Effective Feedback: The Key to Engineering Performance
(Part 2)

Terry E. McSween and Robert L. Lorber

Systematizing feedback

An effective feedback system has two components – an objective measurement system and a supervisor who discusses the performance data with the employees.

The objective measurement system must provide relevant information so that the employee can improve or correct performance problems before the manager becomes involved. The second component is a supervisor who discusses performance and establishes the importance of the measurement system by mediating the delay between the employees' own evaluation of their performance and the eventual raises and promotions.

Objective feedback

The heart of a good feedback system is an effective performance measurement system. Usually, rather than developing a new system, you will be able to modify a management information system so that it has the characteristics just discussed and meets the feedback needs of those in the lower levels of the organization.

The major steps in developing a performance feedback system:

1. Analyze the information needs (what, when and by whom).
2. Develop the forms and procedures for collecting that information.
3. Pilot-test the system.
4. Implement the system.

Each of these four steps will now be discussed.

Analyze information needs.

Start by identifying the results, outputs or milestones produced by each individual or component of your organization. Each out-put should be measured by a profile of important characteristics selected from Table I. Remember that each critical dimension needs a measurement system and an accepted standard or goal. Keep in mind that feedback systems affect different levels in an organization and that each level needs different information and at different times.

After you have decided what outputs are produced, consider what kinds of decisions are made at each level of the organization to affect those outputs. Then decide what information is needed and when it is needed for the decisions made at each level. Typically, employees in the lower levels of the organization will need feed-back that is more frequent and more immediate than that needed by their managers. Table II presents possible information needs at different levels of a matrix organization, and the figure depicts the structure of such an organization.

Table 2 Typical feedback requirements at different levels in a matrix organization

Develop forms and procedures.

After analyzing your information needs, decide who will collect the performance data and how they will collect it. As mentioned earlier, employees can effectively record data on their own performance, thereby providing feedback that is more immediate and at lower expense than a “boss-administered” system.

The primary tool for collecting performance data is a well-designed recording form. You should design data collection forms that can be completed easily and that organize the data into meaningful information, complete with the goal or standard. Also, develop written instructions explaining how the data should be collected, how they should be interpreted and how they will be stored. Rather than designing new forms, you may simply need to modify an existing form to include additional dimensions of performance and standards, perhaps with graphs of critical performance areas.

You can further enhance the effectiveness of feedback by posting the data sheets or performance graphs in a convenient and highly visible location. Such posting of data usually provides a public commitment to good performance; we all want to look good in front of our peers. Public posting also makes the data easier for the supervisor to react to.

Pilot-test the system.

Once you have designed the system, try it yourself. First complete the forms, using historical data. Are they clear and easy to understand? Next, collect current data, using your forms and procedures. Are they relatively easy to use and to complete efficiently? Then show the completed forms to several employees. Ask them if the data are useful, if the forms are easy to understand, and how the system could be improved. Get this information from both line staff and managers who will use the system, and incorporate their suggestions.

Now implement your feedback system via a small representative section or work group. Use a small group so that you can carefully monitor the test run, and so that necessary changes can be made easily and quickly. Be sure that the group is one viewed as representative by others in your organization, and again include all levels of supervision. Make sure that everyone gets the information they should, and ensure that it is used properly. Maintain this test until the system is working smoothly.

Implement the system.

The next step is implementing your feedback system. Train your personnel in its use, and see that they follow through properly. If you have given supervisory personnel adequate opportunities to make suggestions, and if the pilot test went smoothly, implementation should be no problem.

You should evaluate the system one to six months after implementation. Some of your managers and employees may have suggestions as to how it might be made more effective or easier to use.

Subjective feedback

The way in which managers use data often undermines otherwise well-designed feedback systems. Managers sometimes use data to identify poor performers, often so they have someone to blame or criticize. In such environments, employees work to avoid getting caught. The work they do is because they have to, rather than because they want to. Such environments create morale problems and increase turnover, and the implementation of a feedback system as described is sure to fail.

An important aspect of implementing a feedback system is training the managers how to react to the information they receive. They must learn to express appreciation for good performance and to work with employees to correct problems. To these ends, praise is one of the manager's most powerful tools, along with a simple “thank you” for a job well done. Recognition and a pat on the back are much more effective at motivating employees than criticism. Dale Carnegie shared the secret several decades ago when he suggested that we “express honest and sincere appreciation.” Through praise and recognition, managers can reinforce and maintain good performance.

Reprinted from Chemical Engineering, May 4, 1981. Copyright © 1981 by McGraw-Hill Inc. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020