Negative Feedback Rarely Leads to Improvement

Harvard Business School doctoral candidate Paul Green and colleagues analyzed field data from a company that used a transparent peer-review process and also gave its employees a voice in defining their jobs and over whom they worked with, reports the Harvard Business Review . Their analysis revealed that critical appraisals from colleagues drove employees to adjust their roles to be around people who would give them more positive reviews, leading to the conclusion that negative feedback seldom inspires improvement. Green says the receipt of "disconfirming feedback" would usually spur employees to move away from the coworkers who had offered it, and seek new and different relationships. "And the more negative feedback they received, the further the employees would go to forge new networks," he notes. Green contends negative feedback "doesn't provide the sustenance we need to maintain a positive view of ourselves." He stresses people who provide such feedback should accompany it "with validation of who people are and of their value to the organization." Green suggests the performance appraisal process should be crafted to include this broader affirmation so the feedback will motivate someone to improve. "This makes sense if we think about it in the context of personal relationships," he notes.