LEARNING
L
A
t a most basic level, feedback is an essential
component of communication: in a two-way
communication loop, feedback is the only
way to assess the success of that
communication. But this feedback can only get through
if the medium or channel used is appropriate and
effective. And that matters.
In their book, Nine Lies About Work, Marcus
Buckingham and Ashley Goodall choose as their Lie #5
the received wisdom that ‘people need feedback’.
For them, our contemporary (over-) enthusiasm for
feedback is a reaction to the ‘absurd infrequency’ of a
very familiar performance management tool: the annual
appraisal. While annual reviews make perfect sense in
tandem with annual financial-reporting periods,
unfortunately, they make much less sense for either
manager or managed.
The case against annual performance reviews has
been gathering pace in recent years, with infrequency
just one of their many perceived problems: poorly
designed processes run inconsistently by badly trained
managers; the almost impossible task of setting
meaningful and measurable goals for a 12-month period;
the very real possibility that annual reviews are used in
isolation, leaving people feeling ignored for the rest of
the year; lack of coordination across teams; the perennial
challenge of rater bias in ratings-based systems; a focus
on personal style rather than contribution and context.
The list is long and far from enlightening.
Yet, organisations still plough this thankless furrow,
making the most of a process that, like democracy, is
perhaps the best option we have, but only in the context
of a variety of less good alternatives.
No more. Into the feedback vacuum that can arise
between annual reviews has flowed much new thinking.
Welcome to the world of pulse surveys, Feedback
Fridays and a whole new culture of openness and
candour. Real-time, tech-enabled approaches have
increasingly come to be seen as feedback solutions
more in tune with the rhythms and nuances of
fast-paced workplaces, more appropriate for today’s
feedback-hungry people.
A supportive
feedback
environment at
work is a key driver
for growth and
development
February – May 2020 // 83