Exploiting Feedback to Improve Bottom-Line Performance
It is the responsibility of organizational leaders to encourage personnel and to serve as the example when it comes to using balanced feedback in order to enable proficiency and growth. Effective communication is one tool that CEOs, divisional heads, executive vice presidents, and the like must have in their arsenal as they work toward building successful companies. Developing the communication skills of these leaders within companies will return “big bang for your buck” in the form of the value that feedback will provide right across the entire organization, division, or subsidiary.
As discussed, feedback is an important element of communication, and communication is vital to business success, so feedback is therefore a key contributor to success as well. But for any of the associated benefits of feedback to be realized, the process must be executed properly, and appropriate action must be taken. In many instances, you must ask permission to offer feedback in advance if you expect the information to be valued.
Consider the following five scenarios that demonstrate the value of feedback for a company’s progress and future profitability and success:
1. Feedback is often used as a wake-up call to staff or even management that some organization element, process, or tool is not achieving the desired result and an alternative may be needed. In this regard, feedback is used to indicate that a current method for carrying out a duty or delivering on a need is not effective and to suggest that the organization, its employees, or customers might benefit if a new method were to be considered and explored.
Some companies rely on a 360-degree (multi-rater) feedback program to help develop all levels of staff. This method of collecting feedback on staff behaviors and performance from multiple sources can be a very beneficial system for enhancing the overall effectives of staff and the organization as a whole, as valuable feedback is obtained that can be used as a guideline for determining areas requiring improvement, change, or development in order to realize sustained growth and progress, now and into the future. And it is well-known that happy staff equals satisfied customers, which translates into more business and, ultimately, greater profitability and a loyal customer base.
2. Feedback is also vital in gauging how satisfied customers are with the delivery of a service or the quality of goods received. When feedback is offered and the company responds by taking appropriate action, customers feel cared about and valued--that what they have to say is important to the business.
Through this cycle of feedback and response, customer loyalty is built and maintained. In addition, loyal customers are an invaluable source of word-of-mouth marketing, so the company that takes advantage of the feedback cycle is more likely to generate new and repeat business and to retain the loyalty of a satisfied market.
3. When used to express appreciation, feedback is an excellent tool for morale building. Whether solicited or not, appropriate feedback can be extremely powerful in boosting someone’s confidence in their ability to get a job done. This is true even when pointing out that a task is being carried out incorrectly. For example, instead of telling someone that they are doing a lousy job, use constructive feedback to describe or demonstrate an alternative way in which the task might be executed more productively, with more efficiency and less difficulty. Not only will such an approach encourage the person to try the alternative that is suggested, but they also will be more likely ask for help or advice in the future, without fear of censor or ridicule.
4. When personnel are made to feel that the insights they contribute in the form of feedback is truly valued, attitudes change. In short, valued feedback of personnel, management, customers, and even consultants in business is the cornerstone of its development, sustained growth, and increased profitability, and it is a necessary element in efforts to nurture the longevity and loyalty of customers and employees at all levels.
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