‘Any feedback or recommendation?’ This section is added in every product or service for the user or customer so that such feedback can be used to improve or subtract the segments that will further enhance customer service. With the feedback or recommendation constellated from the users, that particular organization reads the users’ minds about what is bothering the users or what the customers expect more. It's like a study analysis. Feedback is vital in every sector. This is just a shrimpy example from a customer or user's perspective. But what about the employees? Employees are the driving fuel of the organization. They dedicate their time, deliver their efforts, and allocate their experiences to the organization. Their performances are evaluated, and they are given opportunities to provide feedback to their managers and organization. During the past days, employee performance reviews were held annually or biannually, and the whole setup brought a stressful situation for both employees and managers. But this traditional version of performance review has been superseded by continuous feedback that plays a very crucial role in driving employee engagement, productivity, and growth.
Continuous feedback is a systematic and structured approach that focuses on regular and meaningful conversations and interactions between managers and team members. The managers or supervisors provide real-time feedback to the employees rather than waiting for the evaluation or performance review on an annual basis. It involves the practice of sharing critical and constructive feedback that includes informal chats, normal praise, check-in conversations with topics of employee satisfaction, professional growth, employee expectations, training and development, and more. The feedback culture must be developed in an organization so that both parties can cooperate and express their opinions without any hesitation.
Conducting regular and continuous feedback sessions with check-ins won't be effective if there is no equal participation from the employees themselves. Managers also play an equal role in bucking off the employees or team members for enrolling in the feedback culture. With the ultimate better response on employee performance, career development aspirations, positive enhancements on employee expectations, build a stalwart bonding or rapport and trust between the employees. The International studies have also proven that regular feedback mechanisms have assisted in both employee and organizational performance. Some published reports are enumerated below:
i) According to the Gallup story, the organizations conducting regular feedback mechanisms can observe up to a 14.9% increment in employee productivity.
ii) The Deloitte report emphasized that the organizations that focused on a continuous feedback culture were 3.5 times more likely to be high performing.
These reports signify the importance of a continuous feedback culture in an organization. Its momentousness protracts beyond employee engagement. It enhances employee productivity, their professional career growth, and organizational agility. Let's hop into the significance of a continuous feedback culture in the organization.
With an annual or semiannual performance review, the stressful situation arousal may have impacted both managers and employees. And with the sudden feedback, employees may be topsy-turvy with utter bamboozlement. The continuous feedback culture helps the managers to study and analyze the workforce in real-time rather than waiting for months. Rather than waiting for a year to write sudden feedback on paper, managers get ultimate results from the reports, and employees can quickly work on their improvements. With the dual method of prompt communication, both get familiar with the assigned jobs and responsibilities, maintaining balance in the workplace.
When there is understanding between both parties, the employee-employer relationship gets stronger. When the opinions are welcomed, it creates an understandable concatenation, resulting in employee engagement. When the employees' voices are heard and supported by organizational actions, they are more likely to stick with the organization. This prevents employee turnover and attrition, and higher costs related to recruitment and hiring. With the ultimate trust and understanding, employee engagement and their loyalty towards the organization tend to remain high.
When employees work immediately on the guidance and inputs they are provided with, they can work on improving their performance and other skills they need to upgrade. Sometimes, there may exist hindrances and other workstation issues that may require supervisors’ guidance. And waiting for an annual performance review is not worth it. Before the minimal mistakes get compounded, prompt and real-time feedback helps in reducing the residency bias as well. Regular one-on-one check-ins help managers gain an overall understanding of the employees, and the information gathered through the real-time conversations bolsters HR leaders to find the deviation between desired and actual employees’ performance.
Employees receive feedback on their performance, sectors to improve, skillset to develop, and training and development opportunities that accelerate their personal and professional growth. The continuous feedback enables the HR leaders to find out the critical business needs encompassing the organizational goals, skills requirements for employees’ development, so that they can design the learning and development framework to enhance the growth and productivity level amongst the employees.
With consistent and meaningful interactions, HR leaders get accurate information on employees’ performance. By gaining a holistic view of their performance, the employees’ contributions are also recognized. Employee rewards and recognition also play pivotal roles in making employees feel committed to work, as their efforts are rewarded. Continuous feedback cycle or loop is a better option to be adopted by the organization to drive higher performance with regular communication. This helps to overcome challenges and roadblocks that occur among the organizational team members.
i) Explain the continuous feedback cycle to the organizational team members
ii) Stay focused on organizational goals with structured feedback procedures and baselines
iii) Establish the practice of informal feedback routines with regular check-ins
iv) Train the employees and supervisors on requesting and receiving feedback and recommendations
v) Reward and recognize the employees’ contribution with praise, bonuses, or incentives
vi) Focus on real-time feedback and collection with customizable surveys
vii) Use Project Management tools and software for better options and other platforms dedicated to Continuous Feedback, such as CultureMonkey, Qualtrics, Quantum Workplace, Lattice, etc.
viii) Use tools that easily integrate with the HR system
ix) Address clarity and career progression options for employees
x) Schedule one-on-one meetings for better understanding and flow of feedback
Continuous feedback is a two-way approach that fosters the self-sustaining culture of feedback via one-on-one meetings, surveys, conversations, and more. This will bridge the gap between expected performance and the real one. Employees can work in a calmer work environment and maintain better relationships with the managers and other staff members. For the adoption of new tools, organizations must go through a cost-benefit analysis. In a nutshell, a continuous feedback mechanism is a must everywhere that maximizes not only individual and team performance, but also the whole organizational performance.