Giving and Receiving Feedback as Organizational Leaders

What is Feedback in a Non-Profit Organizational Setting?

Henderson et al. (2019) define feedback as “a process in which learners make sense of information about their performance and use it to enhance the quality of their work or learning strategies.” (p. 1402). Applying this definition in the organizational setting, we can conceptualize feedback as the process by which an employee or volunteer gets information about their effectiveness or performance that they can use to make necessary adjustments or improvements in their work. This information is often provided by a manager or supervisor, implying the need for organizational leaders to provide appropriate and effective feedback to their employees and volunteers.

The Importance of Feedback in Organizations

Feedback is a significant component of organizational communication. Organizational communication, including providing feedback, has been shown to positively correlate with volunteer retention in non-profit organizations (Bauer & Lim, 2019) and forms a significant part of many volunteer management frameworks (e.g., ISOTURE and GEMS). Leadership, employees, and volunteers must be on the same page to carry out assigned tasks and assignments effectively. Johnson (2013) found that objective and evaluative feedback positively impacted task performance, and Baker et al. (2013) suggest that developing an organizational culture that encourages and promotes communication and feedback from both leadership and employees is beneficial. In organizations without a culture of open communication and feedback, there can be dire consequences. Cleveland et al. (2007) used an extreme example to illustrate the need for feedback using the Columbia space shuttle disaster, where the employees' fear of giving negative feedback contributed to the disintegration of Columbia. While an extreme example, it is important to understand that no organizations function without feedback and communication.

Giving Effective Feedback

All feedback is not created equal. If handled or given inappropriately, feedback can have a negative impact on interpersonal relationships within the organization and employee/volunteer job performance. Employees can take feedback in a negative or combative way, leading to lashing out and misbehaving (Cleveland et al., 2007). While we cannot necessarily control how another person will respond to feedback, there are some strategies that we can employ as organizational leaders to provide appropriate and constructive feedback to employees and volunteers. Harms and Roebuck (2010) developed two models of providing effective feedback to give praise and constructive criticism, described below.

B.E.T. Model for Positive Feedback

B – Behavior. Describe the specific observations of desired or positive behaviors the volunteer or employee is displaying.

E – Effect. Discuss how the volunteer or employee’s behavior is beneficial to the organization or team.

T – Thank you. Showing appreciation and thanking the volunteer or employee for their contributions.

B.E.A.R. Model for Negative Feedback

B – Behavior. Explain the current behaviors or actions the volunteer or employee is taking that are negatively impacting the organization or team.

E – Effect. Describe the impact of these behaviors on the organization or team.

A – Alternative. Provide suggestions or recommendations to the volunteer or employee on how to change their current behaviors and actions.

R – Result. Describe the outcomes or results that would occur if the volunteer or employee adopts the suggested changes and recommendations.

Within these models, we can employ several strategies to ensure we communicate effectively with our volunteers and employees. Sherman (2019) provides several strategies that can be used in conjunction with the two models above. These strategies are adapted below.

1. Give feedback promptly. Do not wait to give feedback to your volunteers or employees, as issues will be more difficult to address the longer you wait to discuss them.
2. Give specific and factual feedback. Be very clear and specific when giving feedback and base your feedback on observations and facts without including hearsay and opinions.
3. Allow employees and volunteers to contribute their own thoughts and perspectives to the feedback session.
4. Create concrete goals and benchmarks for your employee or volunteer. Schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss their progress.

Receiving Feedback

One way to improve the way we give feedback is to consider how we want to receive feedback. In strong organizations with open communication channels, both employees and supervisors give and receive feedback. Earlier in the article, we discussed the potential for a lack of feedback to lead to catastrophic outcomes. To ensure that these do not occur in our own organizations, it is crucial that we can handle and process feedback in a professional but also constructive way. There are existing strategies for positively handling feedback, especially negative, and below are several adapted from Jug et al. (2019) and Stott (2019).

1. Consider the rationale behind the feedback you receive. Remember that the other person made the potentially difficult decision to give you suggestions or critique. You can decide to accept or reject the feedback; however, coming in with an open mind is key.
2. Actively listen to the feedback you are being given. Do not interrupt the person giving feedback. Allow them to fully explain what issues they are observing to ensure you get all the information. If you come in with a defensive or negative attitude, the other person may not want to engage with you going forward.
3. Proactively ask others for feedback, both positive and negative. This will help you practice receiving feedback and also help you improve your own performance as a leader.

References

Baker, A., Perreault, D., Reid, A., & Blanchard, C. M. (2013). Feedback and organizations: Feedback is good, feedback-friendly culture is better. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 54(4), 260–268.

Bauer, S., & Lim, D. (2019). Effect of communication practices on volunteer organization identification and retention. Sustainability, 11(9), 2467.

Cleveland, J. N., Lim, A. S., & Murphy, K. R. (2007). Feedback phobia? Why employees do not want to give or receive performance feedback. In J. Langan-Fox, C. L. Cooper, & R. J. Klimoski (Eds.), Research companion to the dysfunctional workplace: Management challenges and symptoms (pp. 168–186). Edward Elgar.

Harms, P. L., & Roebuck, D. B. (2010). Teaching the art and craft of giving and receiving feedback. Business Communication Quarterly, 73(4), 413–431.

Henderson, M., Phillips, M., Ryan, T., Boud, D., Dawson, P., Molloy, E., & Mahoney, P. (2019). Conditions that enable effective feedback. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(7), 1401–1416.

Johnson, D. A. (2013). A component analysis of the impact of evaluative and objective feedback on performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 33, 89–103.

Jug, R., Jiang, X., & Bean, S. M. (2019). Giving and receiving effective feedback. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 143(2), 244–250.

Sherman, R. O. (2019). The art of giving feedback. American Journal of Nursing, 119(9), 64–68.

Stott, D. L. (2017). The human element of giving and receiving feedback. Journal of Perioperative Practice, 27(5), 97–98.