Performance reviews are a great way to keep yourself aware of how your employees are doing. However, these reviews sometimes require you to give feedback, both negative and positive, and this blog post will tell you how to give negative feedback.

 

Firstly, it’s important to remember that negative feedback can have positive effects and often leads to improved performance. Also, when providing public feedback you can ensure that everyone is held accountable for the things they are responsible for, creating a team which self-manages better.

 

Feedback should be clear, and your employees should understand the reasoning behind it. It should also be regular, so creating weekly/fortnightly/monthly (the time period will depend on your business) opportunities to give feedback is the best way to support continual development and improvement.

 

When giving feedback be prepared to listen to the opinions of others, and be aware that you might change your time. Ensure that you have a clear picture of your employees’ situations in mind when giving feedback.

There are also some important things to remember not to do when giving feedback, including…

 

Don’t expect instant changes, your team will need a while to adjust to any change, so feedback sessions should be more general and focused on the overall team (rather than specific individuals) for the first week weeks. Additionally, make sure your employees know they are about to receive feedback, rather than jumping in with what could be read as criticisms. Preparing the receiver for the negative feedback they could receive will make them more open and trusting.

 

There is one method of giving feedback which often gets mixed reviews: the sandwich method. This is where you sandwich a piece of negative feedback between two positive pieces of feedback. The main problem with this method is that it could lead to your employees not trusting your positive feedback. The easier alternative is to simply address them with the fact that you have concerns and would like to discuss them, so that they know what to expect.

 

Hopefully this blog post has given you an idea of how to give feedback in the most effective way! For more great tips and tricks surrounding recruitment, HR and business, check out the rest of our blog: