Definition of Feedback
Feedback is defined as the useful information, criticism, or review about a prior activity, performance, or behavior of an individual, business, or organization, so the receivers of the feedback can adjust and improve their performance, behavior, or activities.
Feedback occurs when an individual, environment, or system gives its reaction to an activity, for instance, when customers provide feedback, it is their reaction to a product or service of a company.
Understanding Importance of Feedback
The importance of feedback is incorporated in improving performance and channeling constructive growth.
For the growth and success of any organization in the market, it is quite imperative for the management and the HR department to follow certain rules and ethics of business. And one of them is to realize and implement a feedback system, as it comes along with a lot of benefits and merits that help the firm to go a long way in beating the competition and retaining the employees that are loyal and expert in their tasks assigned.
And it is the main task and responsibility of the top management and the HR department to incorporate the aspect of feedback in the overall work culture.
Reasons Why Feedback is Important?
An effective feedback system is important in an organization to optimize performance. Continuous improvement is not just a showy catchphrase of some of the top-performing companies, instead, it is the only way through which businesses achieve success.
By using improve performance feedback ecosystem, HR managers give and receive feedback to make more informed decisions and a constructive workplace environment. Let us now delve into some of the key reasons that make feedback a vital part of performance review and organization growth-
1) Motivate Employees
When the top management and the human resource department of the firm realize the feedback’s importance, the employees are highly motivated and agile enough to conduct their tasks and responsibilities in an efficient and effective manner. They are well appraised about their merits and demerits at work and all the flaws that they have to work on.
The point to be noted is that the feedback has to given in a positive, healthy, and fruitful manner to make the employees feel kicked and motivated rather than lowering their morale down. Employees seek feedback to know about their performance, and constructive criticism helps them work with motivation. Also, utilizing negative criticism in a constructive manner is an integral part of effective listening.
There have to be regular feedback sessions of the employees with their immediate superiors on a formal and informal basis keeping the work culture and the overall environment healthy and fruitful.
2) Performance feedback increases productivity levels
In continuation to the above mention point, if the employees of the firm are motivated their productivity levels increases. The firm is able to optimally utilize the human and other resources through the proper feedback and training sessions.
Even if the employees are going wrong somewhere or facing any issue with their departments or inter-departments, they are able to easily approach their managers or the HR department expressing their grievances and issues as they know that they will be heard and given the proper feedback.
This way, when an organization has an eco-system to communicate feedback (receiving feedback and accepting feedback), it will formulate business decisions and create strategies for positive reinforcement of the workforce.
3) Constructive feedback ensures a positive environment in the workplace
When the management and the HR department of the firm realize and follow the importance of constructive feedback at the workplace there is a positive and healthy environment.
As it is a fact that when a couple of people work together in an organization attaining similar levels of goals and objectives, issues are bound to arise and it is the task of the HR department and the top management to ease out the issues and undercurrents by following the proper feedback policy.
This further helps out in the overall training and development of the staff in order to help the organization attain its aims and objectives.
4) Continued feedback retains loyal employees
Employees stay with a firm that has a positive work culture and an environment that boasts a healthy atmosphere and is quite lucrative for their overall growth and success of their professional graph. And feedback is one of the crucial aspects of the same.
And if the firm wishes to retain employees that are loyal, expert, and proficient in nature and approach; it has to understand and follow the feedback culture for training evaluation and performance appraisal.
5) Corrective feedback ensures learning for the employees
When the employees are given regular feedback in a formal and informal way by their immediate superiors, it becomes a learning curve for them helping them elevate their career and professional graph.
This in turn also helps the firm to sharpen the skills and expertise of the employees that helps the management to launch a new and innovative line of products and services in the market that is full of competition.
6) Helps to avoid mistakes and enables products and services improvements
When the management of the firm understands and follows the culture of receiving and giving feedback, every individual team or department conducts regular feedback sessions that help to avoid mistakes.
It also helps to iron out the flaws and solve the bottlenecks that act as an obstacle not only in the success of the firm but also helps the team members to take their mistakes as a learning curve and an opportunity to climb the ladder of success.
7) Better working relations in the organization
When the feedback is given in a positive and healthy way without any personal bias and ulterior motives, it builds better, strong, and fruitful relationships amongst the team members of the same department as well as different departments.
Plus it also creates a good rapport with the top management as well. Building and boosting positive and good relationships amongst the employees hold a very significant part as it is always teamwork that helps the organization grow and flourish in the market and industry as a whole.
8) Defines roles, responsibilities & highlights weaknesses
Many a time in the organization, it is the case that the employees are quite confused and hassled with their actual roles and responsibilities. It can be due to various reasons such as incorrect training and orientation, insecurities amongst the co-workers, and lack of work proficiency amongst others.
But when the film follows the proper feedback sessions informing the employees on their strengths and weaknesses along with the areas that need to be worked on as per their assigned roles and responsibilities; the employees feel valued and highly motivated.
9) Better decisions and Financial benefits
Last but not least, understanding and incorporating a feedback system across the entire organization helps the firm attain the pinnacle of growth and success by accomplishing its financial aims and objectives.
As mentioned earlier, it is the teamwork that helps any organization carve a niche for itself in the market-beating the competition, and acing the game of business with the aplomb of high-profit margins and enhanced brand value.
Receiving/Giving Feedback Wrap Up:
An organization needs a strong HR department with team members that are highly qualified, professional, and experienced to follow the nuances and feedback culture within the entire hierarchy and imbibe the same in the work culture in the most integral manner. Paying attention to such minute details helps the firm to grow and succeed on a long-term basis.
Feedback listening is also important and it is crucial for businesses to ensure that feedbacks are heard properly. For example, while conducting an employee survey, managers should explain why respondents’ feedback is useful in improving performance.
All in all, a system of accessing and providing feedback is important for continued learning, boosting self-esteem, and optimized performance.
