In every organisation or institution, it is believed that employee feedback is an important component of managing the institute in general. Feedback is said to encourage personal and professional growth, and ensure that employees feel content at all times.
The article, "The Importance of Feedback in the Workplace” says, "Feedback clarifies expectations, helps people learn from their mistakes and builds confidence. Positive feedback is easy – it’s not hard to find the right words to tell someone they’ve done a good job, or congratulate them on meeting a sales target.
"However, giving negative feedback is not so easy. Its human nature to put off difficult conversations or to try and soften the blow however the problem with doing this is that the issue is not addressed, the problem compounds and eventually you find yourself dealing with a much bigger problem.”
With feedback, employees can get better at their jobs. Various studies reveal that feedback is a process that should be handled in a specific way so that it is a positive component used to develop employees and the institution.
Christopher Habinshuti, a vendor of locally made organic pesticides in Karongi District, says as someone with workers, he believes feedback is an important aspect of growing a business.
When it comes to employee feedback, it can impact your business in different ways.
"One important thing to note when it comes to giving feedback is that it can help your business experience less employee turnover. This, in the end, helps save time when it comes to keeping employees in the open roles available, and saves money as well,” he says.
Habinshuti adds that if there is no feedback at all from managers or supervisors, employees become actively disconnected from an organisation.
He highlights that this can also mean that people will only be more focused on getting the job done instead of working to make the business better.
"To rectify this, as supervisors, there is need to provide regular feedback regardless of whether it is positive or negative. It is better to help an employee know where they stand, which helps them understand where they can improve and what they are best at, from their supervisor’s perspective,” he says.
On top of this, he says, companies should aim at providing abundant feedback for the smooth running of their enterprises.
Habinshuti adds that to develop a process for quality, consistent feedback is imperative because it helps employees know what is required of them at all times.
Anita Dusabe, a university student and entrepreneur, says instead of focusing on telling those who work for you what they are doing wrong, it’s vital to go deeper and make it clear on what you want, or your expectations, and how they can work towards getting it right.
This, she says, is the best kind of feedback because it gives employees a clear picture of what they need to work on to. The good thing about this, she says, is that it doesn’t only benefit an employee, but also the company.
"It is such constructive feedback that will help one correct their actions, thus the growth of the establishment too. The fewer mistakes that an employee makes, the better an enterprise will run. This turns into more profits as time goes by, and employees also feel better about the feedback,” she says.
Dusabe points out that it is important to avoid telling employees only what they have done wrong. Instead, she says, identify the good too and then go into what is missing.
"This applies in all situations, even at school, when you are only told things that you do wrong, it somehow demotivates you which can negatively impact the way you work or perform because it brings your morale down,” she adds.
Instead, she says, when told the right way to go about things, there will be a positive view of the situation.
In fact, most people prefer to receive negative and positive feedback so that they know what to work on going forward.