As I mentioned in my other post, in my experience, it’s standard practice for companies to provide annual feedback to their employees, although I have yet to understand why a company would permit their employees to perform their job every day for 200 or more days before giving them feedback.
A football coach never waits until the end of the season to measure the performance of and mentor his players. If he did, he would likely be coaching a losing team.
You wouldn’t wait until your child brought home straight D’s for the year and finally give them feedback.
You’d probably talk to them, help them study and encourage them with every test, maybe even with each homework assignment.
Yet as business owners and mentors of employees we wait months or even an entire year to give them feedback or guidance on their performance.
Employees need your feedback at least monthly and, sometimes, more often.
There are times that they will need feedback weekly. There are times that they will be challenged with meeting your expectations and need your feedback and guidance immediately.
Feedback doesn’t always have to be formal. It can be something as simple as
Hey great job closing the Jones deal!
Or
I see that you’re about $10,000.00 short of your goal for this month. Let’s brainstorm how we can get that $10,000.00
Or
I noticed that you’ve been getting to work early every day. I appreciate your commitment!
The more often you give feedback, and the more that your employees see that you want them to be successful the more engaged, loyal and successful they will be!
Give constant feedback:
- Decrease learning curves
- Increase productivity
- Increase employee engagement
- Increase employee retention