Nickel in demand

leadership
written feedback, people tend to be more
honest as they are further removed from
the situation. Similarly, if people request
written feedback they will have more time
to consider what questions to ask. Face to
face it may be more difficult to be “curious”
without being defensive, however, it gives
the opportunity to ask qualifying or
clarifying questions.
One way leaders can
maximise the potential
of face to face feedback
is to give the person
conducting the review
the questions in advance
to give them time to think
them over properly. The
questions should not be
vague but targeted at
relevant areas such as,
‘What’s one thing I can
do to improve X?’.
It is worth bearing
in mind that asking
for feedback is only
useful if there is a
genuine intent to act on it and for
executives to take action to work on any
areas for improvement highlighted in the
feedback. Further feedback sessions are
recommended too, to ensure the selfimprovement
measures put in place have
been successful a few months further
down the line.
Adobe, a company of 11,000 employees,
believes so strongly in the importance of
feedback that it has replaced its traditional
performance management system with
a new simple but effective process.
Either an employee or a manager may
request a “check in” every three months.
Before the meeting occurs a group of
employees provides feedback on the
employee’s performance.
The results form the basis of a
conversation about performance
“Being able to ask for
honest feedback is one
of the hallmarks of
a great leader”
improvement and
the goal is to
make coaching
and developing
a continuous,
collaborative process
between managers
and employees.
Since rolling out
the new approach
worldwide Adobe
have experienced a
30% reduction in
voluntary turn over.
Being able to ask
for honest feedback is
one of the hallmarks of a
great leader. Whether choosing to adopt
an official ‘check in’ system like Adobe’s
or taking a more ad hoc approach,
feedback is an important tool in enabling
leaders to be successful in their roles.
1. Zenger Folkman carried out a study of 51,896
executives in December 2013
About the author
Marielena Sabatier
Executive Coach and CEO of Inspiring
Potential works with businesses and executives
to develop and boost their confidence to
improve their performance at work.
www.inspiring-potential.com
BE Monthly [ Aug 2014 ] 33