‘That is a very important aspect of culture building, where you expect leaders to walk the talk’

This month, Avadhesh Dixit, the Chief Human Resources Officer of Acuity Knowledge Partners spoke to The Loop about the role of critical feedback in large organizations…

What role does critical feedback play in a high-performing organization?

The way you give staff feedback about their careers and how they can be successful in their jobs matters a lot, particularly in a people-centric, very knowledge intensive organization like ours.

However, at Acuity Knowledge Partners we divide the extent to which our appraisal focuses on managerial capability versus functional capability (technical skills) into four different levels depending on staff seniority.

For example, if a new staff member comes and joins at the top of the organization, 60 per cent of the appraisal could be on soft and managerial capability, rather than functional capability. Whereas functional capability is more needed at the bottom and middle where people are individual contributors. At the top, what matters is your ability to build a collaborative team, to take people along and to build an inclusive culture.

Obviously, we would expect people to be functionally able to lead large teams, but that’s not as important as their ability to lead the software side. But if you are in the middle there, the chances are the weightage is 50:50. And if you are at the bottom, the chances are that 70 per cent of your appraisal is based on functional capability, and only 30 per cent is based on managerial capability, because you do not have that kind of influence in the peer group or on large teams.

We want a culture where every time you have meetings, you emphasize the fact that in this company, for you to grow, it is not only important to be smart intellectually, but I think it is extremely important for you to be very managerially adept too. That is a very important aspect of culture building, where you expect leaders to walk the talk: reemphasizing the fact that people management and creating a culture of proactive feedback is important.

How often should feedback be given in an organization with a strong feedback culture?

Giving feedback and receiving feedback appropriately is very important at all levels, but particularly at what we define as the managerial level – anybody who is managing more than two people.

At this level you are expected to give and receive feedback regularly. You are expected to be very actively involved in career progression and promotion discussions and in giving feedback in terms of gaps in knowledge and skills. We provide formal training programs for this.

Most importantly, a culture of feedback must start from the top. We are very clear that we want to create an organization that is not only intellectually smart, which is an organization that is cutting it in terms of its functional capability and functional abilities, but also is a culture where people are respected and receive feedback in a conducive environment.

How can managers encourage high performance without putting the employee who is receiving this feedback on the defensive?

It’s very important for us to teach staff how to give feedback and receive feedback. I’m also talking about the managerial class, which is very actively involved in that process.

We run structured training programs focused on different themes. For example, on feedback essentials, we would be talking about a good/bad sandwich kind of approach to effective feedback. We look at feedback perception, such as how is feedback perceived? Is it perceived to be developmental, or is it perceived to be very punitive?

The training we offer also includes a focus on interpersonal skills like giving feedback, receiving feedback, coaching for performance, coaching for conflict management. It is also very important for leaders to walk the walk.

How important is it to monitor an employee’s improvement once feedback is received? What role does software and 360-degree feedback have in monitoring improvements?

Acuity uses an end-to-end ERP HR technology platform. We have 100 per cent response rates as the compensation process is not triggered unless the HR technology with respect to performance management and feedback giving is completed.

Once staff have received feedback, we have a follow-up meeting with their managers to see whether the staff have adopted the appropriate behavior.

We also have employee satisfaction surveys where we anonymously ask employees about their relationship with their manager. We ask whether the leadership team is creating the right kind of culture and whether staff feel their manager is supporting them and providing them with the right kind of tools. The managers would then be subject to coaching.

Regarding 360-degree feedback, it is currently voluntary in nature. But we are going to initiate it formally in one month at the senior managerial level. However, it will be used to support their development rather than be used as a tool to promote or not to promote to the C-suite.