Research shows that high performance organizations are founded on an organizational culture of performance. A case study on Adobe for example describes how the company decided to change from traditional performance appraisals to regular update meetings during where managers provide coaching and advice.
The decision to do so was based on the data that the annual process required 80,000 hours of time from its 2,000 managers which was the equivalent of 40 full-time employees. Additionally, their internal surveys suggested that the workforce felt less motivated and inspired after each appraisal. Instead, Adobe shifted the focus to a culture of performance within their organization, which led to dramatic results in overall performance. critical and constructive feedback from their direct reports if there is to be a true culture of performance within the organization. Securing feedback from multiple sources will lead to the most rounded review of the situation and ensure that the different perspectives of all stakeholders have been understood. By listening to all stakeholders and taking action on their concerns management have a better chance of building a highly performing organization built on a solid culture of performance.
Providing staff with constructive feedback to guide their professional and personal development helps employee’s growth and professional performance. Similarly, by seeking and acting upon feedback from employees both managers and their organizations can reap the benefits and drive performance throughout their organization.
Feedback in both directions is the cornerstone of building a culture of performance. Whether it is negative or positive, feedback highlights to staff that what they are doing matters. Feedback demonstrates to employees that their work matters and contributes to the overall performance of the organization and is vital to the organization achieving its goals. No employee wants to spend their time doing work that isn’t worthwhile or valuable so this feedback is critical not only when performance is on target but also when performance is below par. This provides employees with meaning and value to their work which is an important aspect of building a culture of performance.
Recognizing the importance of staff feedback is the keystone to creating teams that can deliver at a high level. For example, if an employee highlights to their manager that they are lacking in specific training to enable high performance then the manager must take immediate action on this and be seen to do so. If management are seen to simply pay lip service to employee feedback it will completely undermine the culture of performance. the workforce felt less motivated and inspired after each appraisal. Instead, Adobe shifted the focus to a culture of performance within their organization, which led to dramatic results in overall performance.
Humans are also creatures of habit so creating a routine of providing feedback in both an informal and format setting is vital to ensure that you and your staff are in agreement when it comes to goals and the jobs to be done. For example, each team member on a project needs to know what elements are on track, or if additional resources need to be pulled in to help achieve the project goals.
Feedback also needs to be bi-directional at the very least, and where possible three hundred and sixty degree review and feedback should be used. Traditional “top-down” feedback is simply no longer enough. Managers must seek honest, critical and constructive feedback from their direct reports if there is to be a true culture of performance within the organization. Securing feedback from multiple sources will lead to the most rounded review of the situation and ensure that the different perspectives of all stakeholders have been understood. By listening to all stakeholders and taking action on their concerns management have a better chance of building a highly performing organization built on a solid culture of performance.
