Turning Feedback into Culture Change

Is your team facing disengagement? Quit quitting? Loud quitting? Often, the problem is that leaders are making mistakes in how they give feedback. Feedback will either be the fuel that moves your team forward or the spark that burns trust to the ground. With stakes this high, leaders must go beyond just understanding feedback. In this episode, we’ll talk about how to not just learn about feedback but also apply it in a way that changes the culture of your team.

The Feedback Gap

Here’s the tension: nearly seven out of ten managers admit they’re uncomfortable giving feedback. Yet 75% of employees say they want more of it. That gap is costing organizations billions in productivity. Leaders need to learn how to provide the correct type of feedback at the right moment.

Finding the Right Technique

The critical thing to understand when you begin the journey to becoming a feedback expert is to first understand that there are different types of feedback and that each type has a specific use for a particular person at an exact time.

1. Directive Feedback – When clarity counts.

Sometimes you don’t have the luxury of discussion. Safety, deadlines, or customer issues require crystal-clear direction.

2.     Collaborative Feedback – Building bridges, not walls.

This technique is critical with high performers. Collaborative feedback involves asking questions, listening, and working together to create solutions with your team. When leaders do this, employees stay engaged and even bring their best ideas to the table.

3.     Supportive Feedback – Encouragement in tough times.

Not every employee who struggles needs a reprimand; some need support. Sometimes Supportive feedback says, "I see you. I believe in you. Let’s find a way forward together."

Taking Action

It is not enough to just know that you should give feedback. Feedback relies on intentional leadership from the moment a new employee is hired, through onboarding, and beyond their first mistake. The key to trust is consistency. If you struggle to be consistent with feedback, try one of these techniques:

·      Put feedback on your daily to-do list. Don’t let a meeting go by without giving reinforcing (positive) or redirecting (negative) feedback.

·      Write a note in each employee’s file detailing how you can invest in them personally and what feedback technique works best for them. By being clear about what you should do to give strong, meaningful feedback, you will feel better equipped to take action.

·      Reset your expectations – When trust has been broken, your team needs clarity about how you will move forward. If you have struggled to hold everyone to the same standard, be honest and share your expectations and your plan to help people meet them.

Application Activities:

1. What feedback technique feels the most natural to you? Do you use the other feedback techniques? Why or why not? Take a moment to consider the feedback style you feel least comfortable with. When should you use that technique? Is there anyone on your team who needs that type of feedback right now? Commit to trying the new technique this week and taking notes on how it went and what you learned about feedback by trying a new approach.

2. Share what you’ve learned! Teach a co-worker the different feedback techniques and ask them to practice role-playing one of the techniques with you. You’ll become more comfortable with the material by teaching it to someone else, and you’ll have the opportunity to practice what you learned. You could also teach a