Feedback is unarguably one of the most powerful tools to assess, motivate and develop employees, the team and the entire organization. There is a wide range of benefits attached to feedbacks in an organization. Feedback plays a crucial role in allowing employees in an organization to assess their performance or behavior, feel useful and appreciated, and make better and informed decisions on future tasks, projects, assignments, or behavior. This is essential for both individual and organizational goals and keeps all members or the organization aligned to organizational growth.
Without a doubt, the benefits of feedback in an organization look inexhaustible. What’s more? Feedback promotes communication, fosters a better workplace culture, and enhances better relationships among employees. Okay, we’ve said a lot about the benefits of feedback, but what are the effects of the lack of it? What happens to the employees, managers, supervisors, and the organization at large when there is an alarming lack of feedback back?
In this article, we would be exploring all the effects that lack of feedback can have on not just employees, but on managers, supervisors, and the organization as a whole. Let’s get started.
Story Stages
The Effects of Lack of Feedback In An Organization
It leaves employees in the dark
There are many adverse effects of lack of feedback in an organization. One of the most drastic effects of lack of feedback is that employees are usually left in the dark, and they have no clue about their behavior or performance on a task, project or assignment. They have no idea what their impact is on the organization, neither do they have any idea if their contributions are valuable or welcomed.
It makes employees feel unwanted and unappreciated
Feedback makes employees feel wanted and appreciated and also gives them a sense of belonging. But what happens when there is a lack of it? You guessed right! Employees who receive inadequately or no feedback usually feel unwanted or unappreciated. Humans are naturally built to desire appreciation and a sense of belonging. And getting feedback is an important factor in making people feel appreciated and wanted. When there is feedback, employees can feel unappreciated and this can lead to impoverished productivity.
Lack of productivity can stifle growth
Feedback is essential for motivating employees and team members. When employees feel motivated, their work and productivity levels increase as they are able to use the feedback to assess themselves and make better individual and organizational decisions. In the absence of feedback, there is no motivation for employees to improve their performance. This can not only stifle individual growth; it can stifle organizational growth as well.
It can foster hostility in the workplace
Without feedback, there is no effective communication. Employees don’t know how well their behavior is and have no idea how what their performance on a task is. This in turn creates hostility in the workplace and conflicts and tension could spike if not effectively addressed.
There’s no learning opportunity
No feedback ultimately means no learning opportunity. This is because feedback allows people to learn from their past and make amends for the future. It also drives innovations and creativity and helps people to become aware of the strength and weaknesses. Without feed, there would be no window of learning for people and only those who are aware of their strengths and weaknesses can know what to work on to be better individuals.
It leads to employee’s disengagement
Lack of feedback can also lead to an employee getting disengaged from the managers, supervisor, their work, and the organization at large. When employees feel disengaged, it could lead to employee turnover which is bad for the organization. There will also be a disconnect between employees and their colleagues or team members. There is no room for effective communication and feelings are bottled up, leading to more hostility in the workplace.
Conclusions
Let’s be frank, when there is little or no adequate feedback, employees would feel disengaged and demotivated. They’re also going to interpret whatever happens based on their assumptions. This reflects badly on the managers and supervisors who should be giving the feedback. As a result, feedback to managers should be one of the priorities in an organization.
Giving feedback is fundamental for helping others. When giving feedback, ensure your feedback is constructive and it isn’t criticism disguised as feedback. Constructive feedback, not just feedback is the key to fostering a better workplace culture and relationship among employees and promoting organizational growth.
Opportunities to diversify their careers exist for employees who naturally perform well on interaction with team members and management, easily build trust, and are engaged. Many organizations all over the world make use of counselors to assist in understanding various issues in the workplace and designing strategies on how to prevent them from reoccurring.
Organizations can develop in-house candidates for these roles who already show talent and understand the organizational culture. Allowing those individuals the opportunity in pursuing an online masters of counseling will show the employee that they are trusted and that their growth is important to the business’s success.
Counseling is an essential aspect of organizational feedback and should not be overlooked.
