Creating a Feedback Culture
A research project I recently contributed to reinforced my belief that conventional approaches to performance development are not and have not been fit for their intended purpose for some time. Formal, process driven methods that apply numerical ratings on an annual or semiannual basis have almost no impact on individual or organizational development. Instead, the focus needs to be on enabling everyone in the organization to give and receive personalized feedback in the moment.
This kind of approach to performance development puts considerable onus on the individual. Both feedback givers and receivers throughout the organization need to acquire and cultivate a specific set of capabilities, skills, and mindsets, including self-awareness, empathy, honesty, and courage. Performance development is not just about the individuals themselves, however, it is also crucial that the culture they operate in encourages, supports, and demands feedback as a natural center point of daily activities.
Creating the right environment for growth and development requires a shared performance purpose, a strong culture and values framework, and an inclusive climate of psychological safety.
The shared performance purpose helps galvanize all teams and individuals. There is already extensive research to suggest that purpose-oriented companies exhibit higher levels of innovation, employee retention, and productivity than their competitors. In addition, a shared performance purpose is also critical to unlock feedback flow.
Companies driven by purpose are more successful in part because their shared performance purpose is a critical component of building a culture where feedback can thrive. Sports teams are a good example of the value of a shared purpose. Even though individuals must compete against each other to make the team or for playing time, they unite around a common performance purpose of team success. It is this collective purpose that gives feedback meaning. Feedback is given, received, and acted upon to bring the team closer to their collective goal. Therefor the commitment to a shared purpose or common goal results in more meaningful performance development opportunities.
If purpose gives the team a clear direction for performance, then culture and values are what keeps them on track, particularly when it comes to engaging in self and team performance feedback. It is important to encourage individuals to engage in selfless, “team-first” decision-making. When a team keeps having success, it can become complacent and stop paying attention to the things that have led to their success. Culture and values help everybody on the team to recognize complacency and understand the standards they, as a group, need to be hitting to achieve their collective goal. The benefit of having a strong feedback culture is that it breaks down traditional linear channels and allows cross channel feedback that is necessary to high performing internal partnerships and collaborative relationships. Free flowing independent feedback allows the organization to move beyond a traditional, hierarchical system to one of enabling respectful feedback to be delivered by everyone if it is given for the sole purpose of supporting the commitment to continual improvement and organization success.
Psychological safety is a condition in which a person feels included, safe to learn, safe to contribute, and safe to challenge the status quo, without fear of being embarrassed, marginalized, or punished in some way. The basic hypothesis of a humanistic or person-centered approach is that people have a tremendous ability for self-understanding and altering their self-concepts, basic attitudes, and self-directed behaviors if they are placed within the right climate.
For a climate to be growth-promoting three elements must be present. The first element is that the giver of feedback must be genuine and real. The more the giver is themselves in the relationship, without putting up a professional or manager front, the greater the receiver of feedback will change and grow in a constructive manner. This means that the giver of feedback must be transparent and let the receiver see exactly what they are feeling and experiencing in the relationship. Their words must match their feelings.
The second element needed to create a climate for change is acceptance or unconditional positive regard for the person receiving the feedback. The giver of feedback must be willing to let the receiver be whatever they are feeling whether confusion, resentment, fear, anger, courage, etc. The giver must respect the receiver exactly as they are, with no conditions.
The third element is empathetic understanding. That means that the giver of feedback must sense accurately the feelings and personal meanings that the receiver is experiencing and communicates this understanding. This type of sensitive active listening places the giver of feedback inside the private world of the receiver in a way that they are aware of not only what the receiver is aware of but also those things that are just below the level of awareness.
All three of these elements should always be present as part of the company culture. It is not effective to try to create these elements only when feedback is to be given. It is important that the culture creates an environment where people can work without fear and know they won’t be punished for speaking what’s on their mind or making a mistake. For teams and individuals to perform at the highest levels, organizations need to focus on creating an inclusive climate of psychological safety where performance feedback is positive, safe, and readily sought, and where any perception of threat or fear related to feedback has been removed. Creating the needed safe environment is easier to achieve if you have strong purpose, culture, and values in place.