How can you create a feedback loop between employees and leadership?

Para que o processo flua de forma honesta e contínua, tanto líder quanto time deve ser treinado em como dar feedback, em qual situação e qual a real contribuição para o comportamento do outro e desenvolvimento da empresa esse feedback trará.

Defining the purpose and goals when giving feedback is essential as it provides a clear and specific framework for the feedback process. This clarity allows both the giver and the recipient of feedback to understand the intended outcomes, facilitating more targeted and constructive communication. It helps in aligning expectations, focusing on areas for improvement, and ensuring that the feedback leads to actionable steps for growth and development. Furthermore, it enhances accountability and motivation, as individuals are more likely to work towards achieving defined goals, ultimately leading to improved performance and better outcomes in the professional context.

In my experience, regular one-on-one meetings are vital for effective feedback. These should be more than formalities; they're opportunities for meaningful dialogue. Keeping a collaborative log, accessible to both employee and manager, is key. This log tracks feedback, actions agreed upon, and progress. After each meeting, both parties update it with new notes, goals, and outcomes of action items. Setting specific, measurable goals (like SMART objectives) helps in gauging progress. For instance, improving presentation skills might involve leading a set number of meetings within a timeframe, with feedback to assess progress.

At a corporate level we have been leveraging technology to gather anonymous employee feedback on a variety of factors. This tool has helped us gain an understanding of priority areas for improvement and to get a pulse check on engagement and morale. Each leader gets a perspective from their respective teams to inform decision making. The information is quite high level, providing more of a quick check on morale vs. actionable items. We were not expecting these anonymous pulse surveys to replace 1:1s but to instead compliment them by providing leaders with a high level perspective of their respective team along with the individual perspectives they gain from 1:1s.

In my experience, it's very important to develop a culture of ongoing honest feedback. This would be done by involving managers and leaders in the process as they would guide the rest of the levels into the process. Also having clear guides on the feedback process and providing microlearning on how feedback delivery methods.

No one likes to hear criticism and someone to say they're not good enough. Therefore, you need to be very careful when giving feedback. the focus should never be on personal characteristics, but on how the work can be carried out in a better or more efficient way, focusing on a learning process. This stance avoids creating a barrier in communication and allows the construction of a relationship of openness and trust.

One of the most common mistakes we make regarding feedback is assuming employees understand "why" you are doing what you are doing. We must connect the dots for employees. For example, "During our last town hall, we heard, xxx. As a result, here is the action we are taking. Thank you for sharing feedback to help us grow as an organization." Employees and leaders are busy. If we don't clearly communicate, there's a high likelihood they won't make the connection, and they may feel like the feedback was not valued.

Not all suggestions are capable of being accepted. It is necessary to deal with sincerity, commit to taking demands to senior management and providing support in what is under your management.

A continuous feedback loop allows for ccomparisons and improvements to be reflected on regularly, ensuring acheivements and successess are recognised.

One things I've found helpful, establishing clear KPIs on which the feedback loop would be assessed upon. Through this it would act as both guidelines and evaluation method to the process.

Creio que em primeiro lugar a empresa não precisa demorar para repassar um feedback aos seus funcionários, em menos de 1 ano, isso precisa ser realizado para que o colaborador saiba em que nível ele está em suas funções, seja ele recém contrato ou já com tempo de casa, isso com certeza diminuirá a insatisfação, que possa existir. Outro ponto, é ter uma escuta ativa, não se arme mediante os feedbacks isso pode atrapalhar seu desenvolvimento, reflita sobre o que foi dito e com objetivos claros, continue sua jornada!