Employee Perspective
“Nobody tells me anything until it’s too late.”
“No one ever told me there was a problem.”
“Then suddenly, my boss pulled me in and said I wasn’t performing.”
“But this is the first I’m hearing about it!”
“I’ve been working hard, no one corrected me, guided me, or said what was wrong.”
“They just waited until they were frustrated and now I’m being replaced.”
😟 I would’ve improved if someone had just told me what to fix.
Employer Perspective
“We don’t want to demotivate them so we keep quiet.”
“If we point out what’s wrong, it’ll kill morale.”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings they might leave.”
“They should already know the expectations”
“We’ll wait for appraisal time or next warning letter.”
But here’s what happens with less or ZERO feedback
🤐Small mistakes become big problems
💣Unspoken frustration builds up
❌Performance issues go unaddressed
😔Good employees don’t grow, they stagnate or get blindsided
💡𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵?
Feedback doesn’t have to be harsh, it just needs to be clear, timely, and respectful.
The best teams don’t avoid feedback, they build a feedback culture.
✅Here’s my secret, proven doesn’t hurt, tried and tested for the last 30 years of my HR journey.
1️⃣ Don’t wait too long; Give feedback soon after the issue happens while it’s still relevant
2️⃣ Focus on behavior not personality; Say “I noticed you submitted the report late,”
Not “You’re always irresponsible.”
3️⃣ Balance the message; Use the “Start-Stop-Continue” technique
Start doing this, Stop doing that, Continue doing what’s working!
4️⃣ Make it about growth; Phrase feedback as a way to help them succeed, not punish them
5️⃣ Invite feedback; Make it two-way. “Here’s my feedback, now what feedback do you have for me?”
𝗔 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲
One small team avoided giving feedback, why? “Everyone’s feelings are fragile, Glass Generation.” Deadlines kept slipping. Work quality dropped. Tension grew. No one addressed it.
I advised, trained, guided the founders and leaders in simple feedback models.
🔔Weekly check-ins plus 1-to-1 sessions
💖Positive Reinforcement + constructive feedback
2 months later…
🫶Communications improved
💥Mistakes decreased
🤟Staff felt more supported not criticized
𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁
👉Feedback isn’t criticism, It’s coaching.
👉Your best employees want to grow and they need direction & trajectory to do that.
Saying nothing might feel safe but silence slowly breaks performance and trust.
More coming next, stay tuned…
I am Kevin Goh, Empowering People & Businesses | Building Modern HR for the Evolving Workplace
HRMythBusters Leadership FutureOfWork
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn by Kevin Goh – Director. You can read the full post here. Adapted and shared with permission.
