Get Real: How to Use Real-Time Feedback to Boost Morale and Productivity

Are you your employees’ biggest cheerleader?

If you want high-performing work teams, you should be. And if you want that praise to be effective, you should be delivering it in real-time. While it’s true that performance reviews remain a common tool for keeping employees on-track and operating at peak efficiency, immediate feedback – especially when it’s positive – is hard to beat.

As a manager, you have a golden opportunity to motivate your staff if you provide regular and specific praise for their hard work. So, don’t wait for annual performance reviews to cheer them on! Use these tips from PrideStaff to provide immediate feedback that boosts employees’ morale and productivity:

Be specific.

Be as clear as possible by giving specific examples that illustrate your point. Instead of saying, “You did a great job,” say, “You were extremely proactive in assisting this customer. By researching their problem and developing a solution before you responded to them, you saved a ton of time, and ultimately helped us retain their business.”

Mix it up.

Develop a variety of ways to deliver real-time feedback, so you can tailor your praise and/or recognition to the individual and the situation. Ideas include:

• • pulling an employee aside to personally thank them;
  • acknowledging an individual’s hard work in front of their team members;
  • praising a worker over your facility’s loudspeaker;
  • streaming congratulations and other acknowledgments across monitors around your office everyone can see.
  • Varying the ways you provide feedback keeps your efforts fresh, meaningful and effective.

Leverage technology.

Many workplace communication channels, such as Slack, Workplace by Facebook and Microsoft Teams, have integrated tools that make it simple to praise an employee or peer – without interrupting your work flow.

Be consistent.

Make a habit of providing timely employee feedback by integrating it into your regular management activities. Schedule brief, weekly meetings to discuss what employees are doing right (and, of course, what they can improve). Meeting regularly with employees to give feedback sends a clear message: “Your success and satisfaction is important to me.”

Tailor feedback to reflect ideals of your company.

Use your organization’s core values to create the blueprint for why, who and how you praise. By aligning your recognition program with your company’s mission and vision, it will be much more impactful and more strongly reinforce desired behaviors.

Providing real-time feedback is one great way to improve your organization’s productivity; working with PrideStaff is another!  As a leading national staffing agency, we have the resources and expertise to help you manage workflow peaks, capitalize on new opportunities, and recruit the hard-working, talented people you need to thrive.  Contact your local PrideStaff office today to learn more.