The Future of Workplace Feedback
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Last week, an HR executive wanted to hear my thoughts on the future of workplace feedback. I thought what I shared would be interesting to all of you, so I’ve included my responses here. His questions are in bold.
So why are companies so bad about providing meaningful feedback to employees?
Nobel Prize winner, Daniel Kahneman talked about the key problem in his book Thinking Fast and Slow: managers are so harried in their lives that they don't have a chance to pause, think, and dispense precise, specific feedback.
As a result, most feedback is reactive and not thoughtful. Empty cheer-leading statement like "Good job. A+++. Keep it up." Or vague comments like "Your communication skills are off. Sign up for a class."
As reviews/feedback evolve, what will they look like in the future? What should they look like?
It feels far fetched, but I strongly believe managers will embrace software (and possibly) AI tools to assist them in giving more precise, specific feedback.
Part of the revolution is getting meaningful inspiration on what to say.
The other part is getting detailed analytics on what feedback is being provided and what that means for overall employee productivity.
What trends are underway? What are real-time feedback tools?
The only mainstream trend underway is continuous feedback software like 15Five, which forces 1) employees to reflect and 2) managers to review weekly accomplishments and areas of requested help.
Do they work?
They do help. It's hard to imagine, but very few managers have intentional checkpoints (aka 1:1's). 15Five forces managers to connect 1:1 w/ their employees, ideally face-to-face, but at the very least virtually.
However, they do have the problem of being empty. While these real-time feedback tools do provide more visibility, a lot of the information is not acted upon. Also, there's a lot of empty cheer-leading with these real-time platforms. Smiley faces and atta-boy emoticons will only go so far.
What can they do? What can't they do?
No comment.
Do employees really want real-time feedback?
Absolutely. People thrive on communication. There's actually a study that shows that managers are afraid of talking to their employees: https://prnt.sc/qsitrh. So it wouldn't be a reach to say many managers don't provide feedback because their employees don't want it; it's more because the managers are afraid to give it!
What other review and feedback models are companies exploring? Basically, we're aiming for the the evolution of reviews/feedback in this story, especially where are companies headed and what is the future of feedback?
Our company, ManageBetter, is certainly headed toward a new model of giving feedback. Interested? Let me know, and I'd be happy to tell you more.
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