Rick Goodman February 23, 2021 
Giving employee feedback is important for a number of reasons. Employees should be aware of their performance and what the company expects from them including goals and areas for improvement.
As a keynote speaker and executive coach for CEOs and management teams I am often asked, why is giving employee feedback important?
Employee feedback gives leaders an opportunity to contribute to improving to the effectiveness of their team.
Six Benefits of Giving Employee Feedback
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Leadership Development
As they say in my book The Solutions Oriented Leader “The goal of a leader is not to have many followers, it’s to develop other leaders”. In fact, the goal of transformation a leadership is to develop a whole team of leaders.
The cornerstone to developing other leaders is through the process of feedback.
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Increased Performance and Productivity
As an executive coach for leaders and management teams for over 30 years the number one trait that needs to be improved in my opinion is self-awareness.
When a leader or team member becomes self-aware, they will begin to improve. Most employees aren’t likely to know how they are performing unless they are given regular feedback.
This way they will know if their performance is up to the organization standards. If not, they will know what they need to do to meet and exceed expectations.
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Clear Communication
People hear things based on how they listen and according to their previous references in life. I never like to leave any meeting without making sure that everybody on the team knows what I expect from them and understands it!
Have you ever been in a meeting and seen everyone walking around with the deer in the headlights look? They then stand around the water cooler trying to figure out what was just said in the meeting.
When expectations are clearly communicated through employee feedback, an employee should understand what should be done and when certain tasks should be completed.
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Feedback Builds Confidence
Constructive feedback and direction will build the confidence of your team members and the knowledge that they will be successful.
Every great team and organization I have ever seen have a coach. Someone to motivate them, cheer them on, and give them direction focused on the major goals.
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Feedback Improves Your Own Leadership Skills
Managers and leaders who provide team members with positive feedback will feel more in control of their goals and expected outcomes.
They see the benefits of employee development and are more focused on coaching and checking in with team members regarding their progress on tasks and projects.
Managers and leaders who used this approach reported an increase in productivity, performance, and it also created a happier work environment!
Keys for Giving Effective Feedback
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Have a Standard Time for Giving Feedback?
The timing of your feedback is very important, so you want to take this into consideration. Setting date for regular scheduled feedback is important for the continual improvement of your employee.
If your employee is not in a good mindset or if you are not in a good mindset, waiting till the mood is neutral will provide a more conducive environment to reinforce or redirect employees using constructive feedback
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Preparation is Crucial
Your preparation for each employee should be thorough before you provide them with feedback. The way you approach each team member will certainly be different according to the feedback that you deliver.
When you are prepared your team members will notice by the amount of information you provide them regarding their work. This helps the feedback to be meaningful for the employee’s continuous improvement.
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Provide Specific Examples for Improvement
In order for any feedback to be effective you must present the employee with specific examples on what needs to be improved as well as examples of what is going right. This will help them to focus on their strengths repeating the tasks they are doing well, while working on their weaknesses.
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Be Transparent and Real
In the world we live in today transparency is crucial in producing improvements and creating a happy work environment. The feedback that you provide should be honest and genuine. You want to make the employees feel comfortable receiving feedback from you.
Your actions will speak louder than your words, so remember be yourself, your goal is to coach the team member to reach their highest potential!
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Deliver Actionable Feedback
In order for feedback to be effective you must make it actionable so that the employee knows exactly what they need to do to improve and what steps they need to take first.
The goal is to avoid personal criticism on things that your employees can’t change.
Your feedback should always be motivational, positive and with a focus on what your employees can do to reach their goals and objectives.
As you can see giving your employees feedback is crucial to building a culture of positivity.
Your employees will love to come to work focused on constant improvement in a happier work environment.
What is a solutions-oriented leader? Take the free Solutions-Oriented Leader Assessment now and claim your Comprehensive Guide to Achieve Success.
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