Feedback can boost morale and profits

  • Thursday, August 19, 2004 9:00pm
  • Business

Small business owners with some down time this summer might be thinking about compiling annual performance evaluations for their employees.

Good idea – but don’t make the mistake of thinking that feedback and evaluations are an annual event only.

“Almost as bad as not doing it is doing it only once a year and having it be just a one-time formal exercise where you sit in judgment of the employee and the employee gets defensive,” said Leigh Branham, owner of Keeping the People Inc., an Overland Park, Kan., human resources consulting firm.

“It should be a constant, ongoing thing,” Branham said of feedback. He said one of the major reasons employees leave their jobs is because they don’t get the feedback they need, and “feedback is one of the top five things that make a job satisfying.”

Workers in the post-baby boom generations – Xers and millennials – especially want feedback.

“They’re just conditioned to … getting instant feedback,” said Branham, who has written books including “The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave.”

Providing feedback and evaluations isn’t just for the sake of employees; it’s likely to help your business run better.

“Employees want to be good at their jobs,” said Amy DelPo, who has worked as a labor law attorney and co-authored books including “Dealing With Problem Employees.” “If you can foster that desire, you’ll see a lot of good come out of that.”

It’s also true that employers should give feedback and evaluations to protect themselves legally.

“It’s a good idea to have a record of how your employees are doing so you can justify the decisions you make in the workplace,” including promotions and dismissals, DelPo said. But focusing on the positive, providing feedback and evaluations means “you’re going to head off a lot of employment problems before they begin.”

Branham and DelPo advise business owners to look at the evaluation process as two-way street, not just an employer passing judgment on a worker, an atmosphere that is as uncomfortable for the boss as it is for the worker.

“You also can get information from employees about the workplace and make things work better,” said DelPo, whose book includes a section on performance evaluations.

Giving feedback and putting a performance evaluation together can be unfamiliar territory for a new entrepreneur, especially one who hasn’t supervised employees in the past. There’s help for these owners, including books that deal entirely with feedback and evaluations.

Branham has two recommendations: “Abolishing Performance Appraisals: Why They Backfire and What to Do Instead,” by Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins; and “Coaching for Improved Work Performance,” by Ferdinand Fournies.

If you work with a human resources consultant, that’s a natural resource. Another, and free, avenue of help can be the retired executives at SCORE, who give advice on a variety of topics including employee relations. You can reach a counselor through the organization’s Web site, www.score.org.

You also might want to take advantage of basic management courses offered at local colleges or Small Business Development Centers sponsored by the Small Business Administration. The only one in Snohomish County is at Edmonds Community College.

But there are some basics to keep in mind.

Feedback and evaluations should be about goals, and how to help an employee attain them. This will help keep you focused on running your business well.

“It’s not just about rating” an employee, Branham said. “It’s about planning what they’re going to do for the next year.”

In addition to continual feedback, Branham suggests quarterly sit-downs with employees. Doing it less often means that important information can become outdated.

He again advises open communication as you set goals.

“You get the employee’s perspective, you give your perspective, merge them and come up with an action plan,” he said.

Small Business is a weekly column on the topic by the Associated Press.

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