Delivering Negative Feedback to Employees

Although you'd probably like to give your employees positive feedback every time, it isn't always possible. When a staff member makes a major mistake or isn't keeping up with his or her workload, it's necessary to provide the person with constructive criticism. The good news? It's possible to give tough feedback without scaring your staff members. Here is some helpful advice on delivering negative feedback to your employees:

Listen First
According to Erika Andersen, it can be helpful to listen to an employee's point of view first. For instance, if a staff member is having problems keeping up with a project, you could ask the person something like, "I'd like to discuss the project you're currently working on. How do you think it's going?" This will let the employee talk honestly about the project and may give you insight on why it's been a struggle.

"Quite often, the other person will see part of the problem, and then you can pick up on and clarify what he or she has said," Anderson explained in Forbes. "And even if the other person is completely oblivious to the situation, just listening first will make the conversation much less adversarial, and will generally make him or her much better able to listen to you when you respond."

Be As Specific As Possible
If you have to give negative feedback, it's best to avoid generalities like, "You need to deliver better quality work," or, "You have to get along better with your team members." Delivering general criticism like that won't accomplish anything and may frustrate your employees even more. Helen Jane, vice president of digital strategy at Wine Spoken Here, said in Open Forum that it's best to tell a staff member exactly what he or she needs to improve.

"Feeling personally attacked or not understanding what exactly the issue is puts people on the defensive," Jane explained. "Correction can be difficult when working with a defensive attitude."

Don't Make it Personal
When delivering negative feedback, make sure it's about the behavior and not the person. For example, if an employee constantly misses deadlines, don't tell the person he or she is forgetful or careless. Making the criticism personal will likely embarrass the staff member and make him or her feel more self-conscious at work. A better approach is to tell the employee how being late on deadlines upsets clients and forces everyone else in the office to work harder.

Offer Solutions on How to Improve
Negative feedback is pretty pointless if you don't offer to help the employee improve his or her performance. After you tell the staff member where he or she needs to make improvements, explain how he or she can make those changes. For example, if a staff member is having issues with remembering all of his or her tasks, encourage the person to write a to-do list on personalized notepads.