4 TIPS FOR DELIVERING CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
Praising and rewarding employees is always fun, but there comes a time when we have to critique them… actually – there’s probably a lot of times.
Mistakes happen, decisions get made that probably shouldn’t have been made, and it’s your job as a leader to ensure they know where they went wrong.
But that’s not where you should stop.
Most leaders have identified that it’s important to critique, but not all have discovered how to deliver it in a way that is constructive.
Constructive criticism is more like feedback than criticism. Rather than aiming to identify a problem, this is about aiming to identify a solution by providing advice and suggestions that are useful and motivating.
92% of people believe that constructive criticism is effective at improving performance (LinkedIn), whereas harsh criticism can lead to low morale, unproductivity, and turnover – something that is prevalent for micromanaged employees.
Here’s 4 tips to deliver feedback that builds people up:
BUILD TRUST
No one likes to hear criticism, especially from someone they don’t know.
You may think, “well, I’m their manager, of course they know me!”… knowing of someone is very different to knowing them as a person. According to Total Jobs:
18% of employees feel they can trust their managers
59% never socialise with their manager
34% would actively avoid their manager outside of work
49% of UK workers quit due to a poor relationship with their managers
With these sorts of relationships, employees are going to feel extremely uncomfortable – even hostile – towards their managers when receiving critique.
As a result, they don’t take the feedback on because (even if it’s said nicely) it will feel like an attack.
On the flip side, if you make a conscious effort to build trust with your employees by displaying a more personable side – they’ll be more likely to not just respond well to feedback, but also encourage it from you.
When employees trust, they respect. It’s difficult to respect a manager you struggle to see as a tangible and relatable person. It’s also hard to feel valued because if you’re not being acknowledged, how will you know you’re doing a good job? Employees who feel heard and valued have better morale and performance (Business News Daily), so keep building trust!
BE SPECIFIC
Ever walked out of a meeting feeling confused because you’ve been told you need to improve but you have no idea what to improve on? This is criticism that has no constructiveness.
Although yelling and judgement may be the first things that come to mind when you think of criticism – it can also be vagueness.
Beating around the bush and missing out vital details when giving feedback only leaves room for doubt, insecurities, and ultimately – defiance. It’s unrealistic to expect employees to take feedback on board when the feedback isn’t clear enough to take on board.
Maybe you’re not saying the exact problem because you fear you’ll upset them, but you’ll probably upset them even more by not telling them the real problem. When there’s no real problem to solve, employees may start to wonder if there’s even a problem and assume you’re just picking on them.
If you’re going to tell someone something is wrong – tell them what it is. Give as much detail as necessary in order for them to improve.
BE TIMELY
Monthly or quarterly meetings are great to discuss progress in more detail and arrange plans of action – but they’re probably not the best time to lay out all the issues you have with an employee.
No one likes to be told weeks or even months after an incident that they did something wrong, nor do they want all the criticism stored until that one moment where they have to hear it all. Not only will it be too overwhelming and humiliating for your employee, it probably won’t feel nice for you either to essentially sit there and tell them off for an hour.
Regardless of how nicely you say it, saying all of it in one moment won’t ever come across right… which is why it’s important to give feedback consistently.
And actually, 63% of Gen Z’s say they want to hear more timely and constructive feedback throughout the year (Cision). It’s far more helpful to hear a suggestion in the moment, than a month afterwards, so this is a win-win for both you and your employee.
BE CONSTRUCTIVE
Just like I mentioned at the start, rather than aiming to identify a problem, constructive criticism is about aiming to identify a solution by providing advice and suggestions that are useful and motivating.
A problem a lot of leaders face is that when they critique, they begin to critique the person more than the work, and when this happens, employees are far less likely to take it well.
When speaking to an employee about something they need to work on, don’t linger too much on the problem and the issues it will – or already has caused – but instead discuss a plan on how they can move forward. This will keep your feedback focused on their professional development, rather than their personal failures.
At the end of the day, all your employees are human, meaning all your employees have emotions. The way you deliver criticism will dictate the way a lot of your employees feel about themselves, their work, and you.
With helpful conversations that inspire your employees to improve, you’ll create a happy and motivated environment where people are constantly dedicated to self-improvement.
- Written by Oliver Howson
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