Why Performance Feedback Boosts Employee Potential

All businesses value employees that perform to their full potential. Employees themselves desire to be the best they can! But everyone is unique with different sets of skills and talents that are improved each in their own way. Getting them into their “sweet spot” within the framework of your company can be achieved most effectively with a carefully planned performance feedback strategy.

This post is going to elaborate on what feedback is and how to use it for the purposes of optimizing employee performance. We will also walk you through an example of a feedback situation involving our favorite questions that focus on performance. This will leave you with a good understanding of the process, placing you in a position to start surveying your employees for performance today! 

What is Feedback and Why It’s Important?

Feedback is a specific kind of dialogue that seeks to identify a person’s reaction to a given situation in the aim of improving short comings, to assess weaknesses, and promote strengths. In our opinion, collecting input is best done in person and in the form of an interview.

The information that you receive will facilitate your efforts to understand problems in the employee’s experience. It allows you to approach the issue with accuracy and implement the appropriate intervention strategy. The help you’ll provide will resonate with the employee. They’ll leave the interview feeling heard and ready to tackle pin-pointed challenges with optimism and vigor.

Performance Survey

Feedback can be done for a variety of reasons but today we are going to focus on performance.
While you must keep in mind the factors that get effective feedback for any survey, you must also hone in on a set of specific tasks. This will set the parameters for the information you need from the employee regarding performance.

A performance survey should stay on the topic of what the employee is responsible for. Since there’s so much ground to cover, you need to expand deeper into the employees’ experience of that task. Here’s a list of example questions that should get the ball rolling:

• What task are you the most comfortable with and why?

1. What are the skills you have that make you good at this?
2. Are there skills you wish to get better at for it?
3. Name one thing that you like and dislike about it
4. Do you feel that you have enough time to get it done well? How much time is good?
5. What are the aspects that make you stressed about it?
6. Do you feel that colleagues provide enough support and help for it?
7. If not, then what are some ways that you could get more from them?
8. Are you able to help others with this task/are they receptive to your help?
9. Do you feel that management/supervisors provide enough support and help?
10. If not, then what are ways that they could do this?
11. Do you feel that you receive adequate recognition for a job well done?
12. What ways are you recognized for it?
13. What ways would you like to be recognized for it?
14. Do you feel that you could take on more responsibilities concerning this task?
15. Are there staff members that get in the way of you performing your best?
16. Are there managerial staff members that get in the way of you performing your best?
17. Are there staff members that you have better cooperation with?

• What areas of work are you most uncomfortable with?

1. What are the skills you lack in order to be more comfortable with this task?

(You can follow the rhythm of the last set of questions to once again get as much information as possible only this time for the employees’ general weaknesses.)

Now you have a basis on which to make a plan that aims to integrate their strengths to complement their weaknesses. Set up tasks and goals that allow them to focus their energies in one place and improve skills in one key area. Most importantly, come back to the feedback process again in order to examine the results of their efforts and re-assign new goals accordingly.

If this is done regularly, then you will undoubtedly see a boost in your employees’ potential. An employee that grows in this way is an invaluable asset to your business!

Our focus here at Williams Recognition is to help you improve all aspects of management. Our renown employee recognition programs can play an integral role in enhancing performance feedback. Come and find which recognition program is best for you!