How Can Performance Feedback Help Employees

Welcome to the Vantage HR Influencers Podcast. This podcast is sponsored by Vantage Circle, the leading employee benefits and engagement platform.

Rohit: Hi everyone, this is Rohit from Vantage HR Influencers Podcast. And today I'm excited to have Amber, an award-winning international businessperson, coach, and speaker. She's named Tulsa's 40 Under 40, Oklahoma's 30 Under 30, and a three-time SHRM award winner. Amber is a former HR Director who has implemented best business practices in organizations small and large, domestically and abroad, with a passion for mobilizing ideas and equipping teams to exceed goals. In 2016, Amber was the only female and only American coach on staff at an elite football academy in Bangalore, India, where she worked with an international team of coaches to transform the organization's design, training, development, and culture into a cooperative, high-performing team. Today, Amber is the founder of The Ninja Group, which works with international teams in a ninja approach to collaboration, creativity, and captainship to catapult organizational performance to awe-inspiring standards. Welcome to the show, Amber.

Amber Vanderburg: Thank you so much for having me, Rohit. I'm very glad to be here.

Rohit: Awesome. So how did you get into HR? What got you excited to be in this field?

Amber Vanderburg: Yeah, so HR is actually a bit of a family affair for me. My father was involved in HR, and then my aunt was involved in HR, and so whenever it came time for me to progress in my field of study, I was very much drawn to this field. I really came to realize that we spend more time with our work families than we do our actual families, and life is too short to be at a place that isn't enjoyable to be at. HR really has the power to make a difference and transform the way that we work into something more enjoyable to be a part of.

Rohit: Awesome. So today I want to talk about performance feedback, which seems to be one of your favorite topics. I want to understand how frequently a leader should give performance feedback. We're recording during COVID-19, so where people are not physically allowed to go back to offices, it looks like people won't be going back to office till around December. How should a leader give performance feedback in that situation, and what are your thoughts on that?

Amber Vanderburg: Absolutely. There isn't a special formula for exactly how many times you should give formal and informal feedback. But it is important to recognize that there are two major types of feedback: formal feedback, meaning a formal sit-down review, possibly something written, and informal feedback, which is generally what we see maybe in the office, walking by and saying "good job." As you said, right now most of us are working remotely. So when it comes to formal types of feedback, I really meet with the leadership team and decide what's going to be the best frequency. For some teams it might be once a year, for others it could be quarterly or monthly. The important thing is to really identify the purpose behind the frequency of feedback.

I'll give you an example. I was working with one team that was giving quarterly feedback, and they decided to move to monthly feedback because there were some performance issues. What we found was that the issue wasn't exactly the feedback, it was the systems we were working under. So we actually went back to quarterly feedback and created better systems, with intervals within those quarters to practice the feedback and the action steps we were given. So whenever it comes to formal feedback, I generally find that quarterly, about three to four times a year, is a good base amount. When it comes to informal feedback, a good rule of thumb is three to five times a week, since most of us are in the office three to five times a week and getting some sort of informal feedback to team members. Of course, this depends on the actual team members. Some desire daily feedback, some even multiple times a day, and some want to check in but not that daily feedback. So it's important to recognize the needs of your team members and adjust accordingly. As a general rule, three to four times a year for formal feedback and about three to five times a week for informal feedback.

Rohit: Right, very interesting, because you've very clearly laid out how often somebody should be given feedback. But I want to understand how performance feedback can really help people, especially Gen Z and millennials who are rising up in the ranks and becoming leaders of these organizations. They have a totally different set of cultural values and mindsets than the boomers of the world; they're very ambitious but have different needs. So how can performance feedback help in organizations where you have boomers, millennials, Gen Z, and maybe the next generation also entering the workforce?

Amber Vanderburg: Right, great question. Whenever I look at how we can utilize performance feedback, I first look at the three main purposes of performance feedback. The first is to correct undesired behavior, behavior that we don't really desire and want to correct. The next is to reinforce desired behavior, so that's positive feedback. And the next is to coach or improve upon behavior. Once we clearly identify the purpose of the feedback we're giving, we can become very specific and strategic in how we approach it.

Oftentimes I'll see leaders give feedback and just say "hey, good job." But if we're just saying good job, there's ambiguity: I know I did something right, but what is it that I did right? We're not specific enough to get strategic. If we can identify the purpose of the feedback as reinforcing a desired behavior, we have more of a framework to be very specific. So you can say "good job on your initiative in leading this project." Now I have clarity that the behavior I want reinforced is my initiative in leading projects. That's much more specific, and I know exactly what behavior is desired to be repeated. So whether it's Gen Z or our baby boomers, really identifying the purpose behind your feedback and using that as a framework to be as specific as you can, so that you can be strategic in your action, is going to be really critical in the way that we utilize feedback for maximum impact.

Rohit: Right. And I want to go on this. For example, there's a company with around 10,000 people, and a large team, say a product team, with 100 people. If the CEO or an executive wants to pass a message and give feedback to the entire team, would it be okay for the CEO to give that feedback to the product leader who manages around 100 product managers and other people? How should a leader of a company give feedback to their employees when the teams are very large, say 10,000 to 100,000 employees?

Amber Vanderburg: Yeah, great question. I think first it depends on the nature of the message. If it's to give praise or a general corrective note, something public would be great. If there's something very specific that needs to be corrected within a specific aspect of the team, I'd approach that differently. I'm reminded of a communication guru I really respect, Dr. Mark Rutland. He writes that all communication boils down to crafting the right message, at the right time, to the right audience, in the right way. As a leader, I'd ask myself specifically these questions. Is this the right message that I should be delivering to my team members? Is this the right time to be delivering this message, whether that's the time in the calendar, the time of the week, or the time of day? Next, the right audience: are the right people in the room? And then, is this the best way, meaning are you delivering this in a meeting, an email, a text? What's your method of communication? Generally, I find that the more emotional the feedback, the more personal we should be. So as a leader, it's important to first ask yourself these questions so that you can be strategic and effective in the way you give feedback, for the best received communication.

Rohit: Right, great. And I want to understand how a company can create an environment for great performance feedback. I understand that for the next couple of months, or maybe a year, a lot of companies are going to be remote. How do you create that environment of trust where a leader can share feedback and the employee can take that feedback, and ensure that everybody in the company works towards the company's good?

Amber Vanderburg: Yes. Whenever it comes to creating an environment for great performance feedback, I believe it begins with the way we set our performance expectations. If we have ambiguity in our performance standards and expectations, there can be a lack of clarity in the type of feedback and the purpose of the feedback we're giving. So whenever I meet with a team, the first thing we do is clearly identify what we are doing and why we are doing it. That sounds so simple, but we get very clear on what success looks like, exactly what the expectations of the team are, and why that's important, tying it back into the overall organizational goal. Once you're clear in those expectations and standards, you can provide more ownership in the how, because there's not a lot of ambiguity around "I don't know if I did this right" or "I don't know if this is what they were looking for." Now you know exactly what success looks like, and you can have more ownership in how you're going to achieve those goals. So in order to lay the foundation for great performance, we must first be very clear and communicate clearly and often what the expectations are within our team, so that we have clear success metrics.

Rohit: And do you think in the future we'll get performance feedback the way gig workers get rated, in a very quick way? I don't know if gig workers should be treated like full-time employees, but do you think it will be possible in the future for HR leaders to give feedback to their employees in a much quicker way?

Amber Vanderburg: Yes, I believe that is going to be the future of performance feedback. We as humans are expecting feedback more quickly, and you can see that most clearly in social media. I post something, and within minutes, sometimes seconds, I get immediate feedback, a thumbs up or thumbs down, about what the public thinks of that post. We're seeing that a lot in social media, and that desire is going to overflow into our work feedback as well. It could be something as superficial as a thumbs up or a like, and then something a little more specific, like a comment. I'm finding there are a lot of platforms that will increase that kind of engagement, both virtually and in person, and there's a real desire for quicker feedback. So leaders and HR leaders are learning how to adjust and meet those needs, and I think the tools are already in place to dramatically transform the way we give feedback at work.

Rohit: That makes sense. And when people focus on the shock coming, they don't always get to learn how you should give feedback to an employee who needs to focus on getting to an adequate level of performance, so that he performs at the right level but doesn't feel slighted when he gets that feedback.

Amber Vanderburg: Yeah. Whenever I come into a team or start a project with an organization, the first thing we do is have a five to ten minute conversation that sets the tone. It's a proactive conversation, and it goes a little something like this: at some point in this project, there's going to be conflict, there's going to be tension, there might be shortcomings. While our emotions are low now, we've set the expectation that this can happen, and that takes the tension off for whenever those shortcomings do occur, because we've already normalized conflict. So while emotions are low now, let's discuss how we're going to handle that situation. This does two really powerful things: first, it normalizes conflict, and second, it provides a game plan, so when it happens, we already know what the script is and how we're going to move forward. This puts the leader more at ease to address the conflict confidently, and on the receiving end, the person has already acknowledged that this is a possibility, so we can move forward with that.

Now, it's important that on the giving end, especially when giving performance feedback, we recognize one of the greatest hurdles to effective performance feedback: the fundamental attribution error. That's just a fancy way of saying that oftentimes we judge other people by their behaviors, and we judge ourselves by our intentions. We see this on the road often: we see someone driving and think, "oh my gosh, they're a terrible driver, they cut me off, they should have their keys taken away." We look at their behavior. But if we accidentally cut someone off, we think, "I didn't mean to, I didn't see the lane change coming," and we look at our own intentions. We see this in organizations quite often. So one major coaching point I give leaders whenever we're addressing shortcomings is to first ask: what was your intention when you behaved in that manner? We look at the intention and we look at the behavior, and now we've approached the shortcoming as a knowledge gap, so we can go into more of a coaching role: here's your intention, here's the behavior, how can we bring the two closer together?

As I mentioned, I have a background as a sports coach, and if I reprimanded or tried to address every single time my players took a shot on goal and missed, there would be a disconnect. Instead, I see that they're shooting to try to score a goal, and if they miss, I can see their intention, see the behavior, and coach them closer to bringing the two together. So these are powerful tools that aren't dramatic shifts in communication, but slight pivots that can set the stage for addressing shortcomings and moving into more of a coaching manner to improve performance and effectively address those shortcomings.

Rohit: That was a great answer. And you talked about judgments, and human beings usually are judgmental, which is where my next question comes in. A lot of humans have confirmation biases because of the kind of environment we're surrounded by. How can a leader avoid gender or other biases while giving feedback to somebody on their team?

Amber Vanderburg: Yeah, so I find that whenever we address biased feedback, there are two major forms those biases can take: one is in the content, what the actual feedback is, and the other is in the approach. When we talk about the approach, we have to understand that biases stem from stereotypes, and we rely on these generalizations when we don't know other people well. We rely on them as a crutch for our own ignorance about someone. So what I first encourage leaders to do is actually get to know the people on their team, so they can accommodate their feedback and approach accordingly. Avoiding bias doesn't mean ignoring the fact that people are different, it means acknowledging it and accommodating for it. I work with several teams, and I have team members who might be more sensitive, some who want more direct feedback, some who want public praise, and some who want personalized, private praise. So what I do is truly get to know the individuals, so that rather than relying on generalizations, I can rely on my personal relationship with them. That's the major approach I take on the approach side of giving feedback.

Now, on the content side, the best way to have crystal-clear, unbiased performance feedback is to have crystal-clear performance metrics. If you have a judgment of "I don't really know if they met my expectation," well, if you didn't communicate your expectation clearly, there's already ambiguity there. So if you already have crystal-clear expectations and standards, that takes out a lot of the room for personal bias and personal judgment. It becomes very clear: these are the metrics, did they meet the metrics? So just be as clear as possible in defining those standards proactively, and that takes out some of the room for both unconscious and conscious bias within the content of our performance feedback.

Rohit: Very rightly pointed out, that it starts with clear metrics and expectations before they even get on the job. And when it comes to performance feedback, it's also important that a leader gives feedback but also takes feedback from their team. So how should a leader take feedback from their team so they can improve as a leader and take it in a positive way?

Amber Vanderburg: I think some of the answer was in your question, in that the leader is looking for feedback to improve, not just looking for feedback as something they have to do because someone tells them it's important. If you're looking at the feedback you receive as an opportunity to improve, you're already a step ahead. So first, having the right mindset is critical. But really being a good receiver of feedback, if you want your organization to be good receivers of feedback, that begins with leadership, and it comes with true vulnerability, being in a place to trust your team. That trust is exemplified through your vulnerability, your authenticity, and truly listening to the feedback. I really encourage leaders to sit and truly listen to the feedback being given, and then actively look for action steps.

This also comes back to the fundamental attribution error: even though you may think "this is really my intention here," this is the behavior the team is seeing, this is the feedback being given. So approach it from a coaching and learning aspect: this is my intention as a leader, this is how I'm wanting to run the company, what is the perception of my behavior, and are the two in alignment? I would really take a moment to be authentic with your team, a truly trusted team giving honest feedback, and be vulnerable in that time, and also be prepared to take action. Honestly, one of the largest inhibitors to a leader receiving feedback is a lack of action. I was leading a team several years ago, and we were getting ready to run a mass survey where we'd receive a lot of feedback. I looked at our organization and knew that in a month or two we'd be in a position to take action, so we said, okay, we're going to delay a couple of months, because once we receive this feedback we want to be able to act on it and show that people's voices are being heard. It's important to be prepared to show some sign that you've heard the feedback and that it's valued, that it isn't just lost in the wind, but that there's a true reception and action being taken. In some organizations I've worked with, it could be something very small, but it shows that our voice has been heard. So find some way, in the feedback you're given, to show that the voice has been heard, that the insight isn't discredited or dismissed, and that it really has the power to impact change.

Rohit: Absolutely, and taking action on the feedback alone could really lead to better performance from both the leader and the team. And I understand that Delivering Happiness is one of the books you recommend. Do you think there's a company that follows the right culture principles, gives that sort of feedback to their team, and would you suggest listeners look at any particular company?

Amber Vanderburg: Yes, so the book we discussed earlier, Delivering Happiness, is actually about Zappos, a shoe delivery company. You can go online and they'll deliver your shoes, and they're very well known for their intentionality in creating a culture and giving valuable feedback to their teams and organization. Another company I really respect for the way they address feedback is Disney, especially within their amusement parks. They have a very clear feedback system they give to their employees so they can continuously improve on every aspect of the organization, on an individual level, a team level, a department level, and an organizational level. They look at it on multiple levels, and I really respect their approach.

And I'll add one more: there's an international company that has people they call their "Sherpas," a nod to the Nepalese Sherpas. They come in and have a real conversation: what are we doing well, what can we improve, kind of a stay interview rather than an exit interview, asking what can we do to help you succeed within this organization. They approach it as more of a service-facing role, looking at how they can serve their employees, and that's a great way to build a culture of trust and lay the foundation for authentic, sincere conversations.

Rohit: Zappos, Disney, and that Sherpa example, great examples. I'd quickly like to ask, what's your favorite business book, or fiction or nonfiction book?

Amber Vanderburg: One of my favorite business books is The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The author does a really good job outlining the five dysfunctions of a team and how we can progress and move forward as an organization.

Rohit: I'll put that in the show notes. Do you follow any HR leader or CEO you admire that listeners should also know about?

Amber Vanderburg: Yeah, one HR leader I follow is an author who's a great thought leader when it comes to leading change in organizations, which is something we're constantly doing as HR leaders. He has a lot of good insight into how to strategically approach change from a 30,000-foot view and then get into the specifics, so I engage a lot with his thoughts and his writing.

Rohit: And do you have any piece of advice for young HR leaders who want to grow their careers in the HR industry?

Amber Vanderburg: The biggest aspect of my growth as an HR person has come from my network. I tell young leaders this all the time: if you can achieve your dreams all on your own, you're probably not dreaming big enough. You need to include more people than yourself if you want to go beyond just yourself. So I really encourage you to continue reaching out to your network. It's easier to network now than ever, we have platforms like LinkedIn, and associations in the HR world like SHRM and ATD, and there are people in this community who genuinely want to help you grow and succeed. Feel free to reach out to me, I'd love to talk. That network and that resource is going to be more valuable than any book. Having quality mentors in your life is going to be really powerful for you to continue improving as an HR professional.

Rohit: You were in the corporate world before, and now you run your own company, The Ninja Group. What pulled you toward entrepreneurship, and what are you trying to solve with The Ninja Group?

Amber Vanderburg: Yeah, so The Ninja Group, as I said, is really here to help build organizations. We work with teams that might struggle with things like coworker retention, a lack of performance feedback, communication issues, and a lack of collaboration. We work with teams in a fun and powerful way so that we can make work more enjoyable, more effective, and help produce the best product and the best service. Our whole goal is to work with teams so they can perform at a higher level. We have a variety of services, from consulting to keynotes to workshops, and some online resources. Our whole goal is to really help you be successful.

Rohit: We'll put that in the show notes. What's the best way for people to reach out to you and learn more about you and The Ninja Group?

Amber Vanderburg: You can reach out to me on LinkedIn, and you can also look up The Ninja Group, which will be in the show notes. Those are the two best ways to reach me, and I'd love to have a conversation with you.

Rohit: Awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. I really enjoyed speaking with you, and I was busy writing notes the whole time. Thank you so much.

Amber Vanderburg: Absolutely, thank you so much. Have a great rest of your day.

Rohit: Thank you.

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