puzzle. The researchers categorized these individuals as “psychologically together.”

For the other portion of individuals in this study—the ones who made up the “psychologically alone” category—researchers made no mention of the word “together,” and these people were told that a researcher would provide them with a helpful tip at some point. As Halvorson notes, “All the participants were in fact working alone on the puzzles. The only real difference was the feeling that being told they were working ‘together’ might create.”

And what a difference it was. Halvorson reports that “participants in the psychologically together category worked 48% longer, solved more problems correctly, and had better recall for what they had seen. They also said that they felt less tired and depleted by the task. They also reported finding the puzzle more interesting when working together.” The word “together” signals to employees that they’re connected to others they can trust and who are working with them toward the same goal.

Halvorson goes on to urge managers “to make use of this word with far greater frequency … Let ‘together’ be a constant reminder to your employees that they are not alone, helping them to motivate them to perform their very best.”

Let’s be clear: Halvorson isn’t advocating that managers use the word “together” as a ruse or a way of tricking employees into feeling a sense of connectedness that doesn’t exist. This cannot be a hollow gesture. Managers must actually be team builders, nurturing work environments that promote collaboration and teamwork. They must also model the right behaviors. Only within such an environment can the word “together” have real impact.

For managers looking to enhance their teams and work environments, a recent Fortune article offers some real-world inspiration. In “Five Secrets To Building Killer Teams,” seasoned leaders offer personal insights into how they’ve tackled the challenge. They recommend actions such as “Throw out the hierarchy,” “Be forthright,” and “Seek out non-traditional diversity.”

The word “together” can make a big difference when it comes to motivating our people. But we have to earn the right to use it. Once we do, we should follow Halvorson’s advice and use it often.

Are You Ready To Create the Organization of Your Dreams?

It’s not beyond your reach!

Not according to the authors of a 2013 Harvard Business Review report, “Creating the Best Workplace on Earth.” They affirm that you can indeed create your dream organization—i.e., one that operates to its fullest potential and gets people to deliver their best work day in and day

out—if you nurture six key attributes:

1.     Let people be themselves.

2.     Unleash the flow of information.

3.     Magnify people’s strengths.

4.     Stand for more than shareholder value.

5.     Show how the daily work makes sense.

6.     Have rules people can believe in.

The authors identified these attributes by talking with and surveying hundreds of executives across the world over the course of three years. They admit that few organizations possess all six attributes … that there are costs and complexities associated with implementing them … and that creating a dream organization is definitely “aspirational.”

Even so, these attributes are found to varying degrees within the most productive and successful companies on the planet. So they represent a useful blueprint for those of us striving to transform our organizations into dream organizations. By choosing a few of these attributes and doing what we can to nurture them within our own companies, our employee engagement and commitment levels could soar.

And, as the authors of the HBR report point out, focusing on employee engagement and commitment can pay powerful dividends:

“Research from the Hay Group finds that highly engaged employees are, on average, 50% more likely to exceed expectations than the least-engaged workers. And companies with highly engaged people outperform firms with the most disengaged folks—by 54% in employee retention, by 89% in customer satisfaction, and by fourfold in revenue growth. Recent research by our London Business School colleague Dan Cable shows that employees who feel welcome to express their authentic selves at work exhibit higher levels of organizational commitment, individual performance, and propensity to help others.”

Creating “the organization of your dreams” or “the best workplace on Earth” might sound like pipedreams to some but the potential rewards are very real. And that makes these dreams worth reaching for.