Workforce is the topic of our post once again as it is critical to manufacturers. Leesa Schipani with Kardas Larson has shared the following post with us. The art of providing honest feedback without being hurtful is a critical skill for all managers. We spend a lot of time talking about recruiting employees but retention is of equal value. Note: Leesa Schipani of Kardas Larson is a Board Member of CTmrg.
Here’s an excerpt from the article…
One of the trickiest parts of managing a team is giving honest feedback, in a way that doesn’t come across as too harsh. Can you please share with us five suggestions about how to best give constructive criticism to a remote employee? Kindly share a story or example for each.
Before I do, let me respond to the term “constructive criticism”. I believe there is no such thing. If your intent is criticism, it will never be experienced as constructive! If your intent is specific feedback meant to further increase the employee’s self-awareness and development, then following are my suggestions:
1. Only share specific, fact-based feedback.
2. Prepare your employee for the feedback by scheduled a meeting for this purpose and ask that he/she come prepared to address the specific performance.
3. Begin by asking for the employee’s feedback on his/her own performance.
4. Provide your feedback in the spirit of collaboration with an employee.
5. Establish an agreement with the employee on his/her actions to further address the discussed performance.
Leesa Schipani is with Kardas Larson Human Resources Consultanting, a CTmrg affiliate that is a women-owned consulting consortium which focuses on developing and delivering both tactical and strategic human resource (HR) solutions to enhance business results. Their primary focus is small to mid-size business, municipalities and non-profit organizations. As a Board Member of CTmrg, Leesa is on the organizing Committee for the upcoming CTmrg/Manufacturers Workforce Summit Series.