Providing truthful, direct and specific feedback at work has been proven to positively influence employee performance. Creating a culture where leaders interact, listen and share productive feedback is critical to work relationships and can impact job success and satisfaction. Leaders can facilitate this culture when they prioritise their staff interactions.

How do Leaders spend their time at work?

Recent research by DDI (DDI Leadership Forecast 2014/2015) found that leaders spend on average 41% of their time “managing”. That is, planning, doing administrative tasks, scheduling. Organisations that value their leaders interacting with staff benefit financially and through improved leadership strength. More conversations time with peers, staff and customers allows leaders to build relationships and influence more. DDI found that those leaders who interact more are more effective at:

• Coaching and developing others
• Communicating and interacting with others
• Developing strong networks
• Fostering employee creativity and innovation
• Identifying and developing future talent

Strategies to Address Feedback Avoidance

For Organisations…

• Reflect on what they value and reward with respect to leadership behaviours and actions
• Identify and communicate an improved balance of managing vs. interacting

For Leaders…

• Encourage staff to be more open to learning and changing by getting them to reflect on what they have done well and what they can improve regularly.
• Use reflective questions such as: “What is one specific thing I have done well in this situation and one thing I could improve?”
• Listen and encourage your staff to commit to actions that build on their strengths and address opportunities.
• Identify what your thoughts, feelings, assumptions or beliefs are. For example giving feedback is valuable but will not be successful when leaders have a “controlling” mindset. For example, if you believe: “ I am personally responsible and should be involved in all decisions.” This awareness allows the leader to choose relinquish control and focus feedback outcomes with staff effectively.
• If you feel you have a perceived lack of time or organisational support, consider identifying who you need to interact with and what your goals or outcomes are to better utilise your time.

Finally, consider Reflection.

Self-reflection allows for an increased awareness of your strengths and it provides opportunities for you to develop solutions on how to adjust those aspects of your style / approach / actions. So that you balance your managing / interactions and provide feedback effectively. The benefits of reflecting include clarity about what's not working well, the realisation of what is really important and an Increased ability to choose more wisely -- to make more informed choices.

Consider carving out time for daily or weekly reflection and journal -- write about what you are experiencing, what questions arise in you, what incidents from the day that draw your attention. Ask yourself: What is going well at the moment? What should I continue to do? What do I need to do more of or do differently? What inspires or motivates me?

What do you do with your answers?

Start taking action on the knowledge you have gained from your reflection. Make conscious decisions and actions that reflect your priorities and values.

"Without deep reflection, one knows from daily life that one exists for other people". Albert Einstein