Do you play the Blame Game?

When something goes wrong, a number of organisations and managers need someone to blame and they set about instigating a hunt to put a name to the culprit without ever thinking of the impact that this has on employees.

When this happens employees will try to cover up mistakes and hide problems hoping that no one will find out. Genuine mistakes may go unnoticed and unreported which may lead to even greater problems in the future. The result is that nothing ever gets resolved.

Blaming Culture at Work

However, the impact of harnessing a blame culture is far greater than unresolved issues. Staff will lack initiative and creativity in case they make a mistake and are more concerned with covering their own back rather than engaging in more productive actions. If any staff member receives negative feedback for their actions, then this will soon become common knowledge within the workplace, especially if they have been dealt with harshly. This will result in them losing trust and respect for their leaders.

If you use or hear such language as “who is responsible for this” or “when will they ever learn?” then this is the language of a blame culture. Rather than being focused on learning how to improve the situation or on the solution, this is focusing on finding someone to blame because it is always someone else’s fault.

So how do you move from a blame culture towards a culture where people feel empowered to take responsibility?

• Recognise that everybody makes mistakes
• Thank people for bringing problems to your attention
• Praise what people have achieved
• Take responsibility for your own actions
• Clarify what lessons can be learnt
• Recognise staff for identifying problems early and for suggesting improvements

There is no such thing as failure, only results.  If we all learn from our results, then we can never fail. Just a small shift in mind set and language can make a huge difference.

Yvonne Bleakley
Learning Consultant, Capita Learning & Development

Mistakes to Avoid When Giving Employee Feedback

Feedback from managers is essential in engaging employees in their role and it is a part of a manager’s responsibility in developing (and retaining) employees. However, all too often, managers will fail to give feedback fearing that they will upset employees or change the status quo of the team.

Good managers consider feedback as an ongoing process and will communicate with employees about their performance at regular intervals, commenting on both the positive and negative aspects and producing an action plan to correct issues as and when they appear.

This article examines some of the most common mistakes that managers make when providing employees with feedback:

Waiting until the annual appraisal before giving feedback

Feedback should be seen as an ongoing process. Providing feedback (positive and negative) at regular intervals throughout the year allows employees a chance to correct any performance issues ahead of an annual appraisal. Waiting until the annual appraisal to give feedback is counter-productive as employees may come to fear the occasion and additionally, there is a chance that small problems are not dealt with initially resulting in them growing into much bigger issues.

Adopting the “Feedback Sandwich” style

A “feedback sandwich” is initiated by issuing praise, softening any issues that follow in the feedback giving stage. The conversation is concluded with more praise or a positive outlook. This approach is not to make the receiver feel good about the conversation but rather to help the manager to deliver difficult feedback and to reduce the chances of a defensive or confrontational reaction.

Using this technique often will result in employees getting to know that immediately following praise comes criticism and whilst they are still focused on the negative the praise is not effectively communicated.

Not communicating expectations

If employees do not know what they are expected to achieve from the start they are more likely to be confused when they do receive feedback. Ensure that employees receive realistic and achievable performance targets and that the feedback correlates with the performance areas that the employee is being graded on.

Fear of addressing the actual cause of poor performance

Many managers simply do not like providing employees with honest feedback for fear of upsetting them, instead opting to “sugar-coat” negative feedback which ends up confusing employees. To be an effective leader providing constructive and accurate feedback is essential, adopting a discussion-based collaborative style will ensure that employees are given time to talk about their own experiences in relation to the managers expectations allowing the employee to engage in open and honest communication, making the entire experience more positive.

Lack of preparation

Many managers do not spend enough time preparing for the feedback conversation. Both parties should come prepared and start off by reviewing the expectations set at the previous meeting, additionally, managers should document employee’s accomplishments and areas of poor performance throughout the year so they have an accurate record to refer to.

These are just some of the common mistakes that you need to avoid when giving employees feedback, if you have any other mistakes the managers make, please share them with us on Twitter or by adding a comment below.