The way leaders provide feedback to employees can determine the level of team engagement and the company's results. When poorly managed, the return can generate insecurity, demotivation and drop in performance. Instead of functioning as an instrument of growth, traditional feedback — focused only on pointing out mistakes — it can become a wear factor
ToAlexandre Slivnik, service excellence specialist and vice president of the Brazilian Association of Training and Development (ABTD), it's time to rethink this model and adopt a culture that values positive behaviors. He claims that the most common practice — point out only what needs to be corrected — can, in fact, compromise team engagement and impact the company's results.
"The most effective feedback is the one that enhances what is already working well". When the leader clearly recognizes a positive behavior, it increases the chances of this behavior repeating. This generates trust and strengthens the team, reveals
Slivnik advocates for an approach known asfeedforward , which consists of highlighting well-executed actions instead of focusing only on failures. For him, the recognition of good practices has more impact than isolated corrections. "It is important to focus more on the successes than on the mistakes". AND, of course, this does not mean that one should not point out what needs to be improved. But when there is a balance — with a predominance of positive returns — the collaborator feels more secure to hear suggestions and grow with them, punctuate
Positive reinforcement as a development strategy
A common example, according to the expert, it is of a collaborator who serves a customer well, but, instead of receiving a compliment for good performance, listen immediately to a suggestion about what I could have done better. "This type of response reduces enthusiasm and devalues effort". The ideal would be to highlight what worked well — how to communicate, the attentive gaze or the clarity in the explanation. When the praise is specific and timely, tends to be repeated, declare
Slivnik emphasizes that the goal is not to avoid corrective feedback, but to build an environment where recognition is the starting point. "When the employee constantly hears only what they need to correct, the trend is that it will contract. But, if positive feedback is more frequent, he will better absorb any suggestion for improvement, affirms
Stimulus to trust and a culture of recognition
Data from a survey conducted by Gallup indicates that employees who receive frequent recognition are twice as likely to describe their team as excellent and are up to three times more engaged at work. The same research shows that leaders who provide regular and positive feedback contribute to an increase of up to 24% in company profitability
For Slivnik, the secret is to observe and reinforce the attitudes that deserve to be valued. This creates a virtuous cycle: positive behaviors become a reference, and feedback ceases to be a risk to become a powerful development tool. "When leadership uses feedback with awareness", empathy and strategy, she transforms the company's atmosphere. The enchantment begins at home, with the team being recognized for what it does best, finalizes
