Effective people management should be about nurturing employees and helping them realize their maximum potential by allowing them to put their best foot forward. If we consider the new-age leadership tenets, they focus more on getting employees to harness their own strengths, while motivating them to work on improvement areas. That being said, HRs and managers should carry out a performance management process that is centered around collaboration, communication, problem solving, critical thinking, and agility. Only with the right initiatives and techniques can companies expect to enable a growth mindset and set their employees up for success in a sustained manner. 

The New-Age Performance Management Model 

Over the last few years, the performance management process has acutely changed. Companies now focus on employee development with continuous feedback and learning. 

Human resources processes often fail due to resistance to change. Considering the same, it is high time for businesses to rejig their performance management processes. Managers should be trained and prepared to serve as motivators and mentors to their teams. Also, peer and supervisor feedback are powerful mechanisms to show employees how their work makes a difference. It is equally important that feedback be given with the right intent, mode and manner to have a truly transformational effect. 

That said, let’s talk about four common mistakes most managers make while giving feedback.: 

Making Feedback A One-Time Process 

Normally, managers give feedback to their team during a half-yearly or annual review. But, it is vital to note that if employees are not rewarded or appreciated instantly, it may have a negative impact on their engagement and productivity levels. So, constructive feedback is best given instantaneously for a favourable result. 

Managers should not consider feedback as a time-consuming affair. A check-in or a short conversation on betterment can go a long way in upholding an agile way of working. If doing this manually seems challenging, companies can even rely on performance management software that is best known for making feedback continuous. 

Being Too Critical 

Managers who give overly-critical feedback make employees lose confidence along the way. Therefore, managers should know how to communicate failure effectively. For this, managers can use a sandwich-structure, wherein performance discussion should start with the positives, then the improvement areas and finally ends on a constructive yet hopeful note. In essence, performance management should be about training and moving ahead in the right path rather than unnecessarily ruminating on the past. That means managers should be able to communicate to employees with objectivity and empathy while giving feedback.

Lack Of Direction 

Employees put their best efforts when they know the impact of their contributions. To this end, managers should give specific and meaningful feedback while providing employees with the right path for improvement. Oftentimes, managers beat around the bush to stay away from confrontation. But, pointing out and telling employees what went wrong and what they should have done can help employees to set up. For this, people managers need to work on their communication skills. When managers will know how to show a direction to employees, they can easily make the future course of action SMART- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. 

Pointless Feedback Discussion 

Effective feedback is a two-way process. There should be an active participation of both employees as well as managers to build ownership and accountability in the feedback process. Keeping this in mind, managers should let go of the age-old tendency to “direct and instruct”. Instead they should try to seek and consider inputs and ideas from their team members. Building and implementing coaching skills is an efficient method to acquire employee-trust and fresh ideas for the growth of individual, team and organization.

So, these are the four biggest mistakes made by managers while giving feedback to their teams.  

Also Read: 7 Grave Mistakes that Human Resources Management Must Avoid

We hope this blog helped you to understand that feedback is not a one-time intervention and businesses should cultivate a culture of continuous feedback that can go a long way in attracting, engaging and retaining today’s employee population. 

Managers should also continuously work upon their skills, while organizations must provide them with the right technology such as performance management software.