Continuous Feedback Phase
What is a Feedback Culture?
A feedback culture is an atmosphere that creates the freedom to share and receive feedback. It includes the practice of vulnerability by being willing to hear from others how work can improve – and then making those improvements.
Traditional performance processes are set up to wait until the end of the year to gather (or give) feedback about performance. At this point, it is too late to make any changes or have any positive impact. The most effective feedback is regular, specific and happens as close as possible to the event(s).
A well-researched leadership practice from neuroscience is the idea of adopting a growth mindset instead of having a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset says, “I can’t do that.” A growth mindset says, “I can’t do that…yet.”
Studies show that people are able to change, grow and perform better when the underlying mindset is one of “I can learn how to do that better.”
Continuous feedback plays a large role in this mindset shift. When we are able to see, in real time, how we are performing, we are able to learn, grow and lead ourselves and others toward better performance.
Benefits of a Continuous Feedback Culture
When employees and supervisors have frequent feedback conversations the following benefits occur:
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Meaningful learning and growth becomes possible
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Goals are more effectively achieved
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We develop into better leaders and better people
- People desire feedback far more frequently than they normally experience.
A continuous feedback culture contributes to all five ingredients of a meaningful workplace experience, which are:
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Motivating work conditions
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Empowering leadership
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Fostering well-being & resilience
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Growth opportunities
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Trust in leadership
Continuous Feedback empowers us to learn, grow and lead more effectively. Doing this well requires supervisors to be present with teams and to be willing to have performance-focused conversations with team members on a consistent basis throughout the year.
Three components of a Feedback Culture
Creating a culture that is feedback rich is multi-layered. Performance Leadership programming focuses on three main components:
Asking for and Receiving Feedback.
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Many organizations who wish to move toward a culture of continuous feedback focus their efforts on learning how to give feedback.
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Recent research and case studies have demonstrated that organizations that wish to have a continuous feedback culture get there by having leaders ask for feedback themselves.
Leading Continuous Feedback Conversations.
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Feedback can be delivered well, or it can be delivered in a way that is damaging and creates resistance.
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People don’t dislike feedback – they dislike their status or competence being threatened.
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The goal for engaging in continuous feedback conversations is to contribute to a workplace experience that aligns with the SHA Core Values and where people feel like they belong and are safe to learn, contribute and challenge.
Leading Year-End APP Conversations.
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A key part of the annual APP cycle is to close off the year with a conversation.
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Studies show that people in traditional year-end performance reviews
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experience disengagement and high levels of threat – on both sides of the conversation.
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If healthy habits and processes have been established in the first two components of a feedback culture then there are approaches that can make a year-end conversation valuable and effective for all parties.
If you have any questions, email us at SHAOrgDevelopment@saskhealthauthority.ca.