Feedback from clients: how to make it effective. How to collect feedback from clients

How to sell to someone about whom you know almost nothing? How to gain the trust of such a client and cultivate a loyal attitude towards the brand?

Perhaps you are asking the same questions. And perhaps you are faced with a problem where customers are impressed by the product only for the first few days, and after that they do not want to do anything with you. Or they suddenly realize that the proposed functionality is completely useless to them.

To find a way out of this difficult situation, you urgently need to find out what the product is missing. Essentially, you need to start optimizing your conversion rate before that conversion turns into dust. As a rule, the first stage in the work is understanding who your clients actually are. This can be achieved in one proven way - by receiving a response from them themselves.

Why is feedback so important?

In September 2014, Malaysia airlines, with the goal of identifying the shortcomings and advantages of its service, conducted a survey. As a gift, everyone who passed the test was offered a free economy class ticket.

And everything would be fine, but just a few days ago the plane of the same airline crashed, leading to the death of all 537 passengers on board. By the time the airline’s management realized the inopportuneness of this marketing move, the media had already trumpeted around the world about the carelessness and unreliability of Malaysia airlines. The consequences could not be avoided.

This is one of the few examples where a company’s marketers, in an attempt to understand their target audience, fail and significantly damage their image. But here's another example.

After his appointment as CEO of the American retail chain J.C. Penny Roy Johnson took a radical step: he eliminated the previous business model based on discounts and coupons of all kinds and introduced fixed prices. As a result, sales began to choke. For Johnson, who previously headed Apple stores, it was extremely difficult to understand what motivated his target audience and what they valued. Admitting his defeat, he returned the shops to the old system of work.

Understanding what your customers want is the key to big sales.

Here's what Alex Turnbull, founder of Groove, has to say about this:

“The worst thing is to hear criticism of your creation. Particularly offensive are the claims made by your clients about how and where you let them down. And yet, this type of feedback is the best, because it points to points of potential growth, to shortcomings in your service, by correcting which you make your business more competitive.”

Groove managed to reduce customer churn by 71% simply by asking the right questions

In January 2013, Groove marketers began discussing a problem that put an end to the well-being of the entire company: a high level of customer churn, people did not stay long on the store’s pages.

The company decided to carefully study the characteristics of customer behavior and ultimately found a way out in the difference in the behavior of people who left the resource immediately and those who stayed for a longer time.

It is noteworthy that, on average, those visitors who remained in contact with the site for more than 30 days spent 3 minutes 18 seconds on it on their first visit and looked into the online store 4 times a day. In contrast, those who spent an average of only 35 seconds on the site visited the site no more than once every 3 days.

After the Groove team received this data, it took decisive action and began targeted email campaigns for those customers who showed more attention to the brand: they visited the resource more than 2 times a day for 10 days.

HI Bill. We appreciate you joining Groove and understand why you love our service: the ease and simplicity of providing personalized support to every customer...

After such letters, people usually became buyers.

What else can be done? It happens that the reason for customer churn is a specific page on the site. If you notice something similar in yourself, figure out what’s wrong and eliminate the deficiency.

Social media monitoring is another effective way to find out what ordinary customers think about your brand. To do this, you need to find those platforms where the target audience hangs out (it depends on the type of target audience): some prefer Pinterest and Instagram, others find it more convenient to communicate via Twitter, etc.

What helped Intercom.io reduce churn?

Intercom faced the same problem as Groove: the engagement of visitors who intended to interrupt communication with the service gradually fell.

The company concluded that the client does not make a decision to refuse in an instant. This is a long process, and involvement is a kind of criterion, based on which we can say whether a person is loyal to the service or is thinking about leaving. For example, if the client used to use the product every day, but now only once a week, it’s time to sound the alarm.

Intercom also decided to counteract this process through automated emails. They were sent with the headline “We miss you. We will be glad to see you on our website."

But this was not the only way their ingenuity found a way out. After all, a drop in activity does not only mean that the client has left the service. Perhaps he went on vacation and flew to the sea? To avoid embarrassment, the company did the following. Since the solution is used by groups of people (teams), letters were sent only to those teams whose entire membership stopped using the company’s services.

How to get feedback?

Ask closed questions

Any interactive chat is an excellent tool for collecting feedback in the form of a small form that pops up at the bottom of the screen and practically does not interfere with the visitor’s work.

What questions can you ask:

• find out about the purpose of the visit: “What do you plan to achieve with the help of the site?”;
• find out what prevented you from completing the action: “What stopped you from completing the purchase?”;
• "What do you expect to find on this page?";
• who is your client by type of activity: “Are you the owner of an online store?”.

You can add open questions, they work well too

Hello Ted. Thanks for giving Groove a try to be useful to you. But apparently he's not good enough. Please describe what your problem is. Your answer will help us make the service even better. Thank you.

Instead of asking why a particular customer abandoned the Groove service, the company phrases the question slightly differently. What made you refuse? That is, the emphasis is not on the client, but on the service. It is not his fault that he had to refuse the service, but the service itself is not good enough. The reason is obvious: with the help of feedback it can be made even better. In addition, the response rate for this type of letter is much higher.

Moz has made millions of dollars just by listening to customers

In addition to the fact that the marketing agency changed its signage (from SEOMOZ to MOZ), several other drastic changes were made, including on the company’s landing page. The new page was designed taking into account the feedback received from customers.

What Moz did:

1. Questions were asked to both paid subscribers and users of the free-trial version. The first ones were asked to describe all the things they liked most about Moz, why they signed up for the paid version, and how they would describe Moz as a friend. The last question was necessary to select the language in which communication on the landing page would be based.
2. Free-trial users were asked what exactly they liked about Moz and what needed to be added to it so that they would switch to the paid version.
3. Customers who opted out of the service were asked about the reasons for the rejection.
4. Next, marketers designed the page layout based on the requirements of Moz's Twitter followers and the results of several usability tests.
5. At the final stage, they conducted a split test, which showed a 52% improvement in results.

What to do with feedback?

What distinguishes the buyer of the middle of the last century and the present? Choice. Many companies compete with each other, and people value above all those who listen to the opinions of their customers. Customers don’t feel abandoned or deceived, and for businesses, this “listening” brings real benefits, and the example of Moz is indicative here.

But listening and making changes isn't everything. Customers need to be informed about every innovation. True, not everyone bothers themselves with this business.

An interesting case happened with Sainsbury (one of the largest chain stores in the UK). A little girl wrote them a letter asking why their Tiger bread, which actually looks like a giraffe, had that name. A few days later, she received a response letter in which the company thanked her for her question and offer. After 8 months, the bread was renamed.

Instead of a conclusion

There is nothing difficult about listening to your customers and getting to know them better and better, but the perspectives that will open up for you are simply unimaginable. Selling to people you know is much easier. The conclusion suggests itself is the following: in order to reduce the churn rate, increase business profitability and retain customers, you need to build trusting relationships. It is both simple and complex at the same time.

No employee wants to be a faceless cog in a huge corporate machine. No matter how big or small your organization is, employees who feel like they don't have a voice will be less productive than you need them to be, ultimately leading to increased turnover.

As a good therapy session, give your employees the opportunity to express their thoughts about the company's performance. If you show them that you are interested in their opinion, then they will approach the business completely differently. They will begin to feel like they are part of a team.

“We don't hire busy employees. Employment is something that is created,” says Lisa Wojtkowiak, account manager at Opinion Research Corporation. “It’s our job to engage our employees from day one.”

In the good old days, feedback was nothing more than a box labeled “suggestions” that sat next to the cooler. Smart companies today understand that they must be able to engage their employees on a much more granular level.

Questions

Each feedback method depends on what issues/problems your business may be facing. Is your employee base growing or shrinking? Are you preparing for a merger?

Employee research experts say it's important to offer general opportunities for feedback (an open office policy or regular check-ins with managers), but getting specific will help your company get through tough times.

Typically, managers want to know how busy their employees are. Are they happy working for the company? What is the connection with management? Do they have enough tools to get the job done, etc.?

You can also use a survey to find out the demographics of your workforce, such as age and gender, and find out the reasons for high turnover.

"You don't run a business without hiring people," says Howard Deutsch, CEO of Quantisoft, a research and consulting company.

But Jerry McDonough, CEO of LeadFirst, says it's also important to ask about the company's culture to understand how satisfied employees are with their coworkers, as well as with the job itself.

How to prepare a survey

Conducting a full-scale employee survey is still the most recommended method for obtaining feedback. Experts advise conducting them regularly, but not more often than once a year, so that employees do not lose interest in it.

And what questions should be asked? Of course, those that are relevant today for your company. Most research is aimed at finding out

whether employees find a balance between work and family, whether they are proud to work for the company, and how much effort they devote to their profession. You can also find out how long your employees plan to work at your organization.

“We have many clients, and all questionnaires are different,” says Wojtkowiak.

Professionals advise combining quantitative questions (for example, “rate how satisfied you are with your job on a scale of five”) with open-ended questions to elicit factual and statistical information.

As for the volume, experts say that ideally it should be 35-55 questions, the answers to which will take no more than 15-25 minutes.

If you want to conduct a survey more than once a year, then a short survey (4-10 questions) that is structured around measuring the impact of changes that have occurred recently is a great option.

Using other methods of collecting information

Just because the suggestion box is one of the oldest forms of feedback doesn't mean it can't be useful for your business. Although it looks like an antique, Wojtkowiak says, it can show that you need your employees' opinions. Meetings and other events where company management and employees are present remain relevant. You can also create an online portal where your employees can leave anonymous messages. Wojtkowiak says successful organizations include multiple options for feedback and open communication in their training programs.

How to ensure that all employees participate

Typically, about 70-90% of employees take part in surveys. Here are some points to help you ensure the active participation of your staff:

1. Anonymity. If employees can trust that their answers will not result in any “retaliation,” then they will be more inclined to answer questions honestly.

2. Access to a computer. Online research is considered the most effective, but you must ensure that everyone in the company has access to a computer.

3. Encouragement from managers. Experts say if you really want to hear from your employees, then your bosses should regularly encourage feedback, or send reminders. "The response rate really depends on how much senior management supports the project," says Josh Greenberg, president of research firm AlphaMeasure.

4. Incentives. Experts advise against companies offering rewards to individual employees for providing feedback. But they can be interested in another way. Greenberg says there could be sweepstakes, or offers to donate money to charity if employees actively respond to questions.

Using Feedback

The worst thing for a company is to do so much to get feedback and then not use it at all.

“If you're collecting all this data and not reacting to it, then why do a survey,” Greenberg says. “It’s important to let your employees know they’ve been heard.”

You can do this by communicating at least some of your findings throughout the organization, as well as identifying areas for improvement. Keep your employees informed when your goals are achieved.

Gerry McDonough of LeadFirst advises dividing feedback into two categories: core issues that need to be addressed at the corporate or senior management level, and focused issues that can be addressed at the departmental level.

Small surveys that you can conduct several times a year will help you not only monitor progress, but also compare employee engagement, for example, in offices located in different states.

Tim Donnelly, inc.com
Translation: Tatyana Gorban

• Personnel policy, Corporate culture

According to my observations, about 98% of sales managers after a purchase are not interested in the buyer’s opinion and do not ask for feedback. And in vain: about 60% of customers study the responses of other users before deciding to buy. How to break the vicious circle and encourage the buyer to leave a review in any case? Let's talk.

Elena Murashova,

business coach, Salecraft

In this article you will read:

• How to get feedback from a client
• How to motivate a client to leave a review

Customer Feedback is a criterion for assessing the quality of service. This is the only way to know whether the client was pleased or indignant. Why, then, even when providing a quality product or service, companies find it difficult to receive feedback from the client?

It would seem that the book of complaints and suggestions is a great tool for obtaining feedback, but, as a rule, buyers require it to express complaints. In order to motivate the client to leave not only critical comments, but also positive ones, in some restaurants the waiter, along with the bill, brings the client who visited the restaurant for the first time, a review book. And while the visitor is being counted on, he, as a rule, leaves a review about the establishment.

Let's look at what else can help get customer feedback and lead the buyer to leave a review about the company and minimize the associated inconvenience.

Three Common Ways to Get Feedback

We cannot influence a buyer's desire to write a review simply because of a quality product or service. Therefore, to guarantee feedback, focus on attracting feedback through customer motivation.

1. Please leave a review. This is the simplest and one of the most effective methods in the b2b sector. Contact loyal partners and invite them to leave feedback in any form, including on the basis of reciprocity. If you want feedback in writing, prepare questions that allow you to express your opinion much more quickly. This way the client will receive an approximate response plan (picture). There is an option to independently prepare response letters to send to a partner for signature. The time for sending such messages is individual and depends on the specifics of the product or service. For example, it is better to request feedback on the design or holding of a corporate holiday a few days after the event (when photographs and video footage appear), and feedback on business training – a few months later, when it will be possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the work.
2. Free testing. This universal method, which works in both the b2b and b2c sectors, is usually resorted to in cases where a review is necessary before the official release of a product (service) to the market. Find consumers (among your friends, through social networks or an announcement about a promotion on the website) who will be ready to write a review, not just positive, but truthful, in exchange for free use of the product. To effectively grow sales in the b2b sector, you can make this request to authoritative representatives of the field to which your product belongs. For example, you can submit medical equipment for testing to a leading specialist at a well-known clinic.
3. Material incentive. This is another universal and, perhaps, the most popular method of motivating consumers. An incentive could be, for example, a discount on your next purchase. However, constantly providing discounts or bonuses can play a cruel joke. Carefully consider the rules of the promotion, for example, providing discounts to the first 20 clients who share their opinion.

Various competitions and lotteries will also be effective here, during which the consumer has the opportunity to win a prize.

Regardless of which way you choose to motivate customers, be sure to consider a number of other rules when working with reviews.

Point out opportunities and remove obstacles

Often on websites, a banner or link inviting you to leave a review is located at the bottom and blends into the background - the user may not notice it. Try to provide the banner with an animation effect, use bright text, large letters, a sound signal and place it where appropriate - on the product (service) page or order history in your personal account (it should encourage action).

The form for reviews should be as simple and user-friendly as possible - of the required fields, you can leave only “Name” (“Nick”) and the text itself. In the text input field, you can write tips that will help the buyer, or use question options to write reviews.

The simplest form is a rating, say, on a 5-point scale or a choice of two buttons - “Criticism” and “Praise”. This method will be used much more actively by clients. It can be used in combination with text response. After the user has made a choice, thank him and offer to briefly justify his opinion.

As an example of quickly receiving feedback from a client offline, I will cite the experience of Promsvyazbank: before leaving, the client is asked to choose one of two cardboard emoticons - sad and happy - and throw them into a special basket, which stands in the hall for everyone to see. In some L’Etoile stores, as well as in Sberbank offices, a visitor can also evaluate the work of a consultant by selecting one of the buttons: green (satisfied with the service), yellow (remained neutral), red (dissatisfied with the service).

What makes a customer leave a positive review?

Alexey Kichatov, General Director, City Express

The main and practically the only thing that can motivate a client to leave a friendly review of a company is complete satisfaction with the service provided to him. But if the customer is satisfied with the result, and the first impression from contact with representatives of your company is negative, it is hardly worth expecting a positive review. Therefore, we pay great attention to the training of managers who interact with clients from the very beginning, when they first contact the company: training and education are provided at the company’s expense. Each customer is provided with a personal manager who carefully and politely handles the order and promptly responds to all requests.

• How to attract customers to your website: conditions without which nothing will work

We encourage feedback on the site. For example, on the main page there is a “Congratulate us” button (the company is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year), and most visitors willingly click on it. Wanting to congratulate the company, the client expresses an opinion about it, and, as a rule, it turns out to be positive.

Translation - Victoria Oleshko, portal “Production Management”, material prepared based on data from http://www.iienet2.org

It is pointless to provide an assessment of those actions that the feedback recipient is not able to control. Consider the following situation. Alvin, an aspiring logistics manager, recently joined BAC Distribution. One day, a customer called asking for shirts to be supplied for an exhibition the next day. The issue is urgent because the client forgot to call the manufacturer and supplier BAC Distribution a week ago to submit a claim in the prescribed manner. Alvin decided to work a few hours overtime to make sure all the required models were packed and ready to ship the next day. Due to the urgency of the order, the Gildan shirts (50% cotton/50% polyester) that this customer normally ordered were out of stock. But Alvin found 100% cotton Gildan shirts in stock, which other customers said were just as good, if not better. This information was provided to the client at the time of delivery and no additional payment was taken from him. Alvin was confident that he made the right decision in meeting the client's request under tight deadlines.

However, the client perceived the changes as a violation of normal standards, and in a meeting with his manager, Alvin heard words such as “frustration” and “predicament.” Alvin felt hurt by his supervisor's comments. He felt that his proactive behavior and hard work were not recognized. He wanted to know whether he was qualified for the position and whether there was a likelihood of his efforts being recognized in the future.

The above situation that Alvin found himself in is not unusual. We all care what others think of us. Unfortunately, in most cases, behavior assessments are made when something bad happens, not when something good happens. One of the interviewed managers noted that, as a rule, feedback is positive 20% of the time and negative 80% of the time. This statistic is surprising, especially considering that managers themselves rate their work well in 75-90% of cases.

The importance of feedback

So why is feedback so important at work?

The information is usually directly relevant to the recipient and can be seen as a motivating factor or a way to identify errors. Feedback is important because it allows a person to recognize their strengths and provides direction for maintaining and improving the quality of their work. However, the full benefits of feedback are currently not being fully exploited.

As stated in the article by D.R. Ilgena, K.D. Fischer and S.M. Taylor, in the Journal of Applied Psychology: “The process by which an employee receives effective feedback consists of several steps: “Feedback given → Feedback received → Feedback acknowledged and acted upon → Recipient wants and intends to respond → Recipient answers."

This model makes it clear that the employee must be receptive to feedback and have a desire to use the information received. This is the only way feedback can be effective. However, everyone reacts to it differently.

Let's consider the types of reactions to various types of feedback (positive, negative and no feedback) in the process of work in order to understand how this reaction is influenced by the following factors: characteristics of the recipient and source of feedback and its structure. By analyzing these key factors, a more effective feedback system can be developed in which everyone clearly understands their role, has the tools to set goals, and continues to learn to maximize the effectiveness of their work.

Feedback types

• Positive Feedback. Positive feedback encourages improvement in the quality of work performed. It has been proven that people often value positive feedback more than negative feedback and consider it more accurate and correct, since this information is more pleasant and improves self-esteem. However, constant positive feedback can hinder the growth of the quality of work, because its recipients may be satisfied with the current state due to the fact that they always receive high marks.
• Negative Feedback. On the other hand, negative feedback is often associated with failure. A negative assessment is often rejected simply because the person is unwilling to accept unpleasant information. While recipients of positive evaluations readily accept credit for their accomplishments, recipients of negative evaluations who are not receptive to information easily shift blame to other people or external factors. Negative feedback often causes unpleasant feelings that force a person to find excuses for poor performance. However, in some cases, the recipient may recognize the need to change their behavior to avoid receiving negative feedback in the future. Although a person may improve his or her performance as a result of receiving a negative evaluation, he or she may not exhibit the desired behavior unless instructed to do so.
• Lack of feedback. At the same time, some experts argue that the presence of feedback in itself, whether positive or negative, can help improve performance, while the absence of any assessment actually harms the employee’s personal effectiveness. A study of 243 service industry employees published in the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly T.R. Khinkin and K.A. Shraysheim showed that the lack of feedback was detrimental to both those who performed well and those who performed poorly. Imagine that some have to work overtime just to get the same recognition as others who have worked only the minimum required hours. On the other hand, a person who performs worse than the rest and receives no hints that it is necessary to change his behavior will be extremely surprised if he receives a reprimand later. In both cases, the result will be disappointment in performance and poor performance.

Since the purpose of feedback is to motivate and inform, we believe that the ratio of positive to negative information a person receives is very important. A good ratio is three positive statements followed by one negative. If performance is poor but the employee is trying his best, the manager can begin the discussion by acknowledging the employee's efforts and desire to do a good job, and then determine the direction of improvement required. It is also important to prioritize areas of employee development, giving him no more than one or two areas of effort at a time, to ensure that the goals are perceived as feasible.

Features of recipients and sources of feedback

How feedback is received depends largely on who the recipient is. Previous research has focused on personality self-esteem as much as on a person's ability to set goals. Self-esteem can have a decisive influence on how a person perceives negative feedback. Employees with low self-esteem are more likely to respond to negative feedback by thinking that poor performance is due to their low level of competence and that additional effort will not lead to improved results.

On the other hand, some research suggests that negative feedback can also be harmful for individuals with high self-esteem. Such people have their own expectations and perceptions of the quality of their work. Most likely, they will not accept feedback that contradicts their self-esteem and will attempt to salvage their self-esteem and perception of their level of competence. As a result, a negative assessment will be perceived as incorrect, and performance indicators will not improve. So it can be concluded that such feedback, which does not seem credible and is not accepted by a person, can be destructive to the quality of his work, regardless of whether his self-esteem is low or high.

However, sometimes negative feedback can be beneficial. Those who set personal goals may use this information to identify and solve problems, and may seek it themselves. In particular, S. Ashford and L. Cummings in the journal “Organizational Behavior and Human Performance” (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance) expressed the following idea: “the desire to receive feedback can improve the quality of work, contributing to the achievement of goals, helping to prioritize a variety of tasks and offering information that enables a person to evaluate their competencies. So while receiving this kind of information may initially give rise to unpleasant feelings, for those who set themselves goals, it makes it possible to realize the importance of hearing about their poor performance in order to avoid repeating these mistakes. In addition, such people seek feedback when they are not sure about the quality of their work and are looking for additional information that will help them improve. Thus, negative evaluation can be an important tool in improving the quality of work by making recipients aware of their potential weaknesses.

While the characteristics of the feedback recipients are important in determining how an assessment will be received, another important factor is the source of the feedback. Feedback is more likely to be accepted if the source is someone who is reliable, trustworthy, and who has reached agreement with the recipient on performance indicators. For their part, managers should evaluate employees only on directly observable performance indicators and involve other stakeholders in the organization in the feedback process through 360-degree evaluations.

An assessment from a reliable, trusted person appears more accurate if the recipient perceives the source as an expert who has the necessary competencies to accurately evaluate the results of the work. In this case, even if there is a discrepancy between the recipient's self-assessment and the assessment given by the source, the recipient can see the rational grain in this information. The recipient's awareness of the need for improvement will allow him to adjust his behavior accordingly.

One way to increase the perceived reliability of a feedback source is to create a rating system based only on performance that can be directly observed. Previously, the manager was the only one evaluating the quality of the employee's work, but today 360-degree evaluation is becoming more common. This method involves receiving feedback from the entire circle of people with whom the employee contacts daily. This group may include the direct manager, senior employees, subordinates, colleagues, customers, suppliers, as well as the employee himself (through self-assessment). The manager should agree on a list of daily contacts with his subordinate to ensure that the list is complete and provides the best opportunity to assess the quality of the work. An additional advantage of the 360-degree method is that the employee can evaluate others himself, which helps everyone become involved in the feedback process.

In addition to the source of feedback, there is another important factor: it is clear that a person responds positively to an assessment when they share the same understanding of good and bad performance with the person assessing them. Performance may depend on both personal factors (eg, ability and/or effort) and environmental factors (eg, luck and/or fortunate situation).

In cases where the recipient of feedback believes that poor performance is due to external factors, but the source believes that it is due to internal factors, there is a disagreement. Disagreement increases the likelihood that the feedback will not be taken seriously and will most likely be ignored in the next stage. In contrast, if both (source and recipient) agreed with each other about the reasons for poor performance, the recipient was more likely to trust the source and was more receptive to criticism. Therefore, it can be concluded that if the recipient considers the information provided to him to be truthful and reliable, he is more likely to change his behavior.

Feedback structure

In his book “Developing Management Skills” D.A. Wetten and K.S. Cameron suggests eight rules for effective team feedback that can work at all levels of an organization.

First rule: Focus on actions that are within a person's control, as opposed to focusing on less tangible personal qualities. For example, the phrase “You were 15 minutes late for a meeting” is more effective than “You are careless in your work.”

Second rule: When providing feedback, rely on the results of direct observation, without making hasty conclusions or generalizations.

Third rule(follows from the previous one): Feedback should be descriptive (using facts and objective data) and not evaluative (using words “right/wrong”, “good/bad”). Details allow the recipient to focus on specific areas of the job rather than guessing about what needs to be improved across the entire spectrum of their responsibilities.

Fourth rule: be specific. Similar to details, specificity can help change future behavior. Making feedback specific ensures that the information conveyed is clear, allows the recipient to understand exactly what is expected of them, and helps integrate the sometimes very complex connections between effort, behavior and outcome. It has been found that feedback, especially negative feedback, can be misinterpreted. The expected behavior will not be achieved without full understanding of the feedback on the part of the recipient. Therefore, making feedback specific helps communicate key areas for improvement and reduces the possibility of the recipient misinterpreting reasons, actions and results.

Fifth rule: Feedback should be about current actions, not past behavior. Past behavior cannot be changed, and focusing on it negates any improvements the person may have made in the intervening period of time.

Sixth rule: Possible ways for improvement should be discussed with the recipient so that he is involved in the process of identifying changes.

Seventh Rule: The amount of information provided at one stage of the assessment should be determined by the feedback needs of the recipient. Too much information causes overload and a person stops listening, while too little causes frustration and misinterpretation.

Eighth Rule: Feedback should be given at the appropriate time and place, face to face, and allow for two-way communication.

Both positive and negative feedback, with some balance, can be beneficial to the business, while no feedback is almost always harmful.

Organizational context is also important. Companies need to properly design and implement employee evaluation programs that involve all departments. Feedback and involvement of all employees is especially important to reduce the feeling of bias (both for “favorites” and “favorites”). Knowing that all employees are being evaluated eliminates thoughts like, “Is it just me who gets these comments? Am I punished? It also allows colleagues to think more about actions and their consequences, their areas of development, and ideas for how to improve the process to make their jobs easier.

It will also be appropriate to consider the expectations of all parties involved in the assessment so that they feel comfortable and accept the idea of ​​the assessment. Since every part of the organization operates differently, the HR department should develop guidelines and guidelines for each department. It should be clear that feedback for employees who work in environments that require extensive interaction with others will focus on assessing soft skills. On the other hand, groups of employees involved in production should expect to receive feedback focused primarily on assessing technical skills ( hardskills). This differentiation can help in choosing areas to focus on.

Within departments, employees can decide for themselves how often feedback should be provided. To determine the frequency of assessment, it makes sense to take into account the department's cycle time. For example, the quality control department can review monthly indicators to determine the dynamics of individual employees and the company as a whole. In this case, feedback meetings can be held monthly. On the other hand, some engineering projects can last several months. In such departments, feedback may be provided quarterly or even semi-annually, depending on the ease of collecting the information needed for the assessment. And always remember that feedback should be helpful, and the process should be gentle and not become a heavy burden for those involved.

The roles of the superior and subordinate in the feedback process must be clearly defined. During the first feedback session, the boss can take minutes for subsequent sessions to create a collaborative environment in advance. The first feedback session should help alleviate the confusion of those who are not used to evaluation or who are used to a different style of giving feedback, such as employees from other organizations or a different national culture. The induction meeting also gives the manager the opportunity to assess the employee's motivation to work and set or adjust goals if necessary. This gives both parties a chance to discuss and set goals for the next feedback session. The openness and honesty of the process should be emphasized. Feedback sessions can best be used as an opportunity to develop the employees involved, as well as benefit the success of the company as a whole over a long time horizon.

It is important to note that feedback should come from a trusted confidant who is open about discussing the reasons for both good and poor performance. Two-way communication helps reduce misunderstandings and gives the recipient a voice in how to achieve better future performance. Feedback should allow the recipient to analyze what should be done and what could be done differently, instead of focusing on what was done poorly. In addition, feedback should not focus only on negative manifestations (which may discourage the recipient) or only on positive manifestations (so that the recipient does not "hang in the clouds").

Instead, feedback should address both strengths and areas for improvement in order to maximize outcome. When discussing development directions, detail the feedback using examples to help the recipient understand the situation and how their behavior needs to be adjusted. As long as feedback is sincere and provides balanced information with sufficient detail, it can be an effective tool for creating a positive work environment in which everyone clearly understands their role, has tools for setting goals, and continues to learn, resulting in improved performance.

Feedback is a tool for personnel management and increasing the efficiency of business processes, which must be taken into account in every aspect of any organization. This is a powerful tool of influence, with the help of which information exchange is carried out between the manager and subordinates, and allows the manager to receive up-to-date information about the consequences of management decisions and adjust the work of individual employees and entire departments.

An experienced manager uses feedback in order to achieve maximum interaction efficiency and productivity of his subordinates: he directs their efforts, identifies the causes of failures and low motivation of employees, encourages and inspires. Feedback allows employees to make the necessary adjustments in the process of performing work, and also acts as a powerful motivation factor, contributing to the manifestation of satisfaction with the results of work.

As practice shows, many managers do not attach much importance to how exactly they provide feedback to subordinates, often doing it on the fly. And often high-class experts in their profession, but without managerial knowledge and skills, become managers. It can be difficult for such managers to communicate competently with subordinates.

But feedback should be a natural working tool of daily work.

THE VALUE OF FEEDBACK

Feedback - this is informing the interaction partner about the perception of his activity by others, the reaction to it, the results and consequences of this activity; it is the transfer of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event or process to the original or control source.

The need for feedback is natural for any person, be it a top manager or an ordinary employee. Am I doing what the company needs? Right or wrong? Will my efforts be recognized? The lack of feedback, as well as a gross violation of the rules for its submission, deprives a person of guidelines in the organization and reduces his desire to work.

For a manager, feedback is a tool that allows you to:

Express recognition to the employee and support his high motivation;

Change the employee’s expectations, assessment and self-esteem;

Increase productivity and performance;

Clarify the goals and clarify the tasks facing the employee;

Understand the reasons for the employee’s undesirable behavior;

Adjust the behavior of the employee and expectations in order to more rationally use the possibilities of the situation;

Target an employee for development in a specific direction;

Develop mutual understanding and mutual trust;

Maintain a positive atmosphere in the organization;

Develop cohesion and teamwork among employees, creating a team approach to work;

Identify that a process or tool does not provide the desired result;

Identify areas requiring modernization, change or development to ensure sustainable growth and progress of the organization;

Determine the level of employee satisfaction with work in the company or team.

As a result of feedback, the manager receives information about the progress of tasks, allowing him to promptly identify and solve emerging organizational problems. He can judge his subordinates (their moods, expectations, abilities, motivation, plans for the near and distant future, assessments, etc.) and how they evaluate the style and quality of management, the personal contribution of managers, their authority and influence on organizational and business processes.

To maintain feedback, the manager requires certain experience and skills in constructively using the information received; implementing appropriate organizational procedures and establishing standards; taking time to provide feedback and reflect on its results; making changes based on feedback.

Common Feedback Mistakes

When providing feedback, managers should avoid the following mistakes:

Unconstructive criticism. Rough and aggressive condemnation of the actions of a subordinate, excessive emotionality, which manifests itself in the form of sarcasm, arrogance, and disrespectful attitude can shake the employee’s self-confidence and undermine his morale. For example, if a manager assigned a subordinate to write a report and was dissatisfied with the result, in this case, instead of direct criticism (“this report does not contain the information I need,” “this needs to be completely redone”), you should ask what, in his opinion, was the goal task, whether the employee managed to achieve it, how the result can be improved. Before moving on to the subject of criticism, recognize certain strengths of the subordinate, his positive contributions and achievements, starting with praise.

Transition to personality. A manager must ensure that the feedback he provides to subordinates relates solely to their actions and not to their personal qualities. A manager who makes a negative assessment of an employee's character (say, "You're too harsh") makes that person feel defensive and mentally contradictory. Criticize the person's actions, not the person himself. It’s one thing to say, “You’re a smart, thinking person, but you didn’t act with foresight,” another, “You’re an idiot, you did such a stupid thing!”

Use only common phrases. A manager who provides an employee with feedback in the form (“you are a good leader,” “you have done a serious job,” etc.) may not achieve the desired result. The subordinate might be flattered by the compliment, but it won't give him useful information about what he did right and what needs to be improved.

FEEDBACK RULES

For feedback to be effective, you should not resort to it if you have not prepared for the meeting, if you are in a bad mood, or do not have free time.

Before giving feedback, you need to understand what result you want to get from a conversation with an employee. Then it will be much easier to structure the conversation correctly. Regardless of the purpose of the conversation, it is useful to follow the following rules:

Study all the information about the issue and prepare to provide feedback using the following algorithm. Table 1.

Table 1. Preparing to Provide Feedback

Feedback must be carried out in suitable conditions, in a friendly environment and without external interference.If possible p Prevent interruptions, phone calls, etc.

Feedback should be constructive. Talk first about what is good, what and why is bad, and how it needs to be corrected. Feedback ideally should contain the highlighting of the strengths in the activities, behavior of the employee and weaknesses - places that require correction, reserves in the improvement of the employee. Talk about what can be changed/added at the action level to achieve a result close to the ideal.

Feedback should be timely and factual.
Give feedback soon after the event you discuss with the employee. You should not conduct a “Debriefing” two or three months ago, this will cause a defensive reaction from the subordinate. Talk about a specific event. For example: You showed up at work at 10:45 today. This is the second time in a week, let's discuss it? But not like this: Do you always sleep until eleven and are always late?

Feedback should be specific, clearly expressed and understandable to your interlocutor. It should contain examples of behavior rather than describe general patterns of behavior.Notuse general phrases and do not use hints.

Discuss events and activities. Not a personality.

Maintain a balance between positive and negative evaluation. You should start with the “good” part.

Involve the employee in the discussion and let him speak. It is important for you to know his opinion! Ask your subordinate to give his suggestions. What do you think a Customer who wanted to place an urgent order but couldn't get through to us at 9:30 would do? What can be done to prevent such situations from happening again?

State your conclusions clearly and record the agreement reached in writing.

Regularly check that agreements are being followed.

Immediately support any positive changes. Get them fixed.

Do not forget to give feedback not only on the result of the task, but also in the course of the activity.

Your meetings with employees will be more productive if you start using these rules.

In summary, developing the skills to give and receive feedback helps a manager create an environment of mutual trust and openness that encourages constructive change at work.

The manager must remember that with effective communication and constant feedback, there is unlimited potential for improvement in all areas of business and people management.