Don’t Squash Morale Giving Bad Feedback To Your Employees

Posted on Oct 9 2013 - 11:07am by Davis Miller

Negotiation

Are your employees sad and gloomy all the time? Do they seem upset to you? Then it’s possible that their morale has just hit rock bottom. Business owners should support their people and not nag them all day long. Rather than yell at employees and force them to work faster, why don’t you ask them what’s going on? It’s really important to boost morale and make them feel happy at the workplace. For this to happen, all you have to do is provide constructive criticism and good feedback.

Transparency is bliss

A good leader should make his employees feel that they can talk about anything, even if they have to give bad news. Your employees should be aware of team shakeups but this doesn’t mean you’re advised to use your power as a leader to persuade them to work. Instead, let them know politely whenever they’re heading in a wrong direction. Transparency is bliss in business, and as long as your demands are clearly stated, they’ll be pleased to work for you.

Adapt to your team’s working style

Your job as a manager is to increase productivity. There’s no need to use bad feedback for that to happen, even if some workers are weaker than others. Support and encourage everyone, and your company will have great chances of success. Make sure that every member of your team brings something to the table, even if not all of them are equally qualified. Your duty as a leader is to adjust your expectations according to your team’s abilities and competencies at the workplace.

Provide real-time feedback

Yearly reviews are less effective than constant feedback, and although it can be hard to believe, this type evaluation is extremely appreciated by young employees. When you offer your people real-time feedback, you help them accomplish their goals. Feedback should be given to improve skill, and while you can’t expect immediate results, in times things will get better. You just need to have a little faith in your people.

Encourage strength

Bad feedback doesn’t boost work performance. If you can’t make your people work with enthusiasm, you won’t be able to help them develop their skills. We all have that fire in our blood to work hard, but when nobody compels us that we can do better, it’s impossible to feel needed and appreciated. As an executive, it’s up to you to lead. Show your people that you’re strong and confident, and help them feel capable as well.

Offer incentives

Sometimes it’s good to give your people some space. After working hard on a project for weeks, reward them for their performance. Give them some paid days off or free lunches just to show how much you appreciate them. The goal of these incentives is to stimulate their senses and build team work. Although it might sound surprising, but employees are not always after the money. While days off and free stuff are welcomed, they often strive to something else from their supervisors: trust. Trust doesn’t have value and it can make people 10 times happier and more satisfied than a couple of free sandwiches.

Let them take control of the situation

This might seem like a strange idea, but it’s not. In fact, it’s a great way to boost morale without turning to bad feedback. Let your people take control of a certain meeting, situation, problem, or assignment, and you’ll motivate them to suggest their own ideas and solutions. Besides, you’ll show them that you value their opinions and you’re basically letting them know they’re a precious asset to your business. You can opt for leadership development programs through which you can hearten younger employees to exceed their goals and take matters in their own hands.

Your company’s productivity is directly linked to employee morale. Bad feedback and harsh criticism might persuade your people to work faster, but this doesn’t mean that the results will exceed your expectations. Nobody can work well under pressure, so when a manager is constantly looking over your shoulder, it’s impossible for you to concentrate. Let’s add some yelling to the mix and the outcome is often disastrous. Rather than be aggressive with your team, why don’t you try to understand them? They’re willing to learn so try to give them good feedback they can use to improve skill and performance at the workplace.

Photo Credit: Flickr/George Kelly

About the Author

Davis Miller is an experienced writer with interest in small business, technology, and gadgets. He has written several high quality articles at many websites. He spends his free time in reading books and watching movies.