Workplace feedback: The backbone of effective communication

Feedback can be a spicy topic. People usually bring it up when it’s lacking or poorly delivered, which makes sense, given that no one knows how to give it.

We know this: workplaces that value feedback between employers and employees perform better than top-down organizations that don’t.

When companies value feedback, they do more than correct mistakes and give praise—they set a precedent for active and open communication that builds goodwill among team members, boosts creativity, and encourages action.

So, what does a culture of feedback look like?

For starters, people look happy. Instead of docile (even fearful) team members who speak only when spoken to, you have motivated contributors whose work is valued. Strategies can adjust quickly because decision-making isn’t stymied by hurt feelings or bureaucracy. Criticism can come from new hires as well as senior leaders. All in all, everyone has a valuable part to play.

If you’ve ever been part of a good feedback culture, you know the sense of goodwill and belonging shared among employees. People trust each other, employee engagement is high, and there’s an attitude of continuous improvement.

In this blog, we’ll talk about building and maintaining a workplace that values feedback. It takes courage to be forthcoming and vulnerable—especially when criticizing up the chain of command—but setting that precedent is crucial to building a robust and agile company.

Characteristics of a healthy feedback culture

If you want healthy teeth, you brush daily, not just when your mouth feels dirty (yuck). A healthy employee feedback culture is similar: feedback should be a part of everyday work life, not just something you do during performance reviews or when things go wrong.

Establishing a culture of feedback is a continuous process that involves everyone in the company.

Effective feedback culture can look like this:

• Feedback that isn’t limited to specific roles or levels of the organization. Whether you are a CEO or a junior employee, you can share your thoughts and be part of what’s happening.
  
  
• Inclusive policies ensure that all voices are heard, especially those underrepresented within the company or community.
  
  
• Calm, reasonable feedback that is constructive and supportive rather than harsh or punitive. Employees feel safe to share their thoughts, knowing they won’t be met with hostility or judgment.

Most importantly, good feedback cultures implement the feedback. If someone has valid criticism about how things are done, people listen and find a way to solve the issue.

This is important: workplaces that invite but don’t implement feedback value optics, not feedback. If employees see that feedback can actually lead to change, they are encouraged to keep participating and finding ways to improve.

Creating a strong feedback culture

There are plenty of think tank brochures on fostering better feedback at work. So, if there’s a lack of feedback at work, it’s not an information problem—it’s a leadership problem.

Building a culture of continuous feedback starts at the top. Managers and leaders must actively seek out and give feedback like they expect from lower-level employees.

This is easier said than done: soliciting feedback can be challenging, and some team members hesitate to speak up out of fear of irreparably hurting their career by wounding someone’s ego (usually a higher-up).

Leadership sets the tone for feedback throughout the company. When a manager regularly asks for input from the team, they show that feedback is a normal part of working together. Managers responding calmly to criticism shows that getting better is everyone’s job—not just direct reports.

Feedback has to be a regular part of work life. It can show up during:

• Team meetings
• One-on-one meetings and check-ins
• Evaluations and annual performance reviews
• Daily interactions

The more people learn to expect and offer feedback, the less intimidating the feedback process becomes.

Request feedback often

Not everyone feels comfortable giving direct feedback, which is understandable (and is the reason for this blog). Therefore, try to provide multiple feedback channels for employees to use.

Some convenient ways to solicit workplace feedback can include:

• Engagement surveys
• Feedback tools like JD eSurvey (a free survey tool for asking specific questions)
• Suggestion box at the office
• Time set aside specifically for feedback
• Direct questions to employees who don’t offer much feedback

Anonymous feedback is also essential. You can make endless guarantees about the safety of speaking your mind, but without anonymity, there’s still a risk of upsetting the wrong person. Let people speak freely by giving them the privacy to do so.

Acknowledge and implement feedback

Some disagree with the suggestion box approach, and with good reason: it’s a solution that can quickly spiral out of control to the point of thousands of cost-cutting suggestions no one will ever read.

Setting clear expectations can be as important as soliciting feedback itself. Specify a time and place where people can offer helpful suggestions—maybe once per month or quarter—and make no illusions about your ability to implement them. After that, the next step is to share anonymous suggestions with the team.

Doing this poses two challenges:

1. Determining “good” feedback: People who feel empowered to share their ideas sometimes overshare. You’ll get many ideas that only help people. It’s okay to dismiss them.
   
   
2. Disseminating relevant feedback to the company: If feedback seems good, people should hear about it. Should you share it via email? An all-hands? Is it worth having a quarterly company feedback email?

The key is to let teams know that you are reading and considering their feedback. Of course, there’s a whole other question regarding privileged information, but as far as feedback that can and should be shared, getting it out to people lets them know you’re paying attention.

Types of workplace feedback

Knowing different feedback styles gives you more options for communication. It can also prevent hurt feelings should someone else’s feedback style clash with your own.

Positive feedback

Everybody likes positive feedback. When you’re new to a job or feel unqualified, it feels good to hear that your work meets expectations. Positive feedback is giving people compliments related to their work. It’s motivating and uplifting and helps to reinforce the habits you want to see.

Constructive feedback

Constructive feedback is a mature approach to criticism. It focuses on areas for improvement while offering suggestions on how to improve, usually with the overarching message of “good job.” For example, tell someone their presentation was good but summarize critical points more clearly at the beginning and the end.

Corrective feedback

Sometimes, things go differently than planned. In those cases, corrective feedback pinpoints issues that need to be fixed immediately and explains their impact. For example, “We need to talk about you getting to work on time. It’s affecting our ability to start meetings on time.”

Approaches for offering workplace feedback

Offering and receiving feedback is a skill you can practice. Some people have a knack for it, but most of us feel uncomfortable when our performance is questioned. Do what you can to maximize each feedback opportunity, and take advantage of feedback training wherever possible.

Here are some examples of popular feedback approaches:

• The feedback sandwich: This approach “sandwiches” criticism between two pieces of positive feedback. For example, “Your customer service skills are excellent, but I noticed you were a little impatient with a client on the phone today. Let’s work on staying patient with all your customers. Overall, you’re doing great work.”
  
  
• The Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) approach: SBI describes the situation, the behavior used in the situation, and its impact. For instance, “During yesterday’s team meeting (Situation), you interrupted your colleague several times (Behavior), which made it difficult for her to share her ideas (Impact). Let’s work on giving everyone a chance to speak.”
  
  
• The 360-degree feedback approach gathers feedback from multiple sources—including peers, direct reports, and managers—to provide a well-rounded view of an employee’s performance, particularly during performance reviews. For example, an employee might receive feedback from a coworker about their teamwork, from a manager about their leadership, and a direct report about their communication.

Overcoming challenges in implementing a feedback culture

The biggest hurdle in creating a feedback culture is the fear of negative consequences—that offering honest feedback might hurt one’s career prospects. The way to overcome this fear is to promote a work environment of psychological safety that values and encourages honest feedback.

Beyond that, consistency is crucial to making feedback a regular part of work. It’s easy to let it fall by the wayside during a busy season, but employees need regular feedback to be connected and confident of their performance. Hold regular feedback sessions so that feedback becomes a regular part of work.

Dealing with negative feedback is also challenging. Training managers and employees to give and receive constructive criticism can help turn negative feedback into a positive experience.

The future of workplace feedback

Technology changes, but emotions don’t. People will adapt to faster and more dynamic feedback tools, but the ability to gracefully share feedback as needed will remain a homegrown skill. This is especially true in an era when CEOs get fired for verbally abusing employees.

As employee well-being becomes increasingly central to workplace culture‘s success, healthy feedback will be the distinguishing factor of successful companies.

More Resources:
Act your wage: How young workers are responding to stagnant pay
Digital age workplace: Why soft skills matter more than ever
Leadership development goals: Your roadmap to success