Development and Learning in Organizations

Emerald Article: Effective performance feedback for learning in organizations and organizational learning Milton Mayfield, Jacqueline Mayfield

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To cite this document: Milton Mayfield, Jacqueline Mayfield, (2011),"Effective performance feedback for learning in organizations and organizational learning", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 26 Iss: 1 pp. 15 - 18 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14777281211189128 Downloaded on: 08-10-2012 References: This document contains references to 5 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

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Effective performance feedback for learning in organizations and organizational learning

Milton Mayeld and Jacqueline Mayeld

Milton Mayeld is an Associate Professor of Management, and Jacqueline Mayeld is an Associate Professor of Management, Division of International Business and Technology Studies, both at Texas A&M International University, Laredo, Texas, USA.

t is well known that effective performance feedback is the architecture for learning organizations to maintain high quality of performance and work life. Yet before performance feedback can be applied for such organization wide objectives, a well-planned system must be created that enhances worker and organizational performance. An organizational structure promoting performance feedback is mandatory. Too often, performance feedback is positioned as a stand-alone human resources process. In brief, there must be an organizational chain linking individual worker performance with overall strategic objectives, including quality of work-life (Senge, 1990).

This chain starts by linking organizational goals to divisional goals and achievements, and these divisional goals must directly align with individual outcomes that can in turn be translated into metrics. All worker performance expectations must support the overall organizational mission and vision, and managers at each organizational level must evaluate performance with the goal of reaching these objectives. To forge this network, the performance feedback process must be communicated and rewarded across all organizational levels including top managerial levels. Again, it is imperative that performance feedback must be integrated into a strategic framework (see Figure 1). For individuals and teams, there are some feedback characteristics that all systems must possess. First, the feedback must be tied to the workers performance goals. Without this link, any behavioral changes will not improve organizational outcomes. Effective leader communication is vital at all levels in this context since top leaders generate organizational vision, mid-level management interprets and relays this vision, and direct supervisor feedback is most inuential with employees (Mayeld, 2009). Research clearly implies that for immediate supervisors three forms of motivating language; direction-giving, empathetic, and meaning-making have a profound impact on employee work behaviors and well-being (Mayeld and Mayeld, 2009). For all leader levels framing (when a leader articulates feedback in a persuasive manner to motivate employees) is a very benecial skill for maximizing the effect of feedback (Conger, 1991). Second, feedback must be non-personal, conveying an accurate assessment of a workers actual performance with sufcient supporting evidence including metrics. Third, feedback must be timely. Delayed feedback is not as effective as appraisal given closer to the actual performance. Fourthly, leaders must devise remedial steps when there are performance deciencies. Lastly, feedback must be on performance aspects that are controllable by the worker. If the worker cannot change behaviors due to environmental factors, only frustration will result for both workers and leaders. To express these general feedback characteristics, critical and differential communication methods should be applied. On the direct supervisor level, a powerful feedback attribute is

DOI 10.1108/14777281211189128

VOL. 26 NO. 1 2012, pp. 15-18, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1477-7282

DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS

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Figure 1 Performance feedback framework

that communication must be meaningful and sensitive to the individual recipient. Diverse employees require different feedback levels and types (Robbins and Hunsaker, 2008). In general, medium performers need the most feedback since research indicates that too little feedback may increase turnover. Frequently (with a management by exceptions approach) these employees receive minimal feedback, leaving unresolved intrinsic motivation for contribution to the organization. The prospect of turnover from these valued employees thus looms. Low and high performers usually know how they are performing. In the case of high performers, guidance, praise, and an absence of micro-management are essential feedback tools. On the other hand, poor performers need frequent counseling and clear target performance goals with strict time deadlines and well-articulated consequences. This tailored feedback should also be compassionate at all levels, with excellent leader listening, and the afrmation to each employee about how his or her performance adds unique value to the organization. Employees who are reminded of their special workplace meaning are much more likely to be motivated, inspired, and affectively committed.

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Equally important, feedback must also be conveyed with appropriate media and communication skills. Most signicant, the recipient must understand the feedback. Such understanding can be enhanced through consistent feedback terminology, asking for the recipient to paraphrase the feedback, and using multiple transmission media. Again, a high level of leader listening skills is paramount. Moreover, performance feedback should be extended beyond a manager-worker process. In more innovative organizations, muti-source feedback, derived from major employee stakeholders such as peers, customers, and subordinates can be quite enlightening for development purposes. Finally, and ideally, feedback should not be directly linked to organizational rewards such as pay. Financial rewards feedback should be given at a separate time from performance feedback to minimize greater resistance to the appraisal process. In this framework, depicted in Figure 2, it is only when performance feedback becomes a an open systems continuous loop that organizational learning and development will be improved. By monitoring performance feedback results across the organization, leaders can integrate the information they gather, including performance and affective assessment data, for making organizational development decisions. For example, when performance assessments show that workers are meeting expectations, but that organizational goals are not being met, worker performance goals or the coordination between worker activities need to be modied. More positively, if worker performance feedback indicates that workers are exceeding expectations in some valuable areas, these organizational strengths should be incorporated into future strategic decisions. These strengths can be instrumental for innovation, performance, and work-life quality, and launch new product development, tailored coaching, and career/succession planning. Also, if there are signs of consistent performance problems among workers, managers should incorporate this information to make structural organizational adjustments, since these uniform problems indicate obstacles that exist beyond individual worker control. In conclusion, performance feedback is a seminal factor for organizational development and learning at all levels. These levels along with operational denitions are presented in Figure 1. In order to reap the benets of this process, managers must make sure that performance feedback is a strategic priority. Once this strategic mandate has been established, all steps necessary should be taken to ensure that workers receive and give meaningful feedback. (Figure 2 provides an illustration of this feedback loop.) Furthermore,

Figure 2 An effective organizational feedback system

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Keywords: Organizational learning, Performance, Leadership, Communication, Appraisal, Learning organizations, Performance appraisal

managers must also use multi-source and differentiated assessments that are continual, valid, and progressive in making strategic decisions to close the organizational learning loop through performance feedback. Of course, these decisions must also be operationalized to foster affective employee commitment. For example, performance goals may need revision, employee development programs implemented, and assessment measures modied. Finally, much training and information sharing must be ardently practiced organization-wide as an ongoing process that educates all employees to be organizational learners. Ultimately, the organizational reward system must also be designed to nurture the full potential of human development within this feedback loop.

References
Conger, J.A. (1991), Inspiring others: the language of leadership, The Executive, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 31-45. Mayeld, J. (2009), Motivating language: a meaningful guide for leader communications, Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 9-11. Mayeld, M. and Mayeld, J. (2009), The role of leader-follower relationships in leader communication: a test using the LMX and motivating language models, The Journal of Business Inquiry, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 6-85. Robbins, S.P. and Hunsaker, P.L. (2008), Training in Interpersonal Skills, 5th ed, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Senge, P. (1990), The leaders new work: building learning organizations, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 7-23.

Corresponding author
Milton Mayeld can be contacted at: mmayeld@tamiu.edu

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