What is employee feedback?

Employee retention is a foundation stone of a healthy ROI. Hiring, developing, and holding on to productive employees is the poster-child scenario for profitable businesses. Indeed, the employee experience (EX) and the employee journey (EJ), from interviewing for the job to exiting, are crucial influences on a company’s employee satisfaction rating. Employee emotions emerging from constructive feedback assist the dynamics of the workplace.

This article deals with a range of employee feedback examples that zone in on how to:

• Provide employee feedback that can quickly impact the business.
• Leverage it to advance skills and motivate us to outperform.

We’ll zone in on these questions and more.

Why is employee feedback so important?

The one thing we can’t escape from is that teamwork, project collaboration, and joint incursions in job tasks are integral parts of corporate life. Even though the gig economy is flying high right now and remote working is on all cylinders, cooperation between organizational members is indispensable. It’s vital to know that these interactions create value for the business.

Positive employee feedback indicates that there’s a sense of encouragement in the environment. Meanwhile, negative comments are alert signals that things are going off-track.

Either way, it’s an exercise built around controlling the temperature of emotional energy running through the ranks that can be both empowering or somewhat debilitating if allowed to simmer in a pool of discontent. Behavior, skill-advancement, and entire careers hang in the balance, and employee feedback is the channel into the arena’s heart and soul.

Employee feedback examples

Organizations are diverse, running the gamut between startups and large enterprises. There are thirty million SMBs in between, accounting for roughly 40% of national GDP, employing people throughout the USA. We can’t hope to cover every possible circumstance, but we’ll get a great idea by pinpointing typical employee feedback examples. Hopefully, they’ll guide you to realize that company culture builds around the employees, and it has a lot to do with ROI success. Employee experiences, employee onboarding, and a performance review tie in closely with HR performance — all are viable platforms to provide employee connection or prospective employee understanding. Add to this regular surveys that promote anonymous employee feedback from peers in the team, and all the resources for transparency are at your fingertips.

When recognition for good work or for trying hard registers on the feedback screen, it creates opportunities for managers to bolster their subordinates’ spirits. It’s the catalyst that generates employee loyalty long into the future.

Show that you recognize employee performance.

“What a fantastic job you did on this emergency project! The client was over the moon with excitement over the things you showed him. As I understand it, he’s moving seamlessly into the second phase and has asked specifically for you to guide things through. I so much appreciate all your effort, input, and rising to the occasion.”

In this instance, the employee has succeeded, so don’t hold back on the praise. It reinforces all the right things that energized the project from the start. It communicates a full overview, creating employee feedback that hits all the right spots.

Ironically, even standout achievements like this go unheralded and somehow slip through the cracks. Every time that happens, you lose the opportunity to cement employee retention and boost EX. Demonstrating appreciation strengthens appropriate or even exceptional behavior as employees feel valued and more engaged in the workplace.

Zones in on particular strengths.

“The way you responded to that disgruntled customer was simply amazing! Your patient listening to the complaints, understanding, and thinking on your feet to get a resolution were exemplary. Your role in customer support is crucial to the profitability of the company. By pulling the customer back into the loyalty circle, you have played your part. Well done!”

By confirming to employees that they shouldn’t doubt their skills, you instill a sense of pride and confirmation of competence. A confident employee doesn’t fail to take on more responsibility.

When employees stand out as a great example, don’t be shy to let them know.

“All the others in the department are getting the hang of the new app since you broke the ice and backed its benefits. It showed leadership and initiative, and of course, capacity for risk (if it hadn’t worked out). Thanks for getting the entire team on board.”

When an employee does something that uplifts the standard, or rallies team members behind a difficult acceptance, creates a big fuss. The recognition will pay off in spades.

Use employee feedback to point out productive activities you want to reinforce.

“Thank you for using our new system built around Excel to track all the project revenues and expenses. The team found it helpful to budget effectively. I want to continue using the templates for all our future projects.”

Positive employee feedback like this creates excellent work habits. Did you know that 92 percent of employees agree that recognition for specific acts will result in future repeats? Until you overtly recognize employees, there’s no way for them to feel special. Don’t hesitate to suggest that employees continue working in the same way.

Keep in mind: When shoddy work or sporadic difficulties arise, employee feedback is as important as the good times.

Support employees having a rough patch and commend perseverance.

“I appreciate the challenging goals we set lately, especially considering the short-staffing situation. I’m very impressed with your approach and value your extra effort. Perhaps delegate more of the duties to your assistant to avoid the glitches repeating.”

Every business experiences stormy seas at some point. Recognize standout employee resilience whenever you see it, especially in extreme situations. Acknowledging achievement under stress develops trust and employee loyalty. Sometimes the issues are personal (like family issues) but don’t let that obstruct your praises — it’s all in the same circle.

Address problematic behavior before it gets out of hand.

“Several of your peers report you telling somewhat offensive stories in the canteen. Our company has very transparent guidelines relating to language, jokes, and telling stories that sometimes don’t conform to cultural and traditional tolerances. Please make yourself aware of these so that it doesn’t blemish your otherwise good work performance.”

Don’t let problematic behavior in the workplace disrupt company staff harmony. Nip it in the bud. Interpretations are often misleading, so tackle the problem without blaming or punishing unnecessarily. Try to combine it with positive reinforcement (as shown above). Employee feedback should follow narrow guidelines detailing what is and isn’t acceptable.

Missing goals is sensitive, but call it out.

“Our performance goals are there to ensure mutual understanding of what constitutes success in our company. Your goals are structured to meet these same standards of achievement. At this time, I am concerned that there’s a disconnect, either in your understanding or the skills necessary to get the work done. Let’s discuss ASAP to put you on the path to success.”

Address failure to meet goals with feedback that’s to the point and unambiguous. Simultaneously, it should offer support and a willingness to help improve matters. Moreover, urgency is an essential ingredient, especially if focusing on work that inhibits overall project or team effort. Always connect individual goals to strategic corporate objectives to emphasize team contribution. It may not help to insert detailed behavior aspects, leaving that for the following discussion. However, if genuinely acute (e.g., laziness), raise it in the employee feedback as a possible entry point for when you eventually meet.

Point out performance changes.

“As one of our top sales reps, we are reliant on consistently good results in your territory. Recently, however, I detected a drop in service and product revenues. I’m sure you are as concerned as I am, so discussing any obstructions to your ongoing success may right the ship. Please give me a day and time this week to review together.”

Top-class managers are always on top of ROI and revenue effects. The minute there’s a performance shift, a conversation is in order. Address this diplomatically, mainly if the focus is on a glitch in a generally stellar performance. However, don’t avoid the issue because if it snowballs, a cash cow can quickly convert into a rancid cash trap. Try to uncover the reasons for the change and show a readiness to make things right within your power.

Touch base when there’s a disconnect

“The results of the project missed my yardsticks — as challenging as they were. The team has indicated that you were not as participative as expected, and your input fell short of the other members’ contributions. I would appreciate hearing your viewpoint on this so that we can move forward more harmoniously.”

This speaks for itself. Team coordination is at stake and falters based on an individual’s actions. Urgency is the order of the day, but there are always two sides to the story. Zone in on the dilemma and get it into the rearview mirror so that the project can progress seamlessly in the future.

Don’t let mistakes weigh you down.

“Unfortunately, you sent the client’s materials to the wrong address. I understand the client has multiple locations but was very specific in his instructions in this instance. Where is the process faltering from your perspective? I want to make sure there isn’t a repeat because one disappointing touchpoint can corrupt the entire customer experience.”

The goal here is to create employee awareness and erase the problem from the work landscape. There’s no way to sugarcoat the matter, but you can soften the language if this is a first-time error.

Conclusion

Companies like Sogolytics have survey template banks that contain the right employee feedback template for every occasion. These templates are professionally designed and reflect the best practices in both structure and content. Sogolytics removes the imperfections in the messaging to make sure you get the best out of your employee feedback at all times. Get them working for you to suppress employee churn and promote unparalleled employee loyalty in your business.