Have you ever thought about what might go through the minds of the employees at your organisation when they’re asked to give feedback? Let’s try to put ourselves in their shoes for a few minutes.
Let’s take Sam for example: Sam is a Senior Customer Support Executive for an Insurance company. Sam has just received an email from his HR team informing him it’s time to give feedback to his colleagues as part of the annual review process. To his HR team this seems like a simple enough request, however this isn’t something Sam has undertaken before, and to him it feels like a daunting task.
Sam: ‘I’ve been asked to give feedback on my colleagues, I know it’s important but I don’t have much experience with giving feedback and I’m nervous. What if my words come across wrong? What if I get details incorrect and it has a negative impact on someone’s review? What if I make spelling or grammatical mistakes and come across unprofessionally?’
The first person Sam is asked to give feedback for is a co-worker he has worked closely with and mentored since they started at the company nearly a year ago.
Sam: ‘I don’t know how to condense my past year of experiences down into just a few sentences, it’s just too much. I’ve seen her learn and grow drastically in the last year, how can I talk about all the great work she has done, her progress, and her development, in just one piece of feedback?’
Next, Sam is asked to feedback on a colleague he interacts with somewhat frequently; they usually work well together, but recently deadlines have been missed and it’s starting to take its toll on their professional relationship.
Sam: ‘I know she’s good at her job, but recently she’s been missing deadlines and it’s impacting my ability to get jobs done on time. I’d like to give her some constructive feedback, but I don’t want to come across too harshly. Will she realise I’m trying to be helpful and not judgemental? Will my constructive feedback of her recent performance take attention away from the good work I know she’s capable of?’
Finally, Sam is asked to give feedback on someone from another part of the business; they don’t often cross paths at work but 8 months ago they worked on a project together.
Sam: ‘I think it went well, but it was such a long time ago, and I had a lot of other jobs on around that time, I think he made a mistake but then took steps to correct it, but maybe that was someone else… I’m struggling to remember all the details.’
Now imagine you have a solution that can help Sam. A platform like Advanced Clear Review, which enables your employees to give real-time feedback in moments. Our continuous performance management platform now has two new tools as part of the feedback function; the first is Voice Notes, which will allow feedback to be given as a voice recording. The second is an AI feedback generator, which will enable employees to input notes and get back a fleshed out and well written piece of feedback.
So now Sam has been told by his HR team that Advanced Clear Review is up and running (equipped with Voice Notes and AI) meaning he can now give feedback as and when he wants.
Sam: ‘Now I can give my colleagues feedback as often as I feel necessary, as a reaction to interactions I’ve just had with them. This means I can remember all the details, and I don’t need to feel overwhelmed trying to fit too much into one piece of feedback a year. Instead, I’m able to provide feedback whenever I think it’s appropriate, this feels like a much fairer way of doing things.
I won’t struggle to think back on something that happened months ago, and I can give a piece of constructive feedback knowing it will be looked at as part of that person’s whole year of performance, giving a fair view of their work.
I can give my feedback in voice note form when I’m struggling to get my thoughts written down, or if I feel the tone will be clearer when spoken, so I don’t need to worry about my words being taken in the wrong way. I like that I can now choose which method of providing feedback feels right for me and the situation.
For my written feedback I can use the AI tool to ensure my thoughts are coming across in the best way possible, and that they sound professional and free from mistakes. This makes giving feedback feel much less overwhelming and it’s quicker and easier to do.’
If you’d like to take the pain out of giving feedback for all of your employees, get in touch with us today.