Feedback and performance goals are essential components to good
management and I think are necessary elements that all individuals should learn
to incorporate into their professional and personal lives alike. Unfortunately, in many professional settings
it seems managers are uncomfortable with giving feedback because it means
confronting or overly praising an individual (London, 2008). Without set goals and ways to measure our
progress, we are just aimlessly swimming around in an immense and bottomless
sea of experiences without purpose. I
know from experience where a person ends up if they don’t know where they’re
going as this has been the story of my life. Although I’m not disappointed with the life I
have, I am disappointed that I didn’t set goals for myself and more upset that
I didn’t have ambitious mentors that motivated me to aim higher in life. I’ve always been happy with substandard
experiences and just took what came my way instead of questioning if there was
something better. I see these young
go-getters who know exactly what they want from life and fight for it and I
think that even my generation lacked the fiery impulse that is needed to rise above
expectations.
In regards to Brown’s observations of generational differences
when it comes to giving and receiving feedback, I can definitely agree that
there is an observable difference in the attitudes of these different
generations. Baby-boomers have been
characterized as people who are leaders that understand the integrity and worth
that comes with hard-work. Yang and Guy elaborate that “they are a
special generation capable of changing the world, have equated work with
self-worth, contribution and personal fulfillment” (as cited by Tolbize, 2008, p. 2). This type of attitude also lends itself to a
high level of pride, which makes it difficult to accept feedback (especially if
negative) since this would admit that they need improvement or have made a
mistake. Tolbize explains, because of
their high level of confidence in completing tasks, that too much feedback may
be taken as insulting (p. 3). Although
she does go on to say that they are very goal-oriented, they are careful not to
step on anyone’s toes and prefer to avoid conflict. This may have a lot to do with the respect they
have for authority. Also, their sense of
self-entitlement may lead them to resist asking for feedback as well, since
they believe that they should know what they are doing, and asking for feedback
could come across as a sign of weakness.
As far as the Generation X group, Tolbize agrees with Brown in that this
generation is more comfortable with feedback. Part of this is attributed to the Gen X being
raised in an era of computers and games where immediate feedback is common. This
is also a generation that is not afraid of authority figures and therefore may
not feel threatened by feedback. In
addition, this generation values “continuous learning and skill development” which
may further explain why they welcome constructive and critical feedback (Tolbize,
2008, p. 4).
Although most of my jobs have included some type of performance
monitoring and evaluation, my current organization is very good at managing
this. We have yearly performance
evaluations and also we work with our direct supervisors in creating our own
personal goals. The goals are discussed
between me and my director and then sent to headquarters for final approval. Every year during our evaluation, we have to
review our previous goals and explain whether they were met or not and how we
could have improved. Our directors also
assist us by providing feedback and even documentation that supports our
performance goals. In my case they can
be emails from students or instructors that support my performance.
I have found my performance goal-setting sessions and yearly
evaluations to be extremely helpful in keeping me on track and becoming more
adept at my profession. My director and
I have even decided to keep a copy of our goals taped on our wall as a constant
reminder of what we want to accomplish that year. This new habit is refreshing and helps us to
stay focused and not get lost in the daily tasks of our administrative work. I’ve reviewed my goals for the past 4 years
and can honestly say that I have made progress. I feel that the most important element of my
success has been the ability to contribute in the goal-setting process and have
a significant voice in my objectives and how to achieve them. Brown explains that being involved in the
process creates a higher likelihood to succeed and I definitely feel this has
been the case (2011). Another important
element of the performance evaluations, and something our directors have been advised
to be careful with, is to not inflate positive feedback. It has been in our experience that directors
that have an especially close and positive relationship with their employees,
tend to inflate their performance evaluations. The problem with this is that it does not
create realistic comparison between employees from different centers and
therefore is not fair to the employees who are getting realistic, fair and
unbiased performance feedback. This is
why, all performance evaluations have to go through our headquarters and
directors have to justify any feedback that is above average with documentation.
My takeaway from this assignment is that, in addition to
performance goals and feedback being necessary for personal and professional
growth, more importantly, it must be specific and significant. It’s not enough to just set goals as it is to
set goals that make a difference in the future. Thought and purpose must be taken when
thinking about what we want to achieve and how we convey feedback to another
individual. Without thought and purpose,
goals are just objectives without a measurable end and feedback are just empty
words without any significance.
References
Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (7th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.coursesmart.com/9780136106906/firstsection
London, M. (2008). Job feedback: Giving, seeking, and using feedback for performance improvement (2 ed.). [Google Scholar]. Retrieved from http://books.google.es/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xhKDnSIGdlYC&oi=fnd&pg=PT12&dq=%22feedback%22+and+%22performance+goals%22&ots=oNm1bee6m-&sig=UssoAloMIE_Yy1GOalB7aOi4bfs#v=onepage&q=%22feedback%22%20and%20%22performance%20goals%22&f=false
Tolbize, A. (2008). Generational differences in the workplace. Unpublished manuscript. Retrieved from http://rtc3.umn.edu/docs/2_
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