Criticism without the sting - workplace criticism

Nation's Business, Nov, 1991 by Robert McGarvey, Scott Smith

Ask training specialist Judy Anderson for a professional horror story--an example of how not to criticize an employee-and she easily obliges. She tells about the manager who "flew off the handle" with a receptionist for chronically typing letters in an incorrect format.

Why was the manager's method offbase? Simple, says Anderson: "The receptionist didn't know the proper format. Nobody had bothered to teach her. Worse, nobody took the time to explore with her the 'why' behind her goofs."

Anderson, director of training and development for Snyder's Drug Stores, Inc., of Minneapolis, says that although "we usually think workplace criticism is a snap to give, it isn't. Criticism is terribly hard to give properly."

Consultant Hendrie Weisinger of West Los Angeles says that "maybe two out of 10 people are good at giving criticism naturally." Nonetheless, "criticism is a very learnable skill," says Weisinger, author of The Critical Edge, a book on effective criticism. In fact, he says criticism is "the most important managerial skill--it is the way we learn and teach."

When criticism is done poorly, an employee's performance not only may remain unimproved but even may deteriorate, says Robert Baron, a professor of management at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, N.Y. "The results are up to the manager. How he or she delivers his criticism to an employee will directly shape the employee's response."

Offer criticism that also sends a positive message, however, and there's a different, happier ending. "Few of us enjoy hearing how we've failed to do our jobs," says Judith Schuster, an independent consultant on human-resources matters, in Philadelphia. "But if the criticism teaches us a better way, we're likely to improve. Virtually all employees want to do good work, and, properly crafted criticism shows them how."

If there's a rule for effective criticism, it is: Don't attack. Michael LeBoeuf, an independent management consultant in New Orleans, says that if you attack an employee--with verbal blows like "how could you be so dumb!"--he'll become defensive and won't listen, because he's busy preparing a rebuttal. He is not going to get your corrective feedback." The rule should be, he adds, "to criticize the work, never the worker."

To make sure you do direct your criticism at the work, not the person, you could follow the advice of Roger Flax, president of Motivational Systems, in West Orange, N.J.: "Practice sympathy. Imagine that somebody else is saying the criticism to you." When he shows managers videos of themselves giving criticism, their typical reaction, he says, is, "If somebody talked that way to me, I'd walk away." Flax adds, "Of course, when they feel that way about their own criticism, imagine how their employees must feel."

Here are some more techniques from experts for criticizing properly:

Do not threaten. Wilford D. Godbold Jr., CEO of Los Angeles-based Zero Corp., a metal-container manufacturer, says a threat "sends a clear message to the employee that you have little confidence in his or her willingness to change. This will destroy any positive attitude you are trying to develop."

Offer a growth opportunity. "The crux of effective feedback is persuading the employee that you're trying to be helpful," says Rensselaer's Baron. "The person must believe he is being helped to be better. Implicit in your criticism should be what's in it for him, and the benefit cannot simply be that you won't criticize him any more." But if you cannot think of what the benefit is for the employee, hold your tongue.

A sure strategy is to appeal to the worker's, pride, says LeBoeuf. "Say you are sure he or she is capable of doing even better than they already are. They'll like hearing that--and they'll also sincerely want to improve."

Don't dwell on the past. "Often, in criticizing, managers harp on the past," says Jerald Jellison, professor of psychology at the University of Southern California. "We tell the employee over and over what he did wrong. We say 'Why did you do that?' so much that the superficial meaning that we want to know is overridden by the real meaning of 'How could you be so stupid?'" Instead, be "future-oriented," says Jellison. "Focus on what you expect from the employee in the fugure. That shifts the emphasis from the negative and entirely into the positive."

Stick with the facts. "Don't depend on rumor or guesswork--get your facts straight, and document them," says Bob Crossley, director of human resources for International Microelectronic Products, a semiconductor maker in San Jose, Calif. "Do not let preconceptions about an employee color your judgment." If you jump on a certain employee for an engineering error when, in fact, it was another employee who was at the controls, your criticisms of all employees could be seen in that mistaken light for a long time.

Listen. "Criticism is most effective when it is a dialogue with both people contributing, rather than a monologue, where only the critic talks," says Judy Anderson.