Feedback and Fake Smiles

I’m going to say it because it needs to be said.

You might think your feedback is hitting the mark perfectly. But what if I told you, behind that polite facade, your employee may be cursing you out in their head?

Back in 1996, Kluger examined 607 experiments on feedback effectiveness and uncovered a surprising fact: in 38% of cases, feedback actually led to a decline in performance.

Shocking, right?

And get this, it wasn’t just about negative feedback - even positive feedback could backfire, especially when it challenged someone's self-perception.

Imagine, you’re going out on a limb to help an employee improve, and you have a 38% chance of making performance WORSE.

Even with the best intentions, feedback can bruise someone's sense of self-worth (check out David Rock's SCARF model for more on this).

So, if you find yourself in a situation where direct feedback is necessary - perhaps the performance issue is severe - remember to keep it respectful and focused on the work, not the person.

However, here's a game-changer: whenever possible, elicit the answers from them, rather than telling them what to do.

By asking open-ended, nonjudgmental questions, you can:

• Empower your employees to reflect

• Take ownership

• Drive their own growth

It’s respectful, effective, and it’s a whole less likely you’ll be fooled by a smile that means something else.

Melissa Janis builds management capabilities to create a workplace that's better for your employees and better for your bottom line.