When I have been given the responsibility of being a project leader for the development of a new performance appraisal system at Matrix International Corporation, I was also asked to address the concerns that were voiced by the senior management. The major concern was related to the conduct in which the employees were given feedback related to their performance. This has become an issue as some employees found the feedback demeanor to be disrespectful. While delving into the solutions, I find that since Feedback is a type of consistent or ongoing process, which helps employees to learn about ‘what’ and ‘how’ they are supposed to do their jobs; therefore, it has to be constructive and that’s the only way it can post productive outcomes. To elaborate in detail, the difference between the good and bad feedback practices, and their impact on employees is discussed below;
Difference between Good Feedback & Bad Feedback Practices
Feedback may come in two forms i.e. good and bad feedback, and both can be productive and helpful for employees, as well as, organization as a whole. However, there are certain attributes associated to each of them that may result in varying outcomes. Good feedback helps recipient to recognize his or her strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, a feedback which is timely provided encourages dialogue, guides learning, and promotes self-belief is said to be a good feedback. Similarly, a bad feedback is untimely, discourage healthy dialogues, encourage objection, discourage learning, and adversely affect an individual’s self-belief. Good feedback usually deals within the premise of an individual’s strengths and it makes employees learn about what they are doing well and appreciates their good performance. The basic phenomenon behind good feedback is that it allows an individual to learn about their actions and in return, the individual is expected to uphold certain behavior in order to secure consistent appreciation. On the other hand, negative feedback deals with how poorly or inadequately an individual is doing. The basic phenomenon of bad feedback is that it is not productive and does not encourage an individual to learn about his weaknesses and mistakes. As a result, it discourages and demotivate employees and apparently, leave them clueless and dissatisfied (Redman & Demand, 2016).
Impact of Good & Bad Feedback Practices on Employee
Good and bad both types of feedback can be helpful and productive if they are timely provided and with appropriate gestures. Each of these types of feedback brings about the significant impact on employee behavior and performance. For instance, good feedback assists employees in improving their skills. It also creates trust and cooperation, as well as, leaves an individual feeling contented and inspired with increased confidence and self-esteem. In contrast, bad feedback impact the employees adversely while empathizing more over blaming them for their mistakes, leaving them dissatisfied with undermined self-esteem and confidence.
Bad feedback might also encourage confrontation while making an individual feel that he or she is being judged. Bad feedback negatively affects an employee's productivity, job commitment, work engagement, and his overall work performance. However, bad feedback is not always destructive, but all it needs is to be handled with more care because highlighting the mistakes of the subordinates is after all the responsibility of managers in order to maintain the future productivity of employees. Therefore, while offering good or bad feedback, the organization needs to be careful about the two imperative factors i.e. the timings and demeanor in which the feedback is provided as they can bring about significant impact to your employees’ performance (Phoel, 2016).
References
Phoel. C. (2016). Feedback That Works. Retrieved From https://hbr.org/2009/04/feedback-that-works/ on May 24, 2016
Redman. B, & Demand. M., (2016). The Differences between Negative Feedback & Positive Feedback Methods. Retrieved From http://smallbusiness.chron.com/differences-between-negative-feedback-positive-feedback-methods-18127.html on May 24, 2016
