What is Feedback?
The term ‘feedback’ is used to describe the helpful information or criticism about prior action or behavior from an individual, communicated to another individual (or a group) who can use that information to adjust and improve current and future actions/behaviors.
When Does Feedback Occur?
Feedback occurs when an environment reacts to an action or behavior. For example, ‘customer feedback’ is the buyers’ reaction to a company’s products, services, or policies; and ‘employee performance feedback’ is the employees’ reaction to feedback from their manager – the exchange of information involves both performance expected and performance exhibited.
Why is Feedback is Important?
Effective feedback, both positive and negative, is very helpful. Feedback is valuable information that will be used to make important decisions. Top performing companies are top performing companies because they consistently search for ways to make their best even better. Feedback is a true focus based on feedback from across the entire organization – customers, clients, employees, suppliers, vendors, and stakeholders. Top performing companies are not only good at accepting feedback, they deliberately ask for feedback. And they know that feedback is helpful when it highlights weaknesses as well as strengths.
Reasons Why Feedback is Important
Effective feedback has benefits for the giver, the receiver, and the wider organization. Here are five reasons why feedback is so important for a Customer Centric Culture:
- Feedback is Always There – Typically when you ask a co-worker or an employee when does feedback occur – what comes to mind is an employee survey, performance appraisal, or even a training evaluation. The reality is that feedback is all around us – everytime that you speak to someone – an employee, a client, a vendor and they provide a response – feedback occurs! In actuality – it is impossible not to give feedback.
- Feedback is Survival Skill – All people and situations need feedback. Every relationship that you can think of whether personal or professional requires some form of feedback. A husband requesting some information from his wife because he has a decision to make about an event at work that may impact the family vacation needs feedback, a child at school who asks a teacher to explain a topic needs feedback, a manager who requests a report from an employee or an update on a client’s order needs feedback. We could not survive effectively in this world without feedback.
- Feedback Can Motivate – Feedback can be good and bad. Employees like to feel valued and appreciated therefore feedback will be required daily so people know how they are doing. Feedback from clients will help you to improve issues, processes and service delivery. Feedback is a good thing because it can help us all to grow and develop as people.
- Feedback Can Improve Performance – Sometimes feedback is mistaken as criticism. What many people view as negative criticism is actually constructive criticism. We all need to just re-frame how we view the information received psychologically. If we view the feedback received as something of value that can help us be better – then it changes the way we view and receive feedback.
- Feedback is a Tool for Continued Learning – Everyone should invest time in asking and learning about how others experience working with your organization. Continued feedback is important and helps employees grow, helps to improve the business process, helps product development, helps customer service experiences, helps to improve relationships and so much more! We should never stop learning about our job, our clients and our company.