August 2017 — I started working as a Leadership development consultant here in Charlotte, NC.
I started working with executive leadership teams and their employees to build better leaders and create a better cultures.
I’m going to tell you what I taught those Leaders that led to a 95% increase in engagement and decreased turnover by 63%
I did this for about a year. I worked with 7 different businesses and I realized something…something strange…
Every single business I went into suffered from the same problem.
Here’s what I discovered:
The leaders I worked with couldn’t understand why their employees were bored and generally unhappy, why their supervisors were always over-supervising, and why turnover was *way* higher than they wanted it to be.
40% of Leader’s are now fired for something culture-related
I saw the problem first hand…
The problem is that Leaders everywhere don’t know half of the problems happening in their organization and employees didn’t have a safe and easy way to report them.
This causes turnover, disengagement and gets people fired.
One of the main goals of leadership is to have feedback flow comfortably and organically. That is the best way to gain the information you need and maintain a good relationship with the people giving it.
Productive feedback conversations stops turnover, disengagement, leadership firings.
Here’s what I taught them.
1. Use context and ask for honesty
Encourage the people you ask for feedback to be helpful over nice. Let them know you are looking to get the the most out of their time and their honesty is the only way you can get better *for them*. Make it personal, address the individual. Provide context and let them know you want to make changes sooner than later.
Just Okay: “I want to get feedback about our policy so let me know when you get a chance about how it’s affecting you.”
Better: “Our new policy is meant to serve you better. I want to get feedback about how it’s affecting you.”
Best: “Our new policy is meant to serve you better and I’m excited to do that. So, I want to know how it’s affecting you. Honesty wins — I cannot make this policy work better for you right now if you don’t provide your honest feedback. Thanks!”
2. Focus on the future
Ask what you can do better going forward as opposed to what you did wrong in the past. When you ask people what you can do to be more effective in the future, they tend to be more honest.
3. Remember, you’re not always looking for “feedback”
Don’t default to collecting “feedback.” People can interpret feedback as a negative concept. Maybe sometimes you’re looking for: advice, guidance, help, direction, suggestions, recommendations, pointers, ideas, opinions, views and perspectives. Asking for help in any of these contexts is a great way to build rapport and humanize your position in the company. This helps take the edge of when people are deciding how honest to be with you.
Clarifying questions are a great way to confirm you understand and widen the search for more coaching advice. In many cases, simply asking questions like “Why is this important?” or ” How might I approach this differently?” are a great place to start. Our Critical’s Culture Glossary can help, too!
4. Listen to learn and without judgement
Be prepared to hear perspectives that differ from yours. Listen carefully so you understand what is being said, not just what resonates with your own perceptions. It’s natural to only hear what you want, so be aware of everything that is coming in even if you disagree with it.
Do not react poorly to negative feedback. If you get defensive about anything, it is natural for people to shut down and play it safe; they will respond with that they *think* you want to hear. That completely neutralizes your ability to get better!
Remember: Close-minded leaders close minds.
5. Take notes
Keep notes of the feedback you received so you can reference them as you need.
6. Commit and follow up
Show your appreciation when others spend time sharing their perspective and providing constructive insights. This also encourages people to give you more feedback in the future. Make sure to follow up, people feel valued knowing they had a positive impact on you and the organization.
Summary
By proactively asking for feedback, you will become an example for others on your team, and help to develop a culture of feedback within your organization.
When you take the first step, you are signaling to your team that they are important; that you value their input to shape your team’s future success.
What do you think? What else are you doing that generates amazing and thoughtful feedback?
