Delivering and taking criticism is a tricky but necessary part of the employee experience. It doesn't matter what job a person is in — they will need to think about and digest the feedback they receive, should they want to improve from it.
No one is perfect. People inevitably make mistakes. So much so, Aristotle once said that the only way to avoid criticism is to do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. And employees are no different.
While constructive criticism is a tool for learning, do not overwhelm your employees with it. There is a fine line between helping and micromanaging, and the latter can significantly affect employee motivation and morale.
That said, mistakes are an inevitable part of work (and life), but a significant amount of care needs to be taken to relay the message of criticism in a way that encourages the employee to learn and grow, rather than lose steam and crash.
While most people like to think they're level-headed and can handle anything, they're only human. Sometimes, criticism is unexpected and perhaps unfair, but the best reaction is no reaction — even when a person disagrees with the feedback.
By not reacting, we don't just mean verbally. Body language cues can give away feelings too. Taking a beat before reacting allows time for processing what's just been said. The more unexpected the criticism is, the more time a person should give themselves to respond. They may feel they need to excuse themselves from the meeting and agree to talk again later.
Employers need to practise what they preach and engage in clear and regular communication to create a healthy culture that prioritises feedback. Organisations that excel at this create environments where employees are trained to deliver criticism appropriately.
Moreover, the creation of this culture doesn't happen overnight. It requires time, patience, and consistency. The worst thing an employer can do is never give feedback and allow employees to continue engaging in the same behaviours. Then, only when a significant amount of time has passed, do they present a list of everything they have done wrong.
Another benefit of feedback that organisations don't think about is retention. Managers and supervisors who engage in a healthy feedback culture keep engaged and high-performing employees for longer than those who do not. Think about it, if you take pride in your work, but you never receive any criticism or praise, how do you know you are doing a good job? Would you want to stay in an organisation that doesn't prioritise your development?
Praise and criticism go hand-in-hand, but not at the same time. Good supervisors or managers understand that they must engage in regular positive and negative feedback.
Giving praise is the cornerstone of a healthy company culture and shouldn't just be a manager's responsibility. Colleagues and peers should also congratulate each other on their small wins.
For this reason, Perkbox includes a real-time recognition feed that updates when anyone has left another person recognition. And, because each recognition is tagged to company values, everyone knows why their behaviour was celebrated.
We also understand that sometimes behaviours should receive more praise and are worthy of a reward. To encourage managers to reward their teams, they can easily attach points to each recognition they send. Employees can redeem these points right away, or save them up for a bigger reward of greater value.
For criticism to be delivered well, an organisation and its employees must change the way they feel about it. They can do this in the following ways:
Everyone needs to believe that the person delivering the feedback has the aim of promoting growth and development. Criticism, by nature, must always be constructive and actionable. Otherwise, what's the point?
Both forms of feedback will trigger growth, either by encouraging or discouraging some behaviours or approaches. Keep this in mind when delivering and receiving criticism.
Being mindful of physiological cues when receiving or giving criticism as this helps with emotional regulation. Use this time as a moment to learn more about how the body responds to a stressful or uncomfortable situation.
Criticism is an important part of the employee experience, but there are so many other aspects of it too.
With Perkbox, you can positively affect your employees' day-to-day with a range of benefits, perks, freebies, and wellbeing tools.
What's more, the culture and comms feature helps you share news effortlessly throughout your organisation. No more relying on convoluted email lists.
Because everything is accessible from the Perkbox app, it doesn't matter if your employees work in the office, at home, or on the other side of the world, everyone benefits.
Sometimes, people at work use criticism as an excuse to deliver a thinly — or not so thinly, veiled attack. Criticism should always be constructive and help someone improve. It should never be used as an insult. If a person uses criticism as an opportunity to belittle and humiliate, they are bullying, not criticising.
Bullying disguised as criticism tends to include:
If anyone is experiencing bullying at work, they need to speak to someone they trust. Be it another colleague, a family member, or a friend. The worst thing they can do is suffer in silence. Try to keep notes of when meetings occur and what is discussed. It's helpful to record the names of witnesses too. Take this evidence to HR.
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