Most of us know that providing regular feedback to our employees is essential in enabling them to capitalise on their strengths, identify areas for improvement and, ultimately, improve performance.
A robust performance management process, with regular check-ins and one to ones is important in creating a framework for feedback to be delivered consistently.
However, even with the best of appraisal schemes in place, the actual task of providing honest feedback can be daunting for some of us.
This article will explain:
- why giving effective feedback is important
- how to use the BISA model to give feedback
- 8 top tips for giving positive and negative employee feedback
- what to do if the feedback doesn’t work.
Why is employee feedback so important?
- People want to do a good job. Feedback tells us how we’re doing.
- Without feedback, it’s very difficult for people to learn how to be more effective in their jobs.
- Constructive, non-judgmental feedback is both instructive and empowering.
- Regular, constructive feedback results in increased performance at an individual, team and organisational level.
BISA model of employee feedback
So, how should we give feedback? Using a feedback model is a useful way to prepare for and structure the feedback that you want to give your employee. The BISA feedback model is a powerful way to engage in nonjudgmental dialogue with a team member or co-worker.
It is structured as follows.
B = Behaviour
Identify the specific behaviour you observed or what the person said. Facts are indisputable.
I = Impact
Communicate the impact the behaviour had on the people present, including you.
S = Silence
Pause for a moment to let the person process the information and respond.
A = Alternatives
Ask the person if she/he has any ideas about what she/he could have done more effectively. Be ready to offer your own suggestions.
Example of using the BISA model to give feedback
Here’s an example of how the BISA employee feedback model might work in practice. Let’s say your team member is regularly late for work and you have started to realise it’s becoming a problem. Another employee has told you that she has to do the team member’s work for him until he arrives, which is having a knock-on effect for the rest of the day.
When you have some time in the day, ask your team member for some of his time and meet privately in a quiet room where you won’t be disturbed. Remember to prepare for the meeting. Use the BISA model as follows.
Behaviour “I’ve noticed there have been a number of occasions recently when you’ve been late for work. For example this morning and last week on Thursday and Friday. The week before you were late on Monday.”
Impact “I feel disappointed because it is very important we are all on time for work so we can make a good start on the work that needs to be done. Even if you are just 10 minutes late, it affects the whole team. Is there any reason why you have been late so frequently recently?
Silence Give your team member time to consider and respond.
Alternatives What could you do in the future to ensure you are on time for work?
Be ready to give the employee some of your own suggestions.
How to give positive employee feedback
You may think that giving positive feedback is easy. However, it is possible to get it wrong. Unspecific, vague observations on your team member’s performance may be seen as insincere. For example, a comment such as “well done, you’re doing a great job” might seem to you to be motivating, but to your employee, it may seem like you’re just saying that because you you think you should.
It doesn’t tell your employee that you understand what they are doing on a day to day basis and it doesn’t clearly reinforce the desired behaviour that you want more of.
How to use the BISA model to give positive feedback
When giving positive feedback use the first two components of the BISA model. For example:
Behaviour: “I noticed that you did a really good job on that proposal because you handled it all yourself, asked questions when necessary, paid good attention to detail and delivered it on time.
Impact: As a result we have a new client and the team knows we can rely on you to lead on future proposals.
8 top tips to remember when giving employee feedback
1. Prepare
Prepare! Even positive feedback will come across as more sincere if you prepare for it. The more you give feedback using the BISA model, the more skilled you will become at it and the less time you will need to spend preparing.
2. Ask
By asking a team member whether they are open to some feedback, you give them the opportunity to suggest a different time or place. Even if you’re comfortable, it’s equally important that they are. If they’re not, they won’t hear you anyway. Do this whether the feedback is positive or negative.
Questions such as “May I share something with you? Or may I give you some feedback?” are a useful way of opening the feedback discussion.
3. Describe specific behaviour
Don’t attempt to guess at the “motivation” for the behaviour. Employee feedback should involve discussing the actual behaviour you saw, heard, or read. You cannot see someone being lazy or having a poor attitude.
You can see them being late for the last 3 three mornings. You can see documents with spelling errors. You can see an untidy workplace. Seeing these behaviours only allows you to infer your employee’s attitude. Tell him or her what you saw, heard or read, not what you inferred.
Ineffective: “I’m tired of you being late all the time…”
More effective: “You have been late three times in the last two weeks.”
4. Describe the impact of the behaviour
Adults understand that actions have consequences. Sometimes team members are aware of their actions’ consequences (and they don’t care or don’t know how to change their actions or the results). Sometimes they are genuinely unaware of negative repercussions.
Remember that no one ever acts in a way that they believe is irrational. Their behaviour always makes sense to them. When giving employee feedback, describe the behaviour and tell the employee what impact it had on the company, project, or team.
Useful ways of starting this are “When you do this, here’s what happens” or, “When you do this, I feel…”
5. Work with the employee to plan future change
When employee feedback is negative and your employee states that he/she understands what he/she did and its impact, it is time to work out how to change the behaviour in the future.
If you simply impose a change, your team member will be less likely to enact the change. Ask open-ended or leading questions to start this process, such as: “What do you think you can do in this area?” “How should we approach this?” “What ideas do you have to improve here?” It’s possible that they will have no input, for various reasons. It’s still more effective to give them the opportunity once or even twice to offer suggestions.
Ineffective: “So what you need to do is arrive on time from now on. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”
More effective: “What can you do about this? How can I help you?” “Any thoughts on how you can eliminate this issue?”
Key words: “What are you going to do about this?”
6. Focus on the future, not the past
Remember that feedback is always about future behaviour. It’s NOT about the past, because there’s nothing we can do about the past. When we are giving negative feedback, it’s because we want to get different behaviour in the future. When we are giving positive feedback, it’s because we want more of the same behaviour.
7. Regular and right away
Employee feedback should be given regularly and right away – within 24 hours of you observing the negative or positive behaviour.
8. Positive : negative ratio – 4 : 1
To create a workplace climate where people view feedback as helpful, try to keep a 4:1 ratio of positive to negative feedback – not just in a single conversation, but over time.
This means you should be looking for behaviours to praise in your employees as well as learning opportunities. It only takes a moment to deliver positive feedback. If you notice it, mention it.
As discussed above, remember to praise the actual behaviour. A casual “Well done!” can often come across as insincere. Use the first two stages of the BISA model to describe the behaviour you are praising and its impact on you, the team, or company.
What if the feedback doesn’t work?
Sometimes providing employees with feedback is not enough to change the negative behaviours or achieve the performance levels that we require. In these cases, you may need to start a more formal performance management process in line with your capability/performance or disciplinary procedures.
It’s useful, therefore, to document any informal feedback that you’ve provided in relation to poor performance or potential misconduct.
Read our guide on “How to manage an underperforming employee” for more information on the formal process to the follow in these cases.
How Fitzgerald can help
If you’d like to speak to our team of people professionals about a case of an underperforming employee or even management training in this area, please do contact us on 0330 223 5253 or office@fitzgeraldhr.co.uk.
