Community-Led Grantmaking: Collective Wisdom for Social Change

How Best to Handle Feedback As an Organization

Giving Compass' Take: • Every organization likely says it values feedback and performance evaluations, but few are great at handling criticism. The Bridgespan Group offers some pointers on how to foster a better culture of communication. • Are we doing enough to listen to our employees, colleagues and constituents, absorbing the good along with the bad? The attitude usually starts at the top. • Here's how formative feedback can aid program development. Research suggests that thriving organizations achieve their goals by engaging the staff in meaningful feedback to monitor performance, holding people accountable, growing talent, and creating an atmosphere of respect and continued development. But knowing this and doing this are two different things. When searching for solutions, leaders first look at their systems and tools. Is there a good performance management system? Are goals and expectations clear? Do people use the tools as intended? Have managers been trained to give constructive feedback? In Martine’s case all those boxes had been checked. There was a very good online performance management tool, managers and staff had been trained how to use it, and supervisors sat through multiple training seminars on staff development. Even if your organization has some of the issues mentioned here, the solutions are not as out of reach as you think: Gather the best leaders. Say and do what you expect from others. Address sub par behavior consistently. Exit people when necessary. This transition took nearly two years to execute. That’s fairly typical of this kind of culture change. Martine wishes it could have gone faster and she still wants to make improvements. But she can’t argue with the positive impact. The ongoing dialogues are open, honest, productive, and valuable. Read the full article about handling feedback as an organization by Nicki Roth at The Bridgespan Group.