4 Game-Changing Outcomes Of A Healthy Feedback Culture

Organizations want employees to continuously improve. But how can a person improve without knowing what they’re doing wrong? And how can they know what they’re doing wrong, unless we consistently tell them?

This is why your team needs a rhythm of consistent and healthy feedback. 

But this kind of feedback is made difficult by two factors: that it’s hard to hear sometimes, and it’s also hard to give. Managers used to be the go-to for accountability and damage control when something went wrong, but with radical changes to the workplace over the last few decades, it’s now essential to create a two-way dialogue that enables your team to hear what you’re saying in a way that will help them grow, not stunt them. 

So what do you do? Start now by building a culture that celebrates and welcomes feedback that fosters stronger team-to-manager relationships and leads to better output and longevity in teams. 

Here are four ways healthy feedback can help your team win: 

1. It gives you a diversity of voice. 

Creating a culture of continuous feedback creates space for every staff person - regardless of position - to have a voice. The next-generation workforce will be a flat hierarchy when it comes to the sharing of ideas. Consistent and effective feedback not only benefits your organization because of the diversity in thought, experience, and ideas, but it leads to a highly-engaged workforce. Because they know their voice is heard - because their voice is actively shaping their workplace - your team will want to stay.

2. It fosters a sense of ownership mentality, which in turn creates better engagement.

Once your team can visualize their idea in the workplace, or even see the way it plays out in real life, it will spur more feedback. An ownership perspective flourishes as every employee starts to look for and recommend areas for improvement. This increases organizational results, employee motivation, and customer satisfaction.

3. Improved outcomes lead to decreased costs.

Little by little, progress leads to continuous improvement, and positive outcomes will grow exponentially. A side benefit of this is decreased opportunity costs because it maximizes the talent of the team you already have. Regular, consistent feedback delivered regularly and in a low-pressure manner is easier to implement than big, radical changes or shifts.

4. Your team will learn what their strengths are faster.

Peter Drucker recommends a concept for accelerated learning of ourselves called Feedback Analysis, a concept that traces its roots back to fourteenth and sixteenth-century theologians. He says, “the only way to discover your strengths is through feedback analysis. Whenever you make a key decision or take a key action, write down what you expect will happen. Nine or 12 months later, compare the actual results with your expectations...practiced consistently, this simple method will show you within a fairly short period of time, where your strengths lie.”

As your team learns to question things and speak up about their ideas, your organization will begin seeing exponential growth. Trust your team members at every level of your organization. Those who are in the weeds every day will likely offer the best solutions for improvements in their respective areas.

Reflect on the benefits of healthy feedback and how they can be implemented in your organization. It can kickstart a new cycle of growth that will lead to long-term success inside and outside your team. 

At Leadr, we’re passionate about investing in our people. One of the ways we do that is by making sure the one on one meeting is a tool for continuous growth in implementing and refining the feedback cycle. Want to see Leadr in action and see if it would be a good fit for your team? Request a demo here.