Ah, the dreaded performance review. No one enjoys being critiqued by their boss. However, if your staff becomes extremely defensive, volatile, or insecure after receiving feedback, there may be some areas to improve with your approach. Here are some ways to ensure you are giving feedback without hurting your employee’s confidence.
Speak With Them Privately
Correcting an employee in front of their peers can seriously shake their confidence. They are far more likely to become embarrassed and defensive than if you speak to them privately.
Because of this, you should always give employee feedback in private. Schedule a meeting, close the door, and then discuss areas of improvement.
Be Specific
When giving your employees feedback, it’s best to be as clear and direct as possible. Rather than saying, “There have been some issues with your reliability,” try, “I’ve noticed you’ve been arriving to work late all week.”
Direct, clear feedback tells the employee exactly what the issue is, so they can work on resolving the issue. Indirect feedback can lead to confusion, miscommunication, and increased feelings of anxiety for your staff.
Focus On Improvement, Not Blame
Any criticism given should be constructive, not belittling. This means that employees should be able to actively resolve any feedback. If you are critiquing your staff about things that they cannot change, it is no longer constructive criticism.
The goal of constructive criticism is improvement, not blame. Learning how to give feedback without assigning blame is an important skill to master. Once you learn how to do this, you will likely find your employees are more receptive to your criticism.
You should also try to avoid generalizing language while giving constructive criticism. Saying your employee “always does this” and “never does this” is likely inaccurate and will make them feel like you’re attacking their character.
Giving feedback without hurting your employee’s confidence is an essential skill to master. Mastering these tips will markedly improve your approach.
