Giving feedback is part of managing people, but it is not always easy to get the conversation right. A manager may have a legitimate concern about someone’s work, communication or behaviour, yet the way that concern is raised can determine what happens next. Constructive feedback to employees should leave the employee clear about the issue and what needs to happen, rather than feeling personally attacked.
Handled well, these conversations can also stop workplace tension from building. Problems that are discussed early are generally easier to deal with than issues that have been allowed to sit unresolved for months.
Giving Feedback to Employees: Describe the Action, Not the Person
Before giving feedback to employees, a manager should identify the particular behaviour, action or outcome that needs to be discussed. The focus should be on what the employee did, what happened as a result, or what was not done, rather than an assumption about the person behind it.
For example, “You are not managing your time well” is a judgement about the employee’s ability. “The last three reports were submitted after the agreed deadline” describes what actually happened. The second statement gives the employee something specific to respond to and gives the manager a clear basis for the conversation.
A clear starting point might therefore be as simple as:
“I wanted to talk about the last three reports, which were submitted after the agreed deadlines.”
From there, the conversation can move beyond what happened to why it happened.
Constructive Feedback to Employees Starts with Curiosity
Once the issue has been clearly identified, the next step is to find out what is behind it. This is where managers should resist the temptation to fill in the gaps themselves.
A useful question might be:
“Is there something getting in the way of getting these reports in on time?”
That question leaves room for an explanation. There could be a family situation affecting the employee, competing deadlines, a lack of resources, unclear instructions or a simple misunderstanding about priorities. None of those possibilities can be known without asking.
Instead, managers can:
- Ask a genuine question – give the employee an opportunity to explain what is happening from their perspective.
- Listen to the answer – allow the employee to explain the situation before deciding what the problem is.
- Explore what is getting in the way – establish whether there is an issue that can reasonably be addressed.
- Then consider performance – if there is no underlying obstacle, the conversation can move towards what the employee needs to do differently.
This approach makes giving feedback to employees less about delivering a judgement and more about understanding what is happening.
The difference may seem small, but it can completely change the tone of the conversation.
How to Give Constructive Feedback when there is No Underlying Obstacle
Sometimes an employee will explain that there is no particular problem getting in the way. That is when the conversation can move towards performance.
The manager can explain what standard is expected, why it matters and what needs to change. Because the employee has already had an opportunity to raise any underlying difficulties, the discussion can remain focused on the actual performance issue rather than speculation about its cause.
This does not mean the manager needs to become confrontational. Constructive employee feedback can still be direct while remaining respectful.
For instance, the conversation might move from:
“Is there something preventing these reports from being completed on time?”
to:
“If there is no obstacle affecting the deadlines, the agreed delivery dates need to be met. What can be done differently to make that happen?”
The employee is given clarity about the expectation while still being invited to participate in finding a practical solution.
Constructive Feedback to Employees Should Be a Two-Way Conversation
Good feedback is rarely a speech delivered by a manager while an employee sits silently listening. Employees should have an opportunity to explain their perspective, ask questions and clarify expectations.
This is particularly important when the issue involves workplace behaviour. A manager who tells an employee that they are “difficult to work with” has provided very little useful information. It is more constructive to describe the behaviour that has caused concern and ask how the employee sees the situation.
Specific examples are useful because they give both people something concrete to discuss.
They also help prevent old frustrations from being brought into the conversation unnecessarily. The focus can remain on:
- what happened;
- why it matters; and
- what should happen differently in future.
When Negative Constructive Feedback to Employees is not Resolving the Issue
Curiosity and clear communication can resolve many workplace concerns, but they cannot resolve every situation. Sometimes employees and managers have had several conversations without making progress. In other cases, communication may have broken down to the point where every new discussion creates more tension.
Some workplace issues develop into ongoing conflict despite attempts to resolve them directly. Workplace Mediation can provide a structured setting to address the concerns and work towards a practical resolution. Workplace Mediation is particularly useful where communication has broken down or interpersonal conflict has become ongoing, and earlier intervention can often prevent escalation.
Constructive Feedback to Employees can Prevent Bigger Problems
Feedback is most useful when it happens before frustration has had time to build. By starting with curiosity, separating the person from the behaviour and becoming clear about expectations when a genuine performance issue exists, managers can make feedback more useful for everyone involved, and reduce the chance that a manageable workplace concern develops into a much larger conflict.
The goal is not to avoid difficult conversations. It is to have better ones.