How To Give Positive Feedback To Employees

We don’t give positive feedback to employees enough.

We give plenty of constructive criticism to employees. Call it feedback. Call it coaching. Call it management. Call it whatever you’d like, but the effect is the same, employees—even top performing ones—are on the receiving end of a lot of constructive criticism designed to change their behavior.

And there’s two problems with that. The first problem is that, depending on the research you find, constructive or negative comments need to be offset by a ratio of somewhere around 5 to 1 in order to maintain an overall positive relationship (personal or professional). If you want constructive criticism to have an effect, it needs to be offset by an overwhelming amount of positive feedback in order to be taken seriously.

The second problem is that positive feedback might actually be better for changing behavior in the first place. There’s a whole field of “appreciative inquiry” researching and studying the best ways to utilize positive feedback. And the results suggest that praising someone for doing something good leads to the desired behavior much more often than criticizing someone for doing something bad.

But many leaders struggle to “catch them doing something right” or at least struggle with how to phrase that positive feedback when they do. So in this article, we’ll outline four methods that can make giving positive feedback to employees much more effective.

Do It Now

The first method to giving positive feedback to employees is to do it now. Give that positive feedback as soon as you see it. Or, if right away isn’t possible, make a quick note and give that positive feedback as soon as you possibly can. Don’t wait until your next all-hands meeting or your next one-to-one check-in session. If you want to reinforce a positive behavior with positive feedback, you need to praise it as quickly as possible. Besides the action being top of mind, giving positive feedback right away also sends the message that the behavior is important—because we do things that are important right away and feedback it no different.

Be Specific

The second method to giving positive feedback to employees is to be specific. Specific meaning you outline exactly what the positive behavior you observed was and why it was so important. Specificity is where many well-meaning leaders fail when giving positive feedback. Random “great jobs” and “attaboys” or “attagirls” don’t really communicate how much you truly appreciate their behavior and value them on your team. No one wants to be on the receiving end of vague praise (unless the alternative is vague constructive criticism). So, outline specifically what you noticed, why it was they did it so well, and why it is so important to continue.

Connect To Purpose

The third method to giving positive feedback to employees is to connect it to purpose. Praising someone’s behavior immediately and specifically is enough to ensure the positive feedback is received. But if you really want it to stick, connect that behavior to a larger purpose. People want to know how their work makes a contribution to something larger than themselves, or at least how their work helps other people. But often that contribution gets hidden in the day-to-day tasks. So, reveal it as often as you can. Giving positive feedback and connecting them to purpose (or people) leverages prosocial motivation that not only boosts morale, but it also boosts behavior too.

Do It Publicly (Maybe)

The last method to giving positive feedback to employees is to do it publicly…maybe. You may have heard that you should “praise in public; correct in private” and that’s true more often than it’s not. But there are quite a few people who would prefer not to be the center of attention and savvy leaders know who they are. It’s up to you to know how public some people may want that praise. For some, a shout out during a team meeting is great, or others it is torture and a simple email would suffice. If you don’t know how publicly someone on your team wants to be, then just ask.

If you add these four methods into the way you give positive feedback, you’ll not only have an easier time finding the right words to speak, but you’ll find those words have a lot more meaning. If you praise right away, be specific, connect it to purpose, and do it as publicly as the person desires, you’ll be giving great feedback and also helping everyone on your team do their best work ever.

What About Constructive Feedback?

Constructive feedback is uncomfortable. It’s not fun to tell someone they’re under-performing. And sometimes it’s because the tactics leaders are taught to reduce that discomfort are—to put it bluntly—terrible. We’re told to combine positive and constructive criticism and sometimes even to “sandwich” in the constructive feedback around two pieces of praise.

But if you’ve ever tried this tactic, you know it doesn’t reduce the discomfort and it often makes the conversation less clear. So, don’t.

That’s the big secret to giving great feedback. Don’t mix messages. Give positive feedback and constructive feedback at different times and in different ways.

There are three keys to giving great constructive feedback: 1) Comment on behavior, not intent, 2) Co-create solutions, and 3) Close with potential

Comment On Behavior

The first key to giving great constructive feedback is to comment on the behavior—that’s it. Comment solely on the action you observed or words you heard. Many times, when giving constructive criticism we guess at the rationale behind the behavior. This is a distraction. We’re not mind readers; we’re going to guess wrong from time to time. And when we do (or even if we guess right and the other person is in denial) we can end up moving the conversation away from the behavior that needs to change and into an unproductive argument about someone’s mindset. If the goal is to change behavior, focus on behavior.

Co-Create Solutions

The second key to giving great constructive feedback to is co-create solutions. Once you’ve commented on the behavior, and maybe even explained its effect on the rest of the team, it’s time to find a better way to behave moving forward. However, often leaders tend to just dictate what the person should do. But if you want the behavior change to stick, you have to involve the person responsible for the action. You have to co-create a solution. Instead of telling them what to do, take the time to ask questions that guide and direct them toward finding a better way to behave. You’ll get more buy-in and you’ll increase their autonomy and hence motivation to change.

Close With Potential

The third key to giving great constructive feedback is to close with potential. End on a high note. But more importantly, end on a note that emphasizes your belief in their ability to improve. In perhaps one of the best studies on teacher feedback among students, researchers found that 19 simple words at the top of the paper had a dramatic effect on whether students took the time to revise and improve. Those words: “I’m giving you this feedback because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.” If leaders did the same at the closing moments of a constructive feedback conversation, that would dramatically improve the chances of people improving.

Part of the reason giving feedback is so uncomfortable for leaders is that it feels like judging people and not coaching them. And that’s why the closing moments of feedback are so important, whether it’s closing positive feedback with an explanation of why those actions are appreciated or closing constructive feedback with a comment on that person’s potential. Those final moments of the conversation make the difference between feedback that can be readily applied and feedback that’s quickly discarded.

Giving feedback is about the behavior, but it’s also about why it’s so important to improve. Great feedback empowers everyone to do their best work ever.