Engagement Surveys and Performance Feedback: Performance Management

Performance Management: Employee Engagement Surveys and Performance Feedback Employee Engagement Employee engagement refers to the extent to which employees are committed to the organization they work for. It is evidenced by their level of energy, their display of personal initiative, their discretionary effort, and their persistence towards achievement of organizational goals. According to Lavigna (2015), organizations with high levels of employee engagement are more successful and productive due to high employee commitment and involvement.

Having been a respondent to an employee engagement survey conducted at my previous place of work, I can attest to the positive effects these surveys have on employee morale, quality of products, and an organization's overall performance. Contrary to popular belief - that the main aim of employee engagement surveys is to measure how happy consumers are and how satisfied they are with their jobs - these surveys are more concerned with the effect employee's self-efficacy has on individual as well as organizational performance.

Therefore, it is imperative for organizations to communicate both positive and negative feedback to all respondents of the survey in order to influence behavioral changes. Pulakos (2009) states that managers often refrain from providing developmental feedback to employees because they do not want to risk damaging good relationships with the employees. However, feedback is the most critical part of employee engagement surveys because it facilitates change, which in turn leads to better performance.

Feedback and communication makes it easier for employees to identify the areas they need to improve on, in order to raise and maintain their levels of engagement. Furthermore, by continuous interactions with the respondents, an organization will be in a better position to comprehend what drives the employees' engagement, and will strengthen these factors in order to succeed. Theriou and Chatzoglou (2008) also state that employees need to understand how various HR practices contribute to the success of the organization.

Therefore, when employees receive proper feedback from employee engagement surveys, they are able to appreciate their contributions to the organization, which boosts their morale and also leads to improved performance. Part 2: Performance feedback In any organization, good relationships between the management team and the employees are often cultivated from their interactions, and they depend on how well they communicate. Therefore, it is important for managers to provide feedback when necessary.

Three tips on how to most effectively provide feedback The first tip for managers is to provide both positive and negative feedback. Very often, managers get frustrated with poor performance by an individual and they only focus on pointing out their mistakes. According to Pulakos (2009), managers and employees often have a negative attitude towards performance management, with managers viewing it as a mere procedure and employees feeling that managers are unskilled and in no position to coach them about good performance.

Consequently, approaching such employees with negative criticism only will only frustrate them further and reduce their morale. It would be more effective for managers to first give positive feedback to motivate the employees, before they point out areas that should be rectified. The second tip is to come up with solutions for every problem that is identified. As Harbour (2009) states, organizational success is influenced by daily operations and associated work outputs.

Therefore, managers should not only communicate the problems they notice in daily operations, but they should also have effective solutions to facilitate the continuity of operations, which will lead to better performance. In communicating feedback, managers should also elicit agreement and understanding. More often than not, employees will not correct performance until they agree that change is necessary. To avoid resistance of feedback and time wastage, managers should take time to explain the need for performance improvement and the employees' contribution towards organizational success.

Tips for subordinates on how to receive and deliver feedback For a new subordinate who might not be conversant with the organizational culture, the firs tip would be to first encourage the employees to rate their performance themselves. Effective performance management targets top-down and bottom-up coordination (Harbour, 2009). Employees should offer their feedback to the management by rating their own performance. It is hard for the employees to ignore the mistakes they have pointed out themselves. The second tip would be to give employees adequate time to respond to feedback.

This is particularly because the main aim of the feedback is to provide a perspective the employee may not have. Since new subordinates may not have.