Feedback Is Fuel for Learning Cultures

Training and developing employees is of vital importance for organizations today. Businesses are finding that skills are quickly outdated and the cost of hiring or replacing people can be six times more than the cost of training current employees.

This blog is an excerpt of an ebook published by Udemy. In the ebook, Udemy’s VP of Learning and Development, Shelley Osborne provides guidance on how to integrate learning into the workplace. Five strategies are listed – in this post we focus in on the second strategy, ‘Feedback is fuel for learning cultures’.

Training and developing employees is of vital importance for organizations today. Businesses are finding that skills are quickly outdated and the cost of hiring or replacing people can be six times more than the cost of training current employees.

Getting a workforce to prioritize learning is fraught with difficulty. Organisations find themselves in unchartered territory, perpetually having to develop skills and competencies in their staff cohort. In addition to this, employees are finding it difficult to manage an increasingly complex workload and stay abreast of the skills needed. Evidence of this challenge is presented in Udemy’s 2021 Workplace Learning Trends Report, where 61% of respondents said “lack of time” was a top obstacle for learning and development. Other hurdles included budget constraints and proving ROI.

Regardless of this, there is a strategic imperative to building a learning culture at your organization. Remaining at the forefront of your industry requires staff to be on top of their professional game. The good news is that this can be accomplished by using five proven strategies one of which one will be the focus in this post.

1. Develop and foster agile learners
2. Feedback is fuel for learning cultures (the focus of this post)
3. Think like a marketer to make learning more engaging
4. Put learning into the flow of work (even remotely)
5. Signal the value of learning

Feedback within an organisational context has historically been associated with negative and harsh connotations. Delivered haphazardly and without finesse, it has become something to fear by employees who view it as a reprisal from their superior and an attack on their abilities and attempts to add value. This is why, we need to reframe feedback as fuel for individuals and the organization.

Healthy, constructive feedback is not only the foundation of a thriving learning culture, but also a necessity to ensure that each individual within the organisation is focused on delivering with a focus on the strategic intent. Those who have experienced the organisational world and the feedback received throughout their careers will attest that the path to career development and resiliency is paved with feedback cycles.

Companies must therefore teach employees how to give and receive constructive feedback with a growth mindset that creates an environment that is safe for their employees to grow.

Promoting a feedback-driven culture requires that learning and development focus on:

All engines need fuel to operate. On many occasions though, managers and even HR practitioners view feedback as a way to critique performance while highlighting where improvement is needed – which is exactly the wrong way to approach it. The trick is to create the correct conditions within the workplace that will make feedback loops take root so that people do not fear or dismiss feedback but, instead ask for and apply feedback constantly.

Building an environment where all teammates own that they are responsible for each other’s success is the first step towards instilling a culture of feedback and learning. When feedback is practiced from this angle, we as individuals are more receptive to receiving it rather than getting our back up with “who are you to think you are to have the right to…”

Instilling a culture of feedback requires laying a firm foundation that giving and receiving feedback is a gift. Another and important cornerstone to building a feedback culture is to teach that while candor is necessary, that it needs to be managed in a way that does not take a colleague out at the knees but rather instills within them the desire to introspect, learn and improve.

For many of us, feedback is viewed and felt as a negative association with harsh criticism and a focus on past performance. In general, the most impactful feedback is:

Feedback really is the foundation for understanding your own learning needs and for helping your team identify areas for learning and growth. We live in a world of complexity with an everchanging landscape. Our skills and capabilities will need constant honing so being aware of your strengths and areas for improvement will enable you to meet the demands of the workplace.

When it comes down to it, people need to understand that they should not be tentative and concerned with being overly nice so as not to hurt feelings. They need to commit to sharing constructive feedback if they genuinely care about helping someone improve. People also need to receive feedback with gratitude for the person who cared enough to tell them something difficult.

Source: This blog is an excerpt from an ebook published by Udemy