Effects of feedback with administrative purpose versus developmental purpose

¶ … Administrative Purpose Comparative to the Effects of Feedback for Developmental Purpose

In whatever aspect of communication, a feedback is very important. It not only allows continued flow of communication, but also greater understanding between the receiver and the sender of the message. But feedback is not only important in the communication process. In business management, giving and receiving feedback is also considered as one of the significant factor to run and strategically manage the people and the business itself.

There are varied types of feedbacks that can be solicited to and from the management. Amongst the highly used are feedbacks with administrative purposes and feedbacks for developmental purposes. As it can be implied, the two state feedbacks differ on its cause. With that been said, this paper is aimed comparing the two types of feedbacks. Specifically, this research is intended for:

Analyzing the common approaches used in feedbacks with administrative purposes and feedbacks for developmental purposes

Comparing the effects that each of the two type of feedbacks has on people

Hypothesis

Feedbacks with administrative purposes normally come from the supervisors or the people of high ranking. These are given to oversee the people and ensure that the whole business operation is running smoothly. Because of such purpose, feedbacks with administrative purposes just have minimal effects to people. It will just always be like doing what is instructed and/or doing to meet up the expectations of the bosses.

Meanwhile, feedbacks for developmental purposes are hypothesized to be like a form of constructive criticisms. It aims to either appraise the employee and/or give him/her incentive for a job well done. At the same time, it can be aimed at correcting the mistakes committed by an employee. Hence, feedbacks for developmental purposes are more profound and lasting. The impact it will give to the receiver can be seen even years after the feedback is given.

Significance of the Study

The result of this study will offer better understanding on one of the aspects of managing people. It should be noted that it is a part of strategic human resource management to interact with the employees, and giving feedback is one of the most important part to human resource interaction.

More so, this paper will provide the researcher to have a more in-depth appreciation towards the different management system. This will also enable the researcher to know the specific type of feedback that can be solicited depending upon the situation.

Lastly, this paper will serve a good guide for other researchers and students who would want to understand and/or make their own research regarding the difference between feedbacks with administrative purposes vs. feedbacks for developmental purposes. How this paper is conducted is a very guide to doing their own research undertakings.

Methodology

This research paper used two approaches to come up with the conclusion. First an in-depth literature review is done to highlight the concepts related to both feedbacks with administrative purposes or feedbacks for developmental purposes. Various books and credible journals were sourced out to analyze the different approaches, reactions and/or effects to giving and receiving the said types of feedbacks. Results are summarized and analyzed and included as important part of this research paper.

Also, a field study is conducted that enabled the researcher to study from first hand resources all the ideas and concepts related to the two types of feedbacks. Supervisors and/or managers and even the subordinates from two organizations were subjected to an interview. Two supervisors and 2 subordinates from a multinational company - GlaxoSmithKline - were asked about the aspects of feedbacks for developmental purposes. Some of the questions given to the interviewees are:

For the supervisors:

How do you go about giving feedbacks which are of developmental purpose?

Do you think beforehand the kind of response that your subordinates will give you once the feedback is given or do you just give it abruptly? Why?

Do you think giving feedbacks for developmental purposes is important? Why or why not?

For the subordinates

Are you always keen on receiving feedbacks from your boss, especially if it will be for developmental purposes? Why?

Do you think receiving this type of feedback is significant to you as an employee and as a person? Why?

Meanwhile, two heads of different departments and two subordinates from Ramon Magsaysay Foundation (a Non-Government organization famous around Asia that offers Ramon Magsaysay Award comparable to Nobel Piece Award) were interviewed regarding the feedbacks with administrative purposes. Questions given are:

For the supervisors:

How do you go about giving feedbacks which are of administrative purpose?

Do you think beforehand the kind of response that your subordinates will give you once the feedback is given or do you just give it abruptly? Why?

Do you think giving feedbacks for developmental purposes is important? Why or why not?

For the subordinates

Are you keen on receiving feedbacks from your boss, especially if it will be for administrative purposes? Why?

Do you think receiving this type of feedback is significant to you as an employee and as a person? Why?

The interviewees are chosen in a non-random approach because in both companies/organizations, it was the top management who chose the particular supervisor and subordinate who are subjected in the interview. Responses are all noted and summarized and become an important part of the results and discussion.

Review of Related Literature

Organizational structure

The employees are one of the biggest weapons of the company. They are the workers who ensure that the company is working right on target and the customers are satisfied with what the company is offering. This is the very reason why the organization sees to it that all the staffs are equipped with the right armament to keep them competitive and effective in their respective responsibilities.

The firm's organizational structure reflects how people or employees interact with each other, how communication flows in and out the company, and how power relationships are defined between the management and the workers. It is by this reason why an organizational analysis is considered as the value-based choices made by the company (Wernerfelt, 1995). Needless to say, the organizational structure tells exactly how the jobs and responsibilities in the firm are formally divided; how different value orientations of organizations influence structure; and what are the importance of achieving high levels of production and efficiency by using formal procedures, centralized authority, direct supervision, and specialized labor (Wernerfelt, 1995).

Some of the most important facets of an organizational analysis is the ability to highlight (Wernerfelt, 1995):

Quality values that are involved by which the importance of maintaining high quality standards has been communicated to all employees and adopted throughout the organization.

Information and analysis which include the scope, validity, use, and management of data and information that support the quality management system, and are being done by the enablers - the human resource which are the most integral part of any organization.

The utilization of human resource utilization in a way that the full potential of each and every employee has been utilized. In the same manner, all employees are enjoined or being motivated to involve in teamwork production system, and in which quality education and training programs are in place for all employees.

Quality assurance approaches used by the organization and maintained by the human resource to assure the high quality of goods and services based on process design and control, and the assimilation of process control with continuous quality improvement.

Lastly, the knowledge of customer which ensure the organization's knowledge and ability to meet the requirements and expectations of internal and external customers

Thus, in any organizational analysis undertaking, the ultimate goal is always to ensure continuum sustainability and competitive advantage of the company by ensuring that the employees - supervisors and subordinates - are providing and receiving feedbacks necessary for their continuum performance.

Feedbacks for Developmental Purposes

Normally, in a business environment, people - subordinates and supervisors alike - have the tendency to engage themselves in "impression management" system, particularly if they think that it will benefit their careers the most (London, 2003). Putting the best foot forward is always the goal of everybody. Getting the attention and the approval of the top management is of the top most concern. This is because impressions of the supervisor or the manager are always thought to be important and the controlling factor of the valued outcomes (London, 2003). More so, the impressions of the boss to his/her subordinates will enable to identify areas for improvements and will of course have a direct effect on the work, performance or career of the subordinates.

However the impression of the subordinates to the boss is not as important as the other way around. Even if the subordinate is ask for an upward rating, such impression can be viewed as developmental in nature but what ever the impression is will not have any direct consequence regarding the boss' performance or career (London, 2003).

Thus, in a typical business environment, feedbacks for developmental purposes are given as a form of ratings of all the employees. Such ratings are affected by different human factors which may or may not provide an unbiased feedback.

Ratings are affected by social and situation factors, such as the opportunity to observe and the image of themselves that people try to convey. Raters' motivation to pay attention, recall behaviors observed, and base their judgments on fact will influence the accuracy of their ratings. Having an incentive (e.g., a monetary reward) for accuracy and being asked to recall observed behaviors are ways to enhance accuracy..." (London, 2003).

There are different individual characters considered in providing the evaluation or the feedbacks for developmental purposes. Such characteristics include observation skills, self-monitoring ability and empathy.

Observation skills involve gathering and recording of data that represents job performance. This observation skill is done to give evaluation without judgment or bias.

In this situation, the success and intensity of impact of the feedbacks for developmental purposes lie on the observers him/herself. (London, 2003).

Skilled observers understand the effects of individual characteristics and situational conditions on people's behavior. Some people are better observers than others because they are able to monitor and recall cues in various situations. Good observers generally are experienced observers similar to the people they are observing, high in self-awareness, high in cognitive complexity, and socially intelligent and they are known for the ability to make swift and accurate judgments of other people." (London, 2003).

Self-monitoring on the other hand, is an act of being sensitive to other people' reactions. People with high self-monitoring skills can provide assistance to other employees especially n job situations where interpersonal sensitivity, such as a gender-nontraditional jobs (e.g., men in the nursing field) is at stake (London, 2003).

These employees must not only perform well, but also show that they belong in the role. They benefit greatly from the adaptive self-presentation skills of high self-monitoring." (London, 2003).

Lastly, empathy is one's ability to know and understand others' feelings and emotions. People who have great skills to empathize have the ability to take the perspective of others and understand the situations in which they find themselves while maintaining a social distance from the people being observed. Also, people with high empathy have the capability to "distinguish between factors in the environment that influence a person's behavior and aspects of the person's past that influence his or her behavior" (London, 2003).

Clearly, from this point-of-view, feedbacks for developmental purposes are given not only to enhance the performance of the receiver of the feedback but also to give him/her an appraisal or commendation for a work done successfully. The approaches used in giving the right developmental feedback will always be based on the performance of the person and the observations noted by the supervisor and the peers.

Hence, feedbacks for developmental purposes can be in the form of negative or a positive feedback. Positive feedbacks are the judgments which imply that the observer is satisfied with the performance of the person being observed. Negative feedback, on the other hand, refers to judgments that serve as criticisms and imply a need for changes. Naturally, any receiver of the feedbacks would be delighted upon receiving a positive feedback and would feel disappointment and will later on fear the negative feedback.

But there is another way of viewing positive and negative feedbacks. Feedbacks is said to be positive if it offer learning. Moreover, a feedback is considered positive if its impact may be in the form of motivating the recipient, for example, by increasing confidence, making new meaning, increasing understanding, helping to make links and connections. Meanwhile, a feedback is perceived to be negative if does nothing but demotivate the recipient. Such demotivation may be in the form of discouraging, being overly judgmental, critical, giving unclear or contradictory messages and encouraging dependence on others for assessing progress (Askew, 2000).

Feedbacks for developmental purposes sometimes encourage comparison and competition among the employees.

The belief that comparisons between individuals encourage people to work harder to achieve their goals needs to be challenged. Comparison can lead to competition and may result in some individuals giving up, feeling they are failures and evaluating their abilities negatively." (Askew, 2000)

Feedbacks with Administrative Purposes

Feedbacks with administrative purposes are significant particularly in situations wherein the subordinates are dependent on the supervisor what normally happens with the new employees, trainees, or people in highly structured jobs. In other instances, supervisors (who normally give this type of feedbacks) are already trained or experienced in acting as a "counselor" that will enable him/her to strategically and effectively react to problems such as how to deal with subordinates who have an "inflated self-evaluation or, conversely, an unnecessarily self-deprecating view" (London, 1997).

Evidently, feedbacks with administrative purposes are the role of the top management or the supervisors. They are to over the business and an important part of the business is the human resource. It is the supervisors' job to provide clear instructions on how things should be done especially if the type of business is highly structured. It is the responsibility of the supervisors to maintain continuity of flow in the whole business operation by guiding and overseeing the workers and seeing to it that every step is followed. It is also imparted in the responsibilities of the supervisor to ensure that he/she handles properly the different types of problems that the subordinates may encounter especially if its about their evaluation, appraisal and growth.

Results

In the interview conducted among the GlaxoSmithKline supervisors and subordinates, interviewees revealed that:

Normally, there are designated dates where employee ratings are conducted. This is the time that supervisors sit and talk with the subordinates. This can be an open conversation wherein the subordinate is allowed to state what is in his/her mind, particularly that which concerns the workflow of the department. Grievances, praises and even career path of the subordinates are all raised and discussed. At the same time, the supervisor provides clear and unbiased feedbacks regarding the performance of the subordinate on a particular time coverage.

In our company, employees are rated on a quarterly basis. Hence, I get to sit down and talk with my subordinates quarterly to analyze their performance. I allow my subordinates to talk about their desires for salary increase and why they deem it necessary. In the same manner, I offer them reasons why or why not the increase or the promotion is due for them." - Paolo Conder (GSK Supervisor, Marketing Department)

However, there are also times wherein it is not necessary to wait for the designated ratings date before the supervisor provides feedback to his/her subordinates. If the supervisor sees that there are things or actions that need to be corrected he/she can give the developmental feedback which aims to benefit not only the company but also the employee him/herself. In the same manner, if the supervisor deems it necessary to appreciate or commend an employee for a job well done, he/she can also initiate giving the particular subordinate with a feedback for his developmental purposes.

A always consider it an opportunity to enhance growth and development - personality or career wise - of my subordinates when I give them feedbacks regarding their works and/or performance. May it be a negative or positive feedback, it is always for their own good." - Kristy Clark (GSK, Human Resource Supervisor)

Also, as supervisors/managers, they have already earned the necessary experience and knowledge which allow them to understand and even preempt the possible responses and even reactions of their subordinates once a feedback for developmental purposes is given.

With the nature of our organization, every task is routinely done. I have to ensure that my subordinates follow the feedbacks with administrative purposes that I am giving them or else the flow of operation will be jeopardized. With that, I always consider first if my instructions will be heard or understood clearly even before I will be giving them. I also have to analyze the possible reactions of my subordinates upon giving my feedbacks. Will they be confused? Will they follow it? is it against their standards? These are the common thoughts that I have in mind prior to giving them my administrative feedbacks." - Sandy Reyes (RMF, Media Department)

The new hires and the trainees are always in strict guidance of the supervisors. This is because they need to be trained properly of the overall flow of organizations, particular their key responsibilities. This is why most feedback with administrative purposes are given to the new hires and/or trainees. Needless to say, they do not yet the ins and outs of the organization and it's the role of the supervisors that they understand everything.