7 steps to performance improvement
Delivering constructive feedback
No matter what business you’re in, we all have employees we would like to see improve their performance. As a leader, you can (and have to) make this happen by sharing constructive feedback. Pointers on things they need to differently, and positive feedback where you want them to keep repeating a behaviour, are both key to getting the most out of your team.
These 7 steps outline a technique you can use to make this happen:
Before you share any feedback, plan what you want to say. Work through these steps. This will help you deliver the message in the most impactful way.
Arrange a private place to meet. You don’t want colleagues or customers overhearing your discussion so pick somewhere you won’t be interrupted.
Explain to your team member the specific situation you observed (i.e. I noticed you were 30 minutes late to work yesterday and didn’t call in to let us know).
Next, explain the impact of that behavior (i.e. This meant we were late delivering an important document to a key customer, who threatened to move to a competitor).
Now, ask for their response to your comments. Here you should be assessing their reaction to make sure they understand the importance of the feedback you have shared.
You should now agree concrete next steps to ensure this situation is not repeated.
You have now set expectations. Make sure you follow up at a later date. Repeated negative behaviour may require more formal action, any positive improvements in behaviour should be acknowledged.
Remember, it is easy to focus only on delivering feedback for poor performance. You should always try and balance this with positive feedback; you need to keep your teams motivated to improve performance and profitability.
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