Carpe Diem – There’s No Time like the Present

AJ Thomas, Director of Talent Development and Engagement at Nimble Storage recently joined me for a webcast on techniques to acquire, engage and retain Millennials.  One of the big takeaways was that engagement is not just about these younger workers but more about the evolution and shift in the scope, pace, and nature of communication at work.

While the argument can be made that Millennials were raised with helicopter parents and constant coaching and feedback, I don’t believe it should be limited to just Gen Y.  The goal of the feedback process is development and building trust.  Whether you are new to a job or taking on new responsibilities for the first time there will be a window when you don’t have the experience to distinguish between why one process may be better than the other and how a function fits in to the larger picture, or what role that function may play in the culture of your firm. 

We all have to crawl before we can walk.  When I was training and developing future management I used to use the example of reading a small child’s phonetic writing.  While you may be able to read it and understand what they are getting at, you wouldn’t be doing that kid any favors letting them continue to operate at that level when they should be more developed.  The fear of addressing something that seems minor to avoid rocking the boat leads to dysfunction as that unchecked mistake grows into something larger.

I honestly believe that no one starts their day thinking, “I want to fail at something today.”  But, we shouldn’t be afraid of failure either as it is a sure sign that we are on the path to improvement.  I find that feedback is often best when it is in the moment and minor course corrections.  Imagine the frustration of doing a job for 6 months and feeling that you have been steadily improving only to find out in your annual review that you have been doing a task incorrectly and are just now finding out.  

Clear and consistent feedback to your employees shows that you care about their development and you are training them to be self sufficient.  While taking the time out of your day to give that feedback may slow you down in the short run, the benefit of an employee who not only does the right thing but knows why one action is better than the other will pay for itself in the long run. 

One final caveat on the frequency of feedback is that you have to know your team.  Some members will need more frequent feedback than others.  We can sometimes fall into a trap of making that development feedback out ourselves.  “I only needed feedback once a week or twice a week and I turned out just fine.”  I liken feedback to watering a flower you want to see grow.  Taking care of an orchid and a cactus are two radically different things even though they need to same basic ingredients.  If your goal is the growth of that flower figure out what it needs to develop and worry less about the path you took. 

Think about which mentor in your life helped you to grow the most then think about your least favorite manager in your career.  What traits helped you the most from the mentor and which flaws frustrated you the most from your bad example.  When you are giving feedback remember both of those examples.  What’s the best advice you ever received about delivering feedback?  Share your experiences with us on twitter using #HCIblog.