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5 Ways to Create a Feedback-Friendly Team Environment & Why It Matters
5 Ways to Create a Feedback-Friendly Team Environment & Why It Matters

Whether good or bad, feedback is one of the best ways for us to know if we’re doing something right or wrong. And while it's a must for a healthy culture, still not every business has guidelines about when or how feedback is provided. A strong feedback culture welcomes feedback and uses it to foster the growth of individuals, teams, and the organization. In a feedback-friendly culture, employee voices are valued. And to become more effective and fulfilled at work, people need a keen understanding of their impact on others and the extent to which they’re achieving their goals. That’s called feedback, and direct feedback is the most efficient way for them to gather this information and learn from it. Typically, this information -- what we like to call intel on our efforts -- comes in three forms: Appreciation...recognition for great work. Appreciation connects and motivates people, and it’s vital since intrinsic motivation is one of the critical factors for higher performance. Coaching for Continuous Improvement...helping someone expand their knowledge, skills and capabilities. Coaching is also an opportunity to address concerns, feelings, or ideas, which helps balance and strengthen relationships. Evaluation...more formally assessing someone against a set of standards, aligning expectations and informing decision-making. Why a Feedback Culture is Important Even people who aren’t interested in or skilled at giving or receiving feedback will participate in the process and improve when they’re working in a feedback-rich environment. On the flip side, even the most ardent and capable of feedback champions will give up if the organizational or team culture doesn’t support their efforts. So in addition to helping your more reserved team members improve, feedback carries with it a slew of benefits. Here are just three of the most important. Feedback Saves Time, Money & Resources It’s estimated that a company of 10,000 employees spends a staggering $35 million a year to conduct performance appraisals. Yet 9 in 10 managers are dissatisfied with how their companies conduct annual performance reviews, and nearly 90 percent HR leaders say the process doesn’t yield accurate information. Moreover, the average manager spends about 210 hours a year on activities related to reviews. That’s more than 26 work days. However, when you supplement performance reviews with ongoing, real-time feedback, you can help ease the pressure and expense of the annual review. When you think about performance reviews, it’s really just an aggregation of all the feedback data an employee should have received throughout the year.  Better Performance in a Feedback Culture Now, imagine the loss in productivity throughout that year when that employee doesn't receive ongoing intel on his/her efforts throughout the year. When you save it for an annual performance review, you're missing out on opportunities where your employee could have been improving. When employees enjoy their work, understand their goals, and know the values and competencies of the job, performance increases. The link between effective feedback and productivity has been well established. One study found that 69 percent of employees would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized. Continuous feedback helps align goals, clarifies expectations, and motivates employees. It also creates a positive workplace, one dedicated to encouraging people to be better will improve the level of performance and employee engagement. Strengthened Interpersonal Relationships Engaging in open feedback and dialogue with colleagues, recognizing efforts after a job well done, and helping employees meet their goals will help create meaningful workplace relationships. Fostering these types of relationships among employees is a driver both for improved collaboration within and across teams as well as for retention.  Once a foundation of feedback has been set, sustaining it will become easier with each feedback conversation. Here's how the experts say to do it. How to Build a Continuous Feedback Culture To foster an environment of both personal and professional growth, people need to feel safe about giving and receiving feedback. A feedback culture is a fluid, two-way exchange between employees as well as employees and management. The end goal is a safe space where employees feel comfortable voicing their concerns, suggestions, and advancement plans while employers are equally able to express constructive feedback.A healthy feedback culture is one where feedback is the norm rather than a signal that something is wrong. That means when improvements are needed, asking for change won’t come off as awkward or out of the blue for either staff or employers. Instead, you’ll be able to enhance business processes while empowering employees to excel in their roles. Here are some ways you can start embedding a continuous feedback culture into your workplace.Set and reinforce expectations during onboarding, performance reviews, manager 1:1s, town halls, and department meetings for giving, receiving, and using constructive feedback. Train people to focus on the quality of the feedback. It’s worth noting that there is a difference between good and bad feedback. Encouraging people to say "good job" isn't going to improve employee performance or build an effective feedback culture. Building a culture of feedback starts with providing meaningful feedback - that is, feedback that is behavior based (not trait-based), forward looking (instead of backward), objective, continuous, in real-time and direct. Create multiple channels for giving and receiving feedback...like newsletters, email inboxes, surveys, town halls, office hours and more. Some folks like to write it out, while others prefer vocalizing -- be inclusive of how you solicit and provide feedback. Couple feedback with recognition so that employees associate feedback with a positive form of reinforcement. It will help reinforce the kind of behaviors that are helping move the organization. Make it routine. When feedback happens routinely, it becomes expected. Hold employees accountable by incorporating feedback giving and receiving KPIs. Ensure that managers are having regular feedback conversations and check-ins with their direct reports. Moreover, encourage employees to ask and share feedback.As a rule of thumb, more frequent, directionally correct but incomplete feedback outperforms more detailed and accurate but less frequent feedback. This means that consistency and iteration are what makes feedback good. When asking or giving feedback, many refer to the 30/60/90 Feedback Framework. It states that one should receive feedback when a task is 30% complete, again at 60% complete, and finally at 90% complete. Transforming your culture into one built on continuous feedback can propel your teams to approach tasks from a different perspective and find new solutions to your company’s biggest challenges. And the first step in your culture transformation is a team culture mapping, where we’ll help you unlock the behaviors, motivators, and work energizers of your team so you can empower better performance.

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Fit Recruiting: Culture Fit, Culture Add & Diversity of Thought
Fit Recruiting: Culture Fit, Culture Add & Diversity of Thought

Fit Recruiting for Culture In the world of work, there's one thing you can count on...and that's the ongoing proliferation of new phrases or acronyms. New phrases like "culture fit" and "culture add" have taken on multiple meanings and muddied the already cloudy waters of unbiased recruitment practices. To combat that confusion, this article will explore their similarities and their differences, and how using fit recruiting can elevate your recruitment practices and find you the best candidate. The term 'culture fit' has received some criticism. Some companies are even banning the phrase altogether, fearing it emphasizes homogeneity, the very opposite of its intent. At its core, culture fit, or fit recruiting, as Humantelligence defines and uses the term, actually boosts inclusion and diversity within its teams. Finding candidates that align with culture doesn't limit the existing background or experiences to be considered. Here's how we look at culture fit.We assess your current team culture, specifically addressing high and low performers, regardless of their background. Our tool provides insights into Behaviors, Motivators and Ideal Work Energizers (BMW) -- never race, religion, background, socioeconomic status or any other bias-laden factor. With the insights gained from these data points, trends start to emerge. These trends allow hiring managers to hire candidates that will have the traits of their high-performing team members.  If the hiring manager or leadership team determines that the current team is not performing well, or they are on the verge of a transformation, they can use the tool to build an "Ideal Profile" that will reflect the ideal candidates' desired BMW. What we refer to as BMW eliminates outside judgment and preconceived ideas on what the candidate should "look" like.In some instances, companies choose to use this tool for both benchmarking as well as improving overall morale. For example, Ashley Furniture could not have improved their distribution center without a tool that assessed culture fit. They were experiencing high turnover, and while not uncommon in manufacturing, Ashley wanted to better understand what kind of candidates would thrive in this environment. Using culture fit helped Ashley pinpoint their high-performers and continue hiring individuals, driven by a common goal, into a particular, normally high-turnover role.  Even before an interview, where a person can begin to create an unconscious bias, the data can be hard at work finding similarities between candidates and current employees. There is also a threshold which is set by the company. For example, company A may say, "We want potential team members to align with their future boss by 60 percent." But company B might say, "We want a very close match between manager and team member, as this person will assume the manager position in 6 months. We are striving for a 75 percent match." Defining Culture Add Similar to culture fit, culture add is the concept that a new hire should contribute to the culture, or be seen as a supplemental addition who can fill critical gaps. Both terms involve a sense of alignment; however, culture add has become more popular. Regardless, the outcomes when striving for culture add or culture fit will be similar if done properly. Accurately collecting data is key to understanding what culture means for organizations, and any new addition, if chosen intentionally, will "fit" or align with their team and the current value system. Will people of similar backgrounds and experiences gravitate toward one another? Absolutely. This is why hiring new additions need to be driven by data as opposed to a gut feeling. That's where the BMW analysis comes in -- filtering candidates long before the first interview or point of human interaction. This way, biases are dramatically minimized and the overall recruitment process will be quicker, with a more aligned candidate as the final outcome. Fit Recruiting for Diversity of Thought Another common phrase that is often heard within HR and culture conversations is Diversity of Thought. The thinking behind DoT is that a shared mindset or "groupthink" within an organization is negative and creates a shortage of new ideas; particularly from underrepresented groups. True DoT starts with organizations prioritizing diversity in the recruitment process and reinforcing its importance throughout the employee experience. Aside from the obvious benefits surrounding a more diverse and inclusive workforce, Gallup proved that inclusivity and employee engagement are actually linked to profits. It found that employee engagement and gender diversity resulted in 46% to 58% higher financial performance. And while some HR organizations struggle to plead the case for a diversity budget, the ROI is undeniable. Lever, a prominent name in the recruitment space, sites blind resume screenings as a way to combat bias in recruitment. Coupled with this, hiring for culture fit or culture add and utilizing data from behavioral evaluations can create a truly blind screening setting. What all of these concepts do is help recruiters find the best candidate, based on a team's particularly needs, involving the least amount of human error -- that's called fit recruiting and it's admirable goal. Best Practices to Implement Today Let's forget the terms for now. What employees within the organization, as well as those entering through the recruitment process, deserve is a fair and inclusive environment. A more diverse, accepting environment fosters creativity and aids in employee happiness. Teams that emphasize inclusion and belonging are also able to transform more quickly than those that are less diverse. According to Cloverpop, inclusive decision making "can drive meaningful change in months because it focuses on the inclusion of people already employed by organizations, using consistent processes combined with transparent metrics." and inclusive decision making also "leads to better business decisions up to 87% of the time. This means that building diversity into your recruitment processes and, inevitably, your teams, will lead to higher success, employee engagement, and better work overall. If you're interested in learning how Humantelligence can help you elevate your fit recruiting practices, let's connect.

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People Before Perks: 10 Tips for People-centric Performance Reviews
People Before Perks: 10 Tips for People-centric Performance Reviews

A new year is upon us, and for HR, you know what that means...performance review prep - what fun! We know what you're thinking but seriously, they can be fun when managers perform them effectively. Good performance reviews put people first. They assess how employees are doing in their current roles, ensure they feel supported, improve employee/manager relations, and provide team members with clear direction when it comes to the competencies in which they need to improve. Monitoring employee performance also helps management teams identify skills gaps and learning opportunities, assign training budgets, and identify hiring needs. Employee performance reviews are important for every business, but their effectiveness depends on how they are conducted. They can empower your employees to reach new heights – or they could drive them away. And with employee engagement at an all-time low, you'll want to be sure your performance reviews are as effective as possible. The Goal of Performance Reviews A people-centric review process, similar to a people-centric onboarding process,  helps your employees identify growth opportunities and potential areas of improvement without damaging employee-manager relations. Still, writing and conducting a strong review isn't easy. Managers often don't receive enough guidance on what an effective and comprehensive review looks like. Compounding the problem, small businesses frequently struggle with limited resources. For example, for a company with 1,000 employees to conduct accurate and helpful performance reviews, a full-time HR staff of 14 is ideal -- sounds luxurious, doesn't it! Regardless of how frequently or in what manner your company conducts performance reviews, these review meetings should benefit employees and managers alike.  Workers gain a better understanding of what they are doing well and where they can improve. They can ask questions, gain clarity, or provide feedback to their managers -- without the fear or retribution. Similarly, managers have the opportunity to communicate expectations with their team, identify their highest performers, correct issues before they escalate, and increase engagement and motivation. In this article, we’ll share with you the 10 best tips for making sure your performance reviews make the right kind of impact on team members.  Tip 1: Include these Areas in Employee Performance Reviews As you prepare your team and people managers to conduct their reviews, here are some helpful reminders to build into your managers’ prep plans. Most employee reviews include assessment of these skills: Communication Collaboration and teamwork Problem-solving Quality and accuracy of work Ability to accomplish goals and meet deadlinesAfter addressing the key areas, you'll need to evaluate and weigh each to get a picture of the employee's overall performance. The way you format and organize this information is up to you as well as your company's needs. Some organizations use a grading system of A through F, numerical scoring or percentages, or written descriptions (e.g., "most of the time," "some of the time"). Whichever system you use, make sure that it is objective and easy to understand. Don't forget to remind your managers to set up time with employees to discuss their findings. It can be helpful to have a written copy of the evaluation to reference and keep your meeting on track. They should deliver transparent feedback, with examples where appropriate, and allot enough time for the employee to ask questions or deliver feedback. Encourage your managers to consider this a two-way conversation. Tip 2: Be Clear & Objective An effective performance review is a chance for managers and employees to start a two-way conversation, communicate clearly, and set tangible goals. After performance reviews, people should understand what’s expected of them and how they’re progressing in their roles. Here are a few pointers to train managers on communicating clearly:Keep language simple and clear — especially when offering constructive feedback Make development goals objective and measurable, so that employees can track progressTip 3: Conduct Performance Reviews Frequently If you want to foster employee success, you should branch beyond the more traditional annual review. So much can change in your organization or with your employees in one year. It’s important to stay aligned and to keep communication open during those changes, not just during annual employee performance reviews. We recommend quarterly or even monthly performance conversations, paired with a year-end or annual review of general themes, notes, progress, and next steps. This allows managers and employees to stay on the same page about goals, progress, and performance. It also helps:Employees understand exactly where they stand and what to do to improve Managers provide real-time coaching to help employees overcome obstacles Organizations benefit from a constant flow of data on individual and team performanceMany organizations are turned off by a quarterly or monthly performance review cadence because it feels like a hefty time commitment. But if you’re having frequent conversations, they don’t need to be long, robust, or comprehensive to be effective. The result of more frequent conversations is ensuring no surprises during an annual review. Tip 4: Make Time for 1:1 Meetings While clear and objective language is important, it can also at times come across as sounding cold. To combat this, create an environment of trust one-on-one with your team members. It may be tempting to just check in when your team is gathered together — especially if you only have a few direct reports or they all have similar goals and tasks. However, taking the time to review each employee individually is crucial because:People have different career goals and need individualized support Employees welcome 1:1 time with their managers to improve rapport Individuals may wish to speak privately about particular goals or struggles Employee strengths and difficulties vary, even if they’re on the same teamTip 5: Encourage the Following Kind of Performance Review Questions One way to determine what makes for a good performance review question is by comparing it to Gallup’s 12 elements of employee engagement, or Q12. You may recognize these affirming statements from the well-known business advice book, First, Break All the Rules. The 12 Elements of Employee EngagementI know what is expected of me at work. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person. There is someone at work who encourages my development. At work, my opinions seem to count. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work. I have a best friend at work. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.Source: Gallup If you’re looking for a way to develop your own performance review questions, one idea is to create questions that gauge whether or not one of the twelve engagement statements is true or false. If you want more detail, or a result that you can track over time, turn a yes/no question into a scored response. Going even further, if you are seeking action items like areas to improve upon or where you can recognize achievement, ask for a response in the form of a list, or, leave the response open-ended. Best Questions for Performance Reviews These questions are for employees to answer during a self-assessment section of the review process.What experience, project, or action are you most proud of since the last review? Which of our company values did you live best in the last few months? How has your manager helped you achieve your goals during the past few months? What do you enjoy most about the work you do? What corporate/personal goals did you accomplish? Which goals fell short? What skill or knowledge do people on your team or at the company rely on you to provide? What project/goal(s) would you like to focus on in the next quarter/six months/year? How were you able to contribute to the company’s current goal of [creating a more inclusive culture, closing more sales, launching a new marketing campaign, etc.]? What would colleagues or clients say about their recent interactions with you? What attributes do I contribute that make up our culture?Best Employee Performance Review Questions for Managers These questions mirror those above but have been phrased to ask a manager about their employee. You can compare the manager’s answers to the employee’s and see if they’re aligned.Describe a meaningful contribution that [Name] has made since the last review. Which company value have you seen [Name] emulating well in the last few months? Describe how you have impacted [Name]’s ability to succeed and grow in their position. What types of projects does [Name] excel at? How has [Name] done with creating and meeting goals over the past few months? What role does [Name] have on the team and what impact have they had? What are some areas of focus/projects that could benefit [Name]? In what way(s) did [Name] contribute to the company’s current goal of [creating a more inclusive culture, closing more sales, launching a new marketing campaign, etc.]? What are some positive interactions you’ve noticed between [Name] and others?Additional Performance Management Assessment Questions Some of these are for employees or managers performing a self-assessment, while others are intended to assess the performance of an employee or manager. You can always be assessing and providing feedback to your employees using these question, when you employ a performance management system.Are you happy at {company name]? What special projects have you worked on this past quarter/year? In what ways can [manager/employee name] improve/help you? Would you recommend working here to your friends? Why or why not? How have you met corporate goals/values this quarter/year? How well have you achieved your goals this past quarter/year? What do you enjoy most about working for [manager/company name]? How do I show my focus on quality work?/How is [Name]’s quality of work? How do I show my focus on clients?/How does [Name] demonstrate a focus on client success? How do I show that I am solution-oriented and responsive in my role?/How does [Name] demonstrate that they are solution-oriented and responsive? What do you hope to be doing within the company one year from now? What about five years from now? What do you want your next position to be at this company? What is one recent project that you have made significant contributions to and how did you contribute? Looking back, how has your manager helped you improve and do your best work? Please share 1-2 examples. Going forward, what do you need from your manager to better support you in your role? Looking back, what have you done to encourage and support [Name] during the past three months? Going forward, what do you need in order to better support [Name] in doing their best work and/or achieving growth? What are your top three priorities for the next 6-12 months? What are your personal development goals (new skill, knowledge, work experience you’d like to acquire) to help you maximize your performance and potential? What training does [Name] need in order to improve? Do you feel comfortable taking risks and approaching your manager with new ideas? Why or why not? What training do you wish you had/would you like to have?Tip 6: Personalize Your Communication During Performance Reviews Yes, being clear and objective is important. But all the question in the world won't make performance reviews impactful if you're not personalizing your communication. Pay close attention to how you phrase your evaluations and communicate with employees. Meaningful and action-oriented words have a far greater impact in employee performance reviews than more standard phrases such as "good" or "satisfactory". Here are five words and expressions that will help you effectively highlight an employee's contributions, based on James E. Neal's Effective Phrases for Performance Appraisals (Neal Publications, 2009).  Achievement: Incorporate this into a phrase, such as "achieves optimal levels of performance with/for... " Communication skills: Phrases like "effectively communicates expectations" or "excels in facilitating group discussions" go a long way with an employee. Creativity: Appreciating employees' creative side can make for happier, more motivated staff. In a performance evaluation, try phrases like "seeks creative alternatives," followed by specific examples and results. Improvement: Employees like hearing that they are improving and that it's being noticed. "Continues to grow and improve" and "is continuously planning for improvement" are two constructive phrases to use in a performance review. Management ability: Leadership skills and the ability to manage others are key to employee success. Phrases such as "provides support during periods of organizational change" carry weight with your employee.  Instead of using terms like "good" or "excellent" in a review, opt for more measurement-oriented language. Words like "excels," "exhibits," "demonstrates," "grasps," "generates," "manages," "possesses," "communicates," "monitors," "directs" and "achieves" are more meaningful. As an added bonus, you can take your communication to the next level by leveraging emotional intelligence data. To do it, it just takes a simple plug-in tool, and you have the insights needed to communicate with impact and effectiveness -- especially in sensitive situations. When you focus on how you communicate, when you provide provide, and the kinds of questions you ask, you'll find your employee performance reviews go more smoothly than ever before. Tip 7: Acknowledge Strengths during Performance Reviews Performance reviews aren’t just for spotting what needs improvement — they’re also fantastic opportunities to give credit to your staff for their strengths and achievements, which can often go overlook or unacknowledged during performance reviews. To give employee strengths proper acknowledgment:Include strengths in your review form Give good ratings freely and avoid focusing only on areas for improvement Discuss how the employee has built and maintained their strengths Consider how the employee could transfer strengths to areas for improvement If appropriate, consider if the employee could use their strengths to encourage learning exchanges and coaching within the teamTip 8: Empower with Employee Assessments Performance reviews work best if it’s collaborative rather than top-down process. It's important to provide team members with the kinds of tools that can shed light on their strengths, tendencies, motivators, and work energizers. Consider providing self-assessments prior to performance reviews. Here’s how you can ensure employees are actively participating in their appraisals:Offer staff a chance to prepare a self-assessment so they can take stock of their progress Give employees ownership and responsibility for their own development and progression Discuss employee, peer, and management scores to get a clear understanding of their context Ask employees for their insights on how they align with their role, department and the companyTip 9: Be Aware of Biases We all have it -- biases. We need to be aware of it in order for performance reviews to be as objective as possible. While they must be personalized according to employee strengths and roles, they should still be fair, clear, and objective. Check out these tips to reduce bias in your employee appraisals:Create questions and criteria that take a long view of the review cycle (and previous cycles) rather than simply focusing on recent performance or projects. That will avoid recency bias — i.e., focusing only on recent achievements or issues. Avoid unconscious bias and work to ensure you’re not judging an employee based on your own strengths, abilities, experiences, or personal traits (even if unintentionally). Ensure you evaluate employee achievements based on work quality rather than quantity. For example, the effort they put into a campaign, rather than only results or number of campaigns launched. If you’re conducting several reviews in quick succession, avoid comparing one employee to another. Each person deserves to have their work evaluated based on individual strengths, merits, and development needs. Avoid making conclusions abruptly or without context. If an employee appears disengaged one day, that doesn’t mean they don’t care. They may have had a bad morning or be experiencing problems at home. Try not to let your personal view of the employee impact your judgment. Their performance review is about their career progression and overall skills — not your personal feelings.Tip 10: Keep Feedback Flowing After Performance Reviews In all honesty, performance reviews typically happen once, maybe twice a year, but that does not mean that feedback should be limited to those short review periods. You should encourage your managers to offer consistent assessments throughout the year. Not only does it ensure no surprises when it's annual review time, but it also helps to motivate and engage your employees. Don't catch your people off guard in a performance review. This should not be the first time that they are hearing from you that they are not performing as expected. Be clear in writing, calendar invites, and in setting expectations for the review meeting.  You should also take constant notes on employee performance – especially when there are no performance reviews on the horizon. Employees deserve a robust assessment of their work for the entire period being covered. Far too many performance reviews are based only on what the manager can remember from the last few weeks before the evaluations are due to HR. Managers have to be intentional about taking and filing notes. A great way to keep feedback ongoing is through the use of an employee engagement suite, where managers and employees can continually assess performance and improvement. Performance Reviews for Top Performers Are Necessary Too Don't neglect your top performers. If you're only addressing issues or focusing on the employees who aren't performing, you're missing an opportunity to express gratitude to those who shape the innovation, creativity, and culture within your company. While it's true they may not need as much guidance as other employees, these individuals could lose their passion or motivation if they are not occasionally recognized.  Highly valuable employees who do their job and do it well are often not the priority of concern in performance review cycles, resulting in missed opportunities to communicate how much the organization values the drive and the results of its top performers. And no need to wait for the employee performance reviews to do it. For instance, an unexpected 'keep up the great work' email or a quick phone call or text sends a consistent signal to your employee that you are paying attention and value what they do. In the end, it’s crucial to maintain momentum after performance reviews, making sure that promises and objectives laid out during the process aren't quickly forgotten. A manager should work with the employee to set up deadlines or objectives for each tangible next step — and remember to check in. Keep employees informed on what you’re doing on your side, like setting up training or finding additional hires, and be transparent about changes or roadblocks. Happy reviewing!

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