Fear of feedback is a common issue in the professional sphere. Employees and managers alike often dread giving or receiving feedback, but it's an essential aspect of personal and professional growth and critical to the success of an organization.
Why does this fear exist?
On the employee side, the fear of feedback is often multi-faceted. Whether it's the fear of criticism, issues with self-esteem, or a lack of trust in their manager, this resistance to feedback often holds an employee back from fully excelling in their role. In some cases, fear of feedback can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of procrastination, self-sabotage, and jealousy in the workplace.
On the manager's side, the fear is driven by conflict avoidance, lack of training, or the fear that feedback, even if well-intended, can cause an employee to quit their job.
How to move forward
Without a culture of trust within a team or an organization, feedback can fall flat or wreak havoc. To overcome this, employers should create a culture where employees can give and receive feedback regularly.
During a recent CXR Lecture, guest speaker Jason Lauritsen shared his system for cultivating and nurturing talent, a simple check-in method. It involves asking team members to rate their well-being on a scale of one to ten. The rating provides the opportunity to ask a follow-up question and engage in conversation that can lead to connection, celebration, recognition, or support. If we build these genuine connections in the workplace, how we view feedback can transform into an opportunity for our learning and development rather than a threat to our self-worth.
On April 20th, join us for a CXR Lecture with Rod Ben Zeev on How to Give and Receive Feedback. Rod will take us through easy and fun exercises to help us understand how you can give valuable feedback so that you and others can continue to grow, develop and learn. Learn more and register here.
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