Importance of providing feedback
There are two important principles to remember in providing feedback:
• Both positive and corrective feedback should be given as close as possible in time to when the relevant performance occurs
All employees who are performing competently should receive frequent praise and encouragement. Those who are not performing at the expected level should be informed of any problems and “coached” on how to improve. Apprising employees of good performance helps maintain their motivation and signals them to continue in this direction. Communicating with employees in a positive manner when they need to improve their performance will help prevent chronic work problems and minimize surprises during the Performance Review.
• The performance should be documented Guidelines for Giving Positive Feedback Positive feedback is defined as providing feedback to someone who has done something well and deserves praise for their efforts. In providing positive feedback, the following general rules should be followed:
How to Give Feedback
Supervisor Checklist
Constructive feedback not only helps employees do their work more effectively, but also improves communication between the supervisor and the employee. Frequently, supervisors, subordinates, and coworkers do not provide enough constructive feedback to each other. When specific and accurate information is provided in a constructive way, both employees and supervisors can improve or change their performance.
1. Respect the individual’s privacy by choosing a time and place to speak without interruptions or being overhead by others. Privacy is especially important when giving constructive feedback.
3. Identify exactly why the problem causes difficulty for the unit and cannot be allowed to continue.
4. Ask for the person’s help in resolving the problem and discuss the ideas they offer for its solution.
5. Reach agreement on specific actions that each person will take to solve the problem. Confirm this agreement by restating it and by assigning a specific time frame or deadline to complete action.
1. Respect the individual’s privacy by choosing a time and place to speak without interruptions or being overhead by others. However, there may be occasions when it is appropriate to praise an employee publicly.
6. Schedule a follow up meeting to examine the effectiveness of these actions.
5. If necessary, the supervisor should schedule a follow up meeting to see if the employee’s concerns have been addressed.
Corrective feedback is defined as providing feedback to someone who has not done something well and who requires some corrective action to improve performance. Good corrective feedback is provided in a constructive way that will continue to motivate the individual. In providing corrective feedback, the following general rules should be followed:
8. Never use feedback as a way to “put a person down” or “in their place,? to embarrass the individual in front of others, or to relieve anger.
2. Focusing on the problem, not the individual. Avoid personalizing feedback, e.g., “Chris, the billing in the unit is two weeks behind; I’d appreciate your input concerning how to bring it up to date,” NOT “Chris, you are slowing up the billing!”
Guidelines for Giving Corrective Feedback
7. Never threaten the individual with ambiguous consequences if the behavior doesn’t change, e.g., “Shape up or you’ll be very sorry.” The purpose is to motivate a change in behavior for positive reasons. Stronger steps can and should be taken through the disciplinary process if behavior does not change.
9. Attempt to leave the person motivated to perform better. If they are not motivated to improve, then the feedback was non productive.
3. Express personal appreciation and explain how the behavior helps in performing the everyday duties and responsibilities
4. Ask if there are any job related problems that the individual may need help with. Employees particularly appreciate it when their supervisors care enough to ask how they might help with any work problems.
2. Clearly describe what the individual did to deserve praise.
• DON’T say, “You should,” “you must,” “you have to.” Restate as a request: “I would like you to…”
Key Elements of Feedback “Performance feedback provides information that helps employees to alter, change or maintain their behaviors and/or attitudes so that the organization continues to operate smoothly.”
NON-EVALUATIVE: When providing feedback, one must not respond to the personal worth of the person, as this depicts the manager as a judge.
TIMELY: Feedback should be well timed. It should be given as close to the performance event being addressed as possible.
ACTION PLAN: As behavior change can only come from within oneself, feedback should specify the consequences of the actions or behavior concerned. Using “I” Statements to Present Your Perception of Performance Choosing Words Carefully
• Express thoughts, feelings and opinions reflecting ownership. (Instead of denying ownership, being passive or indirect)
• DON’T exaggerate, minimize, or use sarcasm. “You’re never on time.”
• Use Body Language Do’s and Don’ts of Feedback
• DON’T use exaggerated words “obviously,” “absolutely,” “always,” “never,” “impossible.”
Don’ts for Aggressive People
SPECIFIC: Feedback must be detailed and individualized for the specific person with whom you are addressing
EMPATHETIC: Feedback should acknowledge the feelings of both parties in the discussion.
• DON’T say, “I can’t” or “I won’t be able to.” Explain rationale.
DESCRIBES BEHAVIOR: Feedback should address the specific action or behavior you are trying to recognize or change.
• DON’T depersonalize feelings or deny ownership. “You make me mad.”
• Use “I statements.” (Instead of “you statements”)
• Use clear direct requests or directives (commands) when you want others to do something. (Instead of hinting, being indirect, or presuming)
Don’ts for Nonassertive People
• DON’T ask, “Can you,” “could you,” “would you,” “why don’t you,” “would you mind,” “do you think you might.” Request by asking, “will you please” it is the only question that truly asks for action and a commitment.
• DON’T use “it,” “that,” “one,” “you,” and “we.” Use “I.” State your thoughts with “I think,” your opinions with “I believe,” and your feelings with “I feel (mad, sad, glad, scared)” or “I am (mad, sad, glad, scared).”
• DON’T say “ya’ know,” “maybe,” “kinda,” “sorta,” “only,” “just,” “I guess.” Restate in a more direct, confident manner without the wishy washy qualifiers.
• Review of time logs and/or activity reports
• DON’T defer to be social or agree unwillingly. ” I don’t care, whatever everybody else wants.”
• Customer compliments/complaints
• Feedback from coworkers, peers, other supervisors, or customers
There are many ways to monitor the employee’s performance, but the most frequently used is periodic, direct observation or “management by walking around.” Other methods include:
Once the performance period begins, both the supervisor and employee have certain responsibilities. The employee’s responsibility is to perform the job in a way that meets established standards. The supervisor’s responsibility is to provide the direction and support needed to help employees perform effectively and to remove any obstacles to that performance.
Ways to Monitor Performance
The supervisor should monitor the employee’s performance consistently throughout the performance period. Employees have a responsibility to keep the supervisor informed of progress and of events that may prevent them from performing at the expected level. The most important reasons for monitoring and recording performance are accuracy and feedback. Failure to consistently monitor and record employee performance leads to incorrect performance information. In addition, employees need regular feedback to adjust their performance on an ongoing basis.
• Review of the employee’s work or records
How to Monitor Performance
Importance of Monitoring Performance
The supervisor and employee should, during the Expectation Setting meeting, agree to the nature of expected performance, and also agree on how it will be monitored and measured. If measurement can be defined in a clear and concise manner, employees can also monitor their own performance throughout the period.
WHY: Indicate the source of the information or how the incident was reported. Describe why it either meets or fails to meet expectations and include any extenuating circumstances that would either increase or decrease the employee’s level
Documenting performance can be done easily with the WHO WHAT WHY WHEN WHERE and FOLLOW UP method.
WHAT: When there is a positive or negative performance incident, write a brief description of the event in the performance log.
The challenge of monitoring performance is to get a fair (representative) sample of the overall work, but not to expect to include everything. Gathering a fair sample can be done by collecting examples of employees’ work on many different occasions and varying the days and times when they are collected. The supervisor should not monitor performance on the same day or at the same time of day throughout the review period. Information should be gathered on typical, slow, and busy days; for important projects and for routine ones; sometimes in the morning, sometimes the afternoon, and toward the end of the workday. The goal is to obtain a fair group of work examples that collectively are not biased in either a high or low direction.
Steps to Document Performance
Documenting Performance
WHO: Begin an employee performance file or log that is used to document performance.
It is important for the supervisor and employee to document performance incidents throughout the rating period. Good documentation helps avoid conflicts during the Midway Feedback session and the final performance evaluation. All documentation should be in the form of written records. Relying on memory increases the risk of inaccurate, incomplete, and missing information. One method of recording information is an Employee Performance Log. The log is used to record incidents of performance good or bad, competent or not competent. Regular entries should be made in the log throughout the performance period. The log is not intended to be a list of everything the employee does. Instead, it should be a record that fairly represents the employee’s performance over time.
of responsibility for the incident (for example, the office was short staffed that day, employee’s first day back after leave, etc.). WHEN / WHERE: Indicate when and where the incident occurred. FOLLOW UP: In the case of performance that fails to meet expectations, record the nature of any discussion between the supervisor and employee about the performance incident. What should the employee have done? What is being done to assure that subsequent performance meets expectations? What time period was set for follow up on these commitments? A Department in the Division of Administration 1100 Chesapeake Bldg, College Park, MD 20742, USA · 301.405.7575