Why your company needs a strong feedback culture

Feedback helps us change, grow, and develop.

At BetterUp, we view feedback as a mechanism for reaching our full potential. It means that people care about our success. Receiving feedback comes like you'd receive any gift. It's a lever to help better ourselves and our team. 

But creating a feedback culture isn't as easy as it seems. 

In the past, sharing feedback outside of performance reviews was often seen as a "nice to have." Today, HR departments are putting their focus on infusing regular feedback into official management processes, for example by introducing real-time feedback using a performance management platform.

Here are three reasons why companies started to value sharing feedback on a regular basis.

1. Reduce time spent in manual processes

Management research firm CEB found that the average manager spends over 200 hours on annual performance reviews. However, nine in ten managers are unhappy with the way their company conducts its reviews. Faulty performance appraisals and the time individuals spend in the process can cost a 10,000-person company a staggering $35 million per year!

Introducing real-time feedback — or simply encouraging people to share feedback on a more regular basis — can help alleviate the pressure on the annual performance review.

Help colleagues get accustomed to giving each other feedback after projects or quickly sharing positive feedback after a job well done.

When the performance review comes around, managers can refer to feedback gathered over the previous months rather than try to remember what happened. Ultimately you can increase efficiency, having a positive impact on the bottom line.

2. Increase clarity and business agility

If the people in your company only discuss performance once a year, chances are people miss opportunities to grow and develop professionally.

This is a particular concern for companies today: Deloitte found that professional skills now have an average lifespan of only 2.5 to 5 years, meaning employees should constantly be learning to keep up with new trends.

When people get into the habit of sharing feedback more regularly, this gives them increased opportunities to know when to course-correct, or which strengths to focus on.

For managers, learning how to share constructive feedback at the moment will help the overall performance of their team. For individuals, being immediately notified of an area for improvement saves them from an unpleasant surprise when the annual performance review comes around.

Having a workforce with the ability to learn and adapt to industry changes is the most valuable asset a competitive company can have.

3. Enhanced HR data and metrics

If you are using a performance management system to support your exchange of feedback, this is the perfect opportunity to gather insights and data you can use to continuously improve the employee experience.

Performance management systems not only give you the ability to update manual processes and create a digital employee experience but also help you better understand your people.

For example: which teams are exchanging the most feedback? Is it possible to correlate that with increased efficiency and overall team satisfaction?

Make sure you are tweaking and improving as you go along so that both you and your people can get the most out of the new tools and processes you introduce.

Start empowering a culture of feedback

The three benefits listed above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exchanging feedback and creating a strong company culture.

If you are able to build a strong culture of feedback, you should also see that teams become more open, the communication skills improve, and there is greater alignment with company goals. Not to mention, teams and individuals will also build better rapport and trust, creating the right environment for a psychologically safe workplace.

BetterUp can help. With access to virtual coaching, you can unlock the full potential of your workforce. With BetterUp, you can help your team build a strong feedback culture.