Timely feedback is helpful feedback. Managers can often catch problems early if they’re giving feedback at regular intervals. At Instructure, employees meet with managers in one-on-one sessions each week.
“In order to make this feedback most valuable, managers at Instructure seek to maintain a timely feedback loop,” said engineering team lead Josh Orr. “Every employee has time set aside with their manager to discuss how they are doing both with the tasks at hand as well as reflecting on their longer-term goals.”
Sometimes, feedback comes even more regularly, with code reviews offering a chance for managers and peers to give engineers feedback quickly. The company also welcomes feedback that flows in both directions.
“While the primary purpose for one-on-one meetings is to provide timely feedback for the employee, these meetings also provide a means for the employee to give feedback to their manager,” Orr said. “Employees are encouraged to speak openly with their manager in these meetings about the direction of their team and the company more broadly. This two-way feedback allows managers to also benefit from timely feedback from their reports.”
If you’re new to a company, hearing you’re scheduled for a “feedback session” can seem scary. But at 4C, the feedback meetings aren’t about checking off a box — they’re conversational catch-ups between leaders and employees that foster honest and helpful feedback, according to chief human resources officer Kim Norwesh.
“At 4C we are focusing on having great conversations on a regular basis rather than one performance review a year, so we started 4C Conversations,” she said. “We don't believe a form or prescriptive process is the answer as they can become reduced to a checkbox with low quality. Instead, we are providing a framework with questions that guide a robust conversation.”
These discussions focus on things like key accomplishments, learnings and aspirations, but one interesting topic is overall happiness.
“Asking the happiness question can spark a great dialogue and bring up topics that often don’t come up in the usual performance discussion,” Norwesh said. “We believe that these regular check-in conversations will help improve productivity and engagement and have a big impact on our results.”
As a management consultant firm that helps companies use new tech, CapTech’s success relies on employees who are always learning the latest new trends.
“From the top down, we have a humbleness around what we know and a comfort level with admitting what we don’t,” said HR manager Alycia McGonegal. “As an organization, we strive for continuous improvement. It starts at the top — our executives regularly seek feedback from clients, peers and consultants in an effort to continuously develop.”
Each consultant is paired with a career coach who helps them set goals and gives them feedback on their progress. These relationships are based outside of any account management roles and coaches serve as an advocate for a consultant’s professional development.
“Coaches meet with their coachees typically monthly to check in and provide feedback from across the organization so employees know how they are progressing,” said McGonegal, who also manages the program. “On an annual basis, our employees work with their Coach to set goals based on the feedback received.”
Getting feedback isn’t always as simple as it seems. For it to really pay off, managers need to put some thought into their feedback and employees need a way to measure how well their responding to the feedback. At Havas, chief talent officer Jennifer Marszaleck said feedback is built into the company’s structure.
“We have annual progress reviews that include a self-review, manager review and [a] 360 feedback component,” she said. “We also have optional touchpoint conversations that employees or managers can initiate up to four times per year to get real time feedback on projects.”
Those allow employees to get feedback on challenging problems and ensure that they’re on the right track. But the feedback process is also augmented by the company’s structure.
“We're a very matrixed organization, where employees work on project and client teams as well as in functional groups,” Marszaleck said. “We're building a culture where you can get feedback on the work you're doing from those with whom you are working most closely.”
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