As a business leader, you’ve gained more than enough life experience and knowledge to give constructive feedback that can inspire and motivate your employees to improve. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your leadership team can do the same.

Sometimes, your managers aren’t the best at relaying feedback to younger employees. The feedback they give can come across as vague or overly critical, which can discourage your junior staff. This isn’t a good sign as it reflects on your leadership. You need to find ways to not only train them to be more effective and clear with their feedback but also teach them how to step up as leaders in your company.

Of course, any professional services firm needs to have leaders with the necessary hard skills to excel in their work, but it’s also crucial to cultivate soft skills in your managers. Developing soft skills within your leadership team will allow them to work harmoniously with their junior staff, boosting overall morale and performance. Prioritising soft skill training will help your managers learn how to negotiate and resolve conflicts by themselves. When they’re ready, your managers can take on leadership responsibilities such as delegating tasks, team building and problem-solving.

By coaching them, and sharing your wisdom about leading your team, you can teach your managers how to give constructive feedback that will motivate junior staff to work better.

5 things to teach your managers about the art of giving constructive feedback

There are many different things that you can advise your managers so that they can give feedback more effectively. As a business advisory firm, we’ve shortlisted five tips that we know will help you and your leadership team not only in giving feedback but also in improving the overall work environment and culture of your organisation. 

This can work in multiple layers: You can use these tips in giving your feedback to your managers. At the same time, you can also coach your leadership team in using these strategies when giving feedback to their teams. After all, it’s best to lead by example.

1. Cultivate a healthy and positive work environment

Cultivating a positive and healthy work environment and culture can encourage managers and their staff to communicate with each other candidly and thoughtfully about different topics, including constructive feedback about performance. 

As explained by US-based business coaches in their research, while it doesn’t guarantee causality, there is a consistent connection between the quality of the business and its culture and the quality of conversations leaders and managers have with their teams. Leaders should consistently check in with their people and engage in key conversations with them to inspire and motivate them. 

High-quality one-on-one conversations don’t just entail casual chats about sports or the weather, nor is it solely focused on KPIs and task lists, though these are important to talk about. When your managers take steps to encourage quality conversations with their team, you create a healthy and positive workplace.

Key conversations that your managers should have with their team include:

• Knowing what employees need to do their best – Each individual is unique, so it’s important to be empathetic and actively listen to what each person needs to improve their productivity and maintain their overall well-being.
• Learning about the team’s fears and insecurities and being brave to share your own – Being a transformational leader means sharing personal fears and helping the team feel safe to express their anxieties. This can create a more open and honest line of communication between your managers and their team, which can reduce any toxic behaviours in the workplace.
• Connect employees’ work to the bigger picture within the company – Everyone needs to feel a sense of purpose and belonging. When managers discuss how their team contributes to the success of the company, individual employees will feel like they have an important role within the organisation, rather than just nameless cogs in the corporate machine.

2. Always give clear and concise expectations

Setting clear expectations for your managers, and coaching them on setting expectations for their staff, will ensure that there are guidelines for your entire organisation to follow as each employee works towards achieving their goals. 

There are different types of expectations you may need to discuss with your senior managers (and them with their respective teams). This will ensure that each party is aligned with the goals and objectives that need to be accomplished.

Key types of expectations that need to be discussed between managers and their teams are:

• Employee expectations – Employees are expected to conduct themselves professionally and to work with honesty and integrity. Employees can also expect to have access to resources necessary for performing their tasks as well as credit and recognition for their contributions and achievements.
• Team expectations – Defining team expectations that each employee needs to uphold will ensure that they’re accountable to certain standards while holding others accountable. Team expectations can include being willing to help other team members and being communicative and collaborative about team projects.
• Performance expectations – Setting performance expectations for each employee will enable the entire company to move towards success, and it encourages workplace accountability from one employee to another.

Once you’ve defined and discussed these expectations with your staff, you can use them as a reference when you and your managers need to give feedback to employees, allowing you to quickly identify areas of improvement and whether your staff is on the right track.

3. Get input from a variety of people rather than relying on just one source

When preparing for giving feedback about employees, particularly leaders and staff with high potential, it’s important to get input from their coworkers. This will give your managers a fuller picture of how their staff works within the organisation, and it can minimise potential biases (which can happen if you only listen to the feedback of one or two people).

However, it can be an easy pitfall to start gossiping about employees, even if that wasn’t the intention of the conversation. It’s best to create a list of questions that you and your managers can use so that you can encourage a productive discussion while ensuring that the conversation stays on track. You don’t have to approach every coworker either, just interviewing select people can give you a better insight into how your staff is performing.

4. Balance your feedback

It’s important to teach your managers the best way to structure their feedback when it’s time for them to talk to their junior staff. There are different ways your managers can give constructive feedback effectively. The sandwich approach has often been recommended, wherein you place negative feedback in between praises, but it can dilute the heart of your feedback and send mixed messages. It’s best to be specific and timely with feedback, this ensures that employees can quickly improve their work and it ensures that your managers don’t compile a lengthy list of negative comments. 

5. Clarify organisational goals and tie them back to your feedback

Aligning organisational goals with your employees’ individual goals will give your staff a clear understanding of how they contribute to your organisation’s success. It also gives them a sense of purpose and direction in their position. 

Your managers can align employee and organisational goals by developing a strategic roadmap that their staff can follow. During the feedback or performance review phase, managers can discuss how employees have contributed to these goals so that the feedback isn’t myopic (i.e. just focused on the smaller details). It will also give you and your managers a broad overview of how your employees have grown during a specific time.

It’s important to coach your managers into becoming good business leaders, teaching them the wisdom you’ve gained from your experiences can make a huge impact on their soft skills. By mentoring them and giving them the tools and strategies they need, your managers will learn how to give constructive feedback that can inspire and motivate their junior staff.

As a business advisory firm, we’re experts in coaching senior executives to be transformational leaders. Contact us and we’ll help you build your leadership team.