There is a good article on how to give effective feedback in Fast Company Magazine. The article quotes a 1997 survey by Aon Consulting and the Society for Human Resource Management reported that only 5% of HR professionals were "very satisfied" with their performance-management systems. In 1995, William M. Mercer Inc., based in New York City, polled executives about reviews. Only 7% said their systems were "excellent"; more than 70% had revamped them or were planning to.
Honest, direct and compassionate feedback is essential for increasing individual and organizational performance. Yet, far too often we shy away from giving feedback to others or wanting to receive it. We don't want to fully embrace our shortcomings and potentially fear the potential reaction when we give feedback to others. One of the problems is that feedback is typically done only with performance reviews and tied up with a person's money. This automatically sets it up to fail, it's difficult for a person to be open and responsive to feedback when linked to their raise. Feedback should be given all the time and needs to be in the form of a conversation, not a one way dialog. It's about two people conversing with each other about how they can get better at what they do. We all need someone to share their perception about our behavior and give us guidance in an honest, forthcoming and caring way. Direct and frequent conversations about performance is essential to individual and organizational growth and creates a culture of openness and responsiveness. In the beginning feedback will feel awkward to both parties but with practice and time it will create openings.
Here is the link to the article: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/17/feedback.html
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