Why is so workplace feedback so important?

Ruth Harrowfield – BA/BSc, MSc Hons, PGDip I/O Psych, PGDip Science (Cl. Psych)

Some of my most uncomfortable moments at work have been in giving feedback to someone that I’m not sure they’ll love.

And I’m not alone – most leaders I speak to say this is the stuff that keeps them up at night.

So why do we need to do it?

For all our modern inventions, feedback is still one of the most flexible and effective ways a company can get results from its people.

You are helping that person to see what they cannot see – helping them to know where their performance stands in relation to their own goals and company expectations.

Staying silent about problems can be destructive to relationships – with the person themselves and with others who are impacted by our lack of action.

Poor performers hold the team back; if you don’t give feedback, this can undermine and discourage others in the team.

Some people actually want constructive feedback! There’s scientific proof that people are more engaged when they’re getting feedback on their work, even if the feedback is constructive rather than all good news.

So it’s worth pushing through the discomfort, the awkwardness, the cold sweats to say what needs to be said.

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I’m Ruth Harrowfield, an organisational psychologist based in Auckland, New Zealand. Together with my partner, Sam, we run Harrowfield People Development, a strategic learning agency. We help business leaders who are unsure how to grow the people they want to hold on to, for the purposes of engagement, productivity and organisational growth.

Working to a specific client brief, we draw on the disciplines of organisational and behavioural psychology to determine and execute strategic and tactical programmes for personal and team development. We help business leaders to bring out the potential that they see in their people by shaping habits of thinking, communication and action in the workplace. Talk to us today.