SPEC Kit 344: Talent Management · 139
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Performance Excellence Handbook
Effective managers give employees feedback to encourage desirable behaviors and
results and to change undesirable behaviors and results.
Valuable feedback is delivered objectively. It addresses the result of what someone
actually said or did, not what they may have thought or felt. You can use the following
formula as a guide:
1. Describe what employee actually said or did.
2. Explain the result of employee’s words/behaviors.
3. Ask employee to continue (or change) his/her words or behaviors as needed.
7 Northwestern University Performance Excellence Handbook
Giving Effective Feedback
To reinforce desirable behavior and results
Ineffective feedback:
“You’re doing a great job with our monthly budgets. Keep it up!”
Effective feedback:
1. You’ve done a great job of reconciling our budget statements by discovering and
correcting the occasional error.”
2. This gives us accurate records of a) how much money we have to purchase
materials and b) where we might need to cut back to balance our budget.”
3. “Please keep doing this.”
To change undesirable behavior and results
Ineffective feedback:
You know how much I like you, but I’ve noticed you’re coming in late more often,
so I have to admit I’m starting to wonder about your attitude.”
Effective feedback:
1. You arrived late for our last two department meetings, which couldn’t begin
without you.”
2. This forced us to rush through the agenda, and that frustrated our team members
who needed more information to do their work.”
3. If you’re running late, would you please call so we can postpone our start time?”
Examples
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