Feedback

Feedback

1. What is it?

   • Assessing your employees and giving them feedback on tasks given
   • Brown and Heywood (2005) argue that organisations are increasingly not using performance managers and appraisals to give feedback to their employees
   • Mobley (1982) says that some managers believe performance appraisals can work, but the reality is that is great for time, but after a while, there are a lot of struggles, conflicts and confusion

2. Performance appraisals

   • Definition: Greenberg (1986) says PAs are regular, systematic and standardised formal and objective reviews of employee achievement and performance
   • Abraham (2001) 90% of PAs are not successful
   • Palakos et al (2015) 90% of managers are dissatisfied with their performance management systems
   • Lanler (1994) PA systems do not motivate individuals nor their development efficiently

3. Providing performance feedback

   • what is it?
     • Bakazar et al (1983) says it is providing feedback at work by informing people about the results of their performance on a task and how they have done
   • Based on research, there is generally no principle to improving motivation and performance
     • Kluyer and DeNisi (1996) found that feedback interventions effectiveness decreases as attention moves up the hierarchy closer to the self and away from the task
       • This is still poorly understood

4. 360 degree feedback

   • London and Beatty (1993) this is where the employee is evaluated by supervisors, subordinates, peers, themselves and even customers
     • Critique: Waldman et al (1998) says 360 degree feedback is unable to produce change in behaviour or performance

5. Providing specific feedback

   • Definition: Bernadin and Beatty (1984) specific verbal feedback is provided by a supervisor or manager when the task has been administered - suggestion on how future performance can be improved
   • YES: Goodman et al (2004) says that it is beneficial for learning how to respond to good performance
     • YES: Goodman et al (2004) say that is good for initial performance
   • HOWEVER: Goodman et al (2004) argues providing specific feedback is detrimental for learning how to respond to poor performance
   • HOWEVER: it can undermine and discourage exploration and learning for later, more independent performance

6. Providing timely feedback

   • Definition: Bernadin and Beatty (1984) feedback is provided by the supervisor as close in time to the behaviour as possible, followed by suggestions on how to improve future behaviour
   • Lurie and Swaniminathan (2009) argue timely feedback declines performance because people do not have time to think about the feedback, as it suddenly becomes an information overload

7. Balancing good and bad feedback

   • Sandwich model (Von Bergen and Bressler, 2014) this is where negative feedback is sandwiched between good feedback
   • Critique of sandwich model: Brown et al (2002) finds that employees or participants with low self esteem were most disturbed by feedback that changed from positive to negative feedback.
     • Some employees may just focus on the positive feedback and ignore the negative feedback, which is detrimental to performance

8. Giving frequent feedback

   • Salmon et al (1984) the more feedback given, the better, as performance is likely to improve
     • HOWEVER: Brinko (1993) says that it is better to give frequent feedback but it is not ideal when it becomes too excessive
   • Critique: Lam et al (2011) says that giving frequent feedback can reduce effort dramatically
   • Steelman, Levey and Snell (2008) say that daily feedback, where organisation interacts with the employees daily, encourages the performance as teams are said to perform better
   • STUDY: Anseel et al (2011) suggest organisations need to strike a balance between encouraging learning and performance, as too much emphasis on comparative performance may be detrimental to employees relations and the rate of performance improvement

9. The cognitive explanation

   • Feedback intervention theory: Kluyer and DeNisi - it is not how feedback affects one's learning or motivation to perform a task but rather how the feedback focuses one's attention
   • The motivational explaination
     • Iilles and Judge (2005) if we as individuals look into the mirror and think about ourselves, you think positively about oneself.
     • HOWEVER: the individual is most likely to think about the positives and not the negatives of feedback, as people like to feel good about themselves
     • Sheldon, Dunning and Ames (2014) self enhancement is detrimental for processing feedback, as lowering competence is also more likely ro dismiss negative feedback. Most of us think we are smarter and better than we actually are

10. A feedback environment

    • Chen and Matthew (2004) Situation and feedback and interaction - there is an indication that learning goal orientation predicts performance trajectories more positively when coupled with one situational inducement, that captures a feature
    • Actively seeking feedback
      • This should be encouraged, however, the longer you work at an organisation, the less feedback you will receive
      • If people are safe, they are more likely to seek feedback