Feedback Demand Exceeds Supply

A massive Gallup employee engagement survey found that there is no more important job satisfaction predictor than whether an employee has recently had a conversation about how they’re doing on the job. Yet a large percentage of employees at all levels crave more feedback from their managers than they receive. This is what Anna Carroll, author of The Feedback Imperative, found when she interviewed 2100 individuals in the workplace. (http://bit.ly/morefeedback) 

Feedback is information, and all of us--especially Millennials--are used to processing massive amounts of it daily.  So why are employees kept in the dark about their own performance?  Carroll says many reasons are emotional: Fear, avoidance, and fight-or-flight stress on the part of managers prevent them from delivering feedback--sometimes outsourcing the process completely and promoting “an anonymous feedback culture.”

One excuse managers give is that feedback will cause unhappiness and lead to turnover. But exactly the opposite is true. We believe the dissatisfaction caused by lack of feedback dissipates when managers are properly trained in the art of giving feedback, including our Raising Delicate Issues model.

We want to hear.  Are you getting enough feedback from your manager?  How would you improve the feedback process in your organization? Join the conversation and click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum

Image Credit: Het Nieuwe Instituut https://www.flickr.com/photos/thenewinstitute/

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