Don’t make feedback more awkward than it already is
PSR: Don’t over-engineer feedback.
Yes, it can help to give feedback training. No, it’s not wrong to write in your company values something about “constructive candor” and it’s not a bad idea to have an HR goal to “implement feedback culture” sometime in Q3.
But in my opinion, they’re not the best ideas, either.
I had the honour of facilitating a workshop recently that was a direct result from honest feedback. A group of employees had said to their executive team (humour my paraphrasing), “Hey you up there, you’re letting us down and we expect and deserve more than this. Here are some examples of where you’ve dropped the ball and what impact that has had…”
What did the leadership group who received the feedback do? Not only did they LISTEN attentively before saying, “Thank you,” they then cleared the entire leadership team’s calendar at an extremely inopportune time to address these issues head on. They listened with open hearts and minds, showed empathy, resisted defending themselves, and listened to how they could improve.
This is how you build a feedback culture, ladies and gentlemen.
You reward it, even when it hurts. And by “reward,” I mean take it seriously. Honour it. If you role-model this from the very top of the organization, you won’t need to have it as an awkward HR initiative. (Remind me, is the “shit-sandwich” still being taught?)
So how do you get a leadership team to role-model a feedback culture like this one did?
Find out what’s stopping leaders from welcoming feedback
First check if it’s a cultural phenomenon (nobody is inviting feedback comfortably) or an individual challenge (some teams or individuals find it easy while others are stuck in awkward-mode)
Is there a general lack of trust? Do leaders feel they’re competing for something? Is inviting and accepting feedback perceived as a weakness or fault? Are reward systems based on individual performance?
Are top leaders offered individual support for their own personal development or is this “perk” only offered to the newbies in your teams?
Are leaders allocated resources (especially TIME) for their human-leadership responsibilities? Or is the people-side of their role supposed to get done in the 55th hour of their work week?
If you don’t explore these and other possible underlying issues, then mandating “feedback training” could become an embarrassing waste of money. Check if there are systemic blockers to this sensitive leadership topic.
Feedback-culture tips
Start at the top. If you can’t get the leadership team role-modeling a positive feedback culture, forget trying to get the ball rolling in the rest of the organization. It will only lead to resentment.
Nurture trust within teams. Take a development day to bring your leadership team together as just that, A TEAM. Offer a fun, safe, and structured space to dive deep into what makes each personality unique and how these differences can both challenge and optimize group dynamics. Offer a platform for peer support between leaders.
Reassess your incentivization program: if it’s pitting leaders against each other, you can forget the goal of getting them to support one another’s growth.
Offer individual leadership coaching: Not to be confused with ‘performance coaching,’ (which implies poor performance needs fixing), leadership coaching is a collaborative relationship designed to support the client’s individual development goals. These can include, “I want to be able to give and receive feedback more effectively.” It cannot be mandated.
Roll-down these intiatives once the most senior leadership “gets it.”
How do you see a “feedback culture” being practiced in your organization?
What tips would you give others on this journey? How do you nurture this kind of culture? Leave your comments below!