THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE

BUS 1101

LEARNING JOURNAL UNIT 2

NAME: STEPHEN KANGWA

Ongoing employee feedback is the key to moving away from outdated performance reviews and

helping people develop. Well-constructed employee feedback examples are great tools for you

and your team to start creating a culture of feedback.

However, when we think about receiving feedback at work, the first thing that comes to mind is

often not-so-happy memories of our last performance review. The typical annual performance

review process doesn’t inspire self-confidence or a feeling of excitement in us.

Share an example of a time when you received effective feedback that helped you improve your

performance. What made that feedback helpful? 

In my period of undergoing audit training, I was faced with a lot of challenges. However, it is no

surprising that a well-received positive feedback boosts one’s confidence more especially at the

place work. Audit requires that the review and to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial

statements presented are free from material misstatement. As such to gain a deep understanding

of the information, one needs to critically analyze the information being the client, hence fully

there is need for a detailed analytical procedure. I therefore proposed the use of mathematical

and statistical tools to enhance the procedure. The feedback of this act was quite tremendous and
overwhelming, the boss recommended that everyone to follow my work and impose the

procedure that I had used.

The feedback I received was just the beginning of reshaping the outlook of the audit procedures.

This meant that we could then use the mathematical tools to profoundly analyze the data provide

and gain a deep understanding of it to bring out an accurate conclusion.

Share an example of a time when you received feedback that was not helpful. What made that

feedback ineffective?

Negative feedback in particular can be valuable because it allows us to monitor our performance

and alerts us to important changes we need to make. And indeed, leaders who ask for critical

feedback are seen as more effective by superiors, employees, and peers, while those who seek

primarily positive feedback are rated lower in effectiveness.

One particular example I can provide is when my boss asked to prepare a report pertaining to the

impact of COVID-19 to COMESA member states in Africa. The aimed at finding Corona virus

impact on economic agencies and document on the opportunities and strategies. Upon finishing

the report, I presented to my boss and I was told that it was a summary of findings and not a

report. I was further told that am not a thinker. This was not a helpful feedback but rather

undermining someone’s effort. Th e response in itself did not provide any positive impact and I

was demotivated and uninterested in continuing with the report again.

Using your two examples, what can you conclude about the characteristics of effective feedback?

If you were a manager, how could you use these lessons to improve the feedback you gave?
Beneficial to receiver - Feedback should help the learner explore ways in which improve his or

her performance. Leaving the session with a plan for improvement is often beneficial.

Well timed and expected: It is most effective when given as soon as possible after the behavior,

depending upon the receiver's readiness to hear comments on performance. If the behavior is

distant from the feedback, the receiver is more likely to discount the feedback as inaccurate. If

immediate, denial is more difficult.

Descriptive: Feedback should describe the behavior in clear terms and should reflect specific,

concrete examples of positive or negative behaviors. Evaluative language can leave the recipient

feeling judged and defensive, and thereby less likely to respond positively to feedback.

Changeable behavior: Focus on specific action and behavior instead of personality.

Order the content of feedback: When giving both supportive and constructive feedback, it is

important to start by giving some of the supportive feedback initially, followed by the

constructive feedback. This helps to minimize defensiveness and makes it easier for the learner

to hear the constructive feedback.

Communicated clearly No matter what the intent: feedback is often threatening and thus subject

to considerable distortion or misinterpretation.

An important part of a manager's role is to prepare, motivate, recognize, and reward team

members. These are activities that should be performed on an on-going basis and not simply

during the annual review process. Therefore, I will use the following tools to improve feedback

as a manager.
Focus on the behavior, not the person: When managers provide behavioral feedback that is

improvement focused, it is more likely to be seen as actionable. Feedback about one’s character

or attribute is often interpreted as an attack on the person and can lead to a decline in motivation.

Provide positive feedback more frequently: When the frequency of positive feedback is greater

than negative feedback, employees will be more open to receiving guidance from their managers.

Before providing negative feedback discuss how the employee’s behavior resulted in

consequences that were undesirable. Then proceed to provide corrective guidance.

Provide developmental guidance: Developmental guidance refers to actionable feedback on

behaviors that are within the control of employees. When these behaviors are activated, it should

result in improved performance. To provide useful guidance, managers must first understand the

approach taken by the employee. Based on this understanding they must present an alternative

that is likely to deliver better outcomes.

In conclusion, giving and receiving feedback is an essential ingredient for the long-term success

of any organization… or any relationship for that matter. Companies are built on professional

relationships, and the strongest relationships are built on effective communication. Whether

negative or positive feedback, the aim is to improve and motivate employee performance.

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