The Big Impact Employee Feedback Has on Performance Reviews

Manager feedback is great. It provides a valuable top-down perspective on employee performance and alignment with organizational goals, but you're missing out if that’s all you’re relying on in your performance review process. 

Employee feedback is a veritable resource that fills in the gaps a manager often misses by offering a ground-level, nuanced view of daily interactions, collaboration, and contributions. If manager feedback is a sketch, employee feedback is the color that completes the picture and gives it life.

You can wield the power of your employees’ insights in many ways. By building an effective feedback culture and utilizing a performance review process and other tools, organizations can use the goldmine of perspectives employee feedback presents to create a wonderful place to work.

In this article, we’ll cover:

1. What does it mean to create a feedback culture?

1.1 What is the goal of feedback culture?

2. How organizations can go about creating a positive feedback culture

3. How to center employee feedback with 360° performance reviews 

3.1 How to conduct a 360° Performance Review

What does it mean to create a feedback culture?

Creating a feedback culture means fostering an environment where open, constructive feedback is actively encouraged, accepted, and integrated into everyday practices. 

When all employees provide and seek effective feedback in the workplace regularly – two desirable outcomes sprout from it.

 When feedback is normalized, people fear it less and are more receptive. For example, if you only receive feedback twice a year, it holds a lot of weight and can feel scary. However, receiving feedback every week feels less daunting, making you more receptive and confident to continue the conversation toward action. We call this building conversational capacity.

Every conversation can become a development conversation if employees know how to give and receive feedback.  This makes a performance review a review of feedback already received, not news you hear for the first time.

What is the goal of feedback culture?

The goal of feedback culture is broadly to promote continuous growth, improvement, and alignment within an organization. There is open communication and feedback (which leads to trust building among employees and their managers), conflicts are resolved more quickly, and everyone understands each other better. Moreover, when employees feel their opinions are valued and they have a voice in the organization, they’re more engaged and invested in their work.

How can organizations go about creating a positive feedback culture?

To nurture a positive feedback culture, organizations must focus on both the environment and the tools they provide to their employees. 

1. Help employees feel comfortable giving feedback.

Provide multiple avenues for employees to give feedback—whether it's through anonymous surveys, suggestion boxes, or regular meetings. Recognize and appreciate employees who provide constructive feedback and reinforce that feedback, when given constructively, will not have negative repercussions. This can be part of the organization's core values or communicated regularly by leaders.

2. Teach managers how they can help employees feel comfortable giving feedback.

To lead by example, managers should actively seek feedback and act upon it or acknowledge it positively. Also, consider encouraging an open-door policy where team members can approach their managers with feedback without fear of judgment.

3. Train employees on how to give specific and actionable feedback.

Partner with organizations like LifeLabs Learning to conduct feedback skills workshops. These can provide employees with tools and techniques to give effective feedback.

4. Add feedback expectations into manager standards.

Make feedback a part of manager evaluations. How well a manager handles giving and receiving feedback can be turned into a key performance indicator.

5. Codify feedback in your organization’s values.

Make feedback one of the core values of the organization. This sends a clear message about its importance. Ensure that the importance of feedback is communicated to employees right from the onboarding stage and incorporated in employee handbooks.

6. Include feedback nudges in 1-1 templates.

Make feedback a standing agenda item in 1-1 meetings, ensuring it's addressed regularly. Include questions that prompt feedback. For example, "What's one thing I could have done better in our last project?" or "Do you have any suggestions for our next team meeting?"

7. Build project retros into all project plans.

After completing a project, schedule a retrospective meeting to discuss what went well and areas of improvement. Here’s a project retro template you can use in your next project plan.

Centering Employee Feedback with 360° Performance Reviews 

The 360° performance review is a powerful tool, especially in an environment with a thriving feedback culture.

Instead of receiving unidimensional critique from just one person, the 360° feedback technique ensures employees learn from almost everyone they interact with regularly, including but not limited to their superiors, peers, and subordinates (and sometimes even clients).

Harvard Business Review notes that 360° performance reviews, when administered correctly, lead to expanded self-awareness and an increased likelihood of change. There is a greater tendency to accept feedback when one realizes multiple people have the same opinion of them.

How to conduct a 360° Performance Review

There are many ways to incorporate 360° feedback into your performance review process. You can administer a digital survey, hire an external consultant, or organize direct employee-employee feedback.

But in general, an effective 360° performance review typically involves the following key features:

1. All-round communication: Communicate the purpose, process, and benefits of the 360° performance review to all employees involved, and lay out clear expectations and guidelines on structuring feedback. Also, specify how the feedback will be used: is it for development, promotion, or both?

2. Raters selection: Choose a diverse group of raters, including supervisors, peers, subordinates, and sometimes even customers, to provide a well-rounded view of the employee's performance. Ensure those providing feedback have worked closely with the individual in the recent past, ensuring the feedback is relevant and based on recent observations.

3. Ensuring anonymity: If raters know their feedback will be anonymous, they're more likely to provide candid, honest input. You can also consider using a third-party tool or an external consultant to gather feedback to ensure confidentiality.

4. Data analysis and reporting: Collect and analyze the feedback data, identifying trends, strengths, and areas for improvement. Prepare a comprehensive report that serves as a helpful guide to the employee to direct their introspection and self-improvement. If the resources are available, consider including a personalized development plan.

5. Feedback discussion: Schedule a facilitated discussion between the employee and a manager or HR professional. This ensures feedback is understood and any emotional reactions are addressed constructively and empathetically.

Invest in Employee Feedback in Your Organization Today

Like any successful project, implementing a feedback culture that effectively encourages employee feedback won’t occur in a single, transformative leap but rather in a series of adjustments, refinements, and progressions over time. Just as software comes out in versions like 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, and so forth — feedback culture, too, evolves through phases.

LifeLabs Learning can be your partner as your company navigates these phases. Let’s build a robust and empowering feedback culture together. Speak to a consultant today!