One of the greatest leadership development tools - and the one that probably generates the most fear - is feedback. A few years ago at Carter Holt Harvey we developed two simple tools to help leaders give feedback.
Both tools are to be used as soon as the supervisor discovers the performance - good or bad. The tools expand on the more traditional recipe of "Praise - Recommendation - Praise."
First, be sensitive to timing. There are some useful perspectives on timing and intentions at The Jayarava Rave.
When something has gone well, use the "Job Well Done" tool. Tell the employee you want to give her some positive feedback and ask her for a few minutes. Then take these six steps:
- Identify the achievement. Say things like, "I hear..." or, "I see...". Be specific about the positive results you have noticed. Tie those results to her goals, your goals, the organization's goals.
- Ask open ended questions to get her talking about the achievement. Try, "How did it go?" or "How did you do it?" Be sure to paraphrase her answers, so she feels that you have heard and understood her.
- Probe to find out specifically what went well - what she did that caused the success. Add your own thoughts about how she made it happen, based on what you have observed. At the end of this step, summarize the achievement and what she did to make it happen.
- Pause, to give her time to bask in the accomplishment. Don't rush this - let it soak!
- Ask for one idea about how she might do it even better next time - but only one.
- Finish by summarizing: restate the specific achievement and how it connected to goals, reiterate what she did that helped make it happen, restate the one lesson learned, and end with "Good job. Thanks."
When something has not gone as well as expected, use the "Getting Back On Track" tool. Tell the employee you want to give him some constructive feedback and ask him for a few minutes. Then take these seven steps:
- Clearly identify the off-track behavior or results. (And only deal with one issue at a time - don't pile three performance issues into one session.) Say things like, "I see..." or, "I hear..." Be specific and give examples and data as much as you can.
- State the impact of the issue on his goals, your goals and the organization's goals.
- Ask for his point of view. Try, "How do you see it?" or "What happened?" Be a responsive listener as you probe for his view of the causes. Be sure to paraphrase what he is telling you.
- Ask for his ideas about how to fix the problem and how to avoid it in the future.
- Ask him what help he needs to fix the problem and avoid it in the future.
- Based on what you have heard, summarize an action plan and modify it until both of you are comfortable with the plan. Set a follow-up date.
- Close by thanking him for working on the issue and expressing your confidence in his ability to get back on track.
