How to Give Positive Feedback to Employees

A striking 83% of employees say they appreciate all kinds of feedback—positive or otherwise. Positive feedback is especially lacking in most modern organizations, even though science has proven time and again how beneficial it is for individuals and teams. Knowing what positive feedback looks like (and what isn’t positive feedback) can help leaders determine how to deliver it systematically and authentically.

What Is Positive Feedback?

Positive feedback is not simply offering compliments; it is more specific and involved. Positive feedback builds on an employee's strengths and provides the employee with the information they need to move forward with their future projects with these same tactics and skills. Positive feedback lets an employee know what specific area they’re doing well in the hopes it guides them to perform similarly in the future.

Positive Feedback Examples

Let’s go through three specific examples of best ways to give positive feedback:

1. Public recognition

In the weekly team meeting, the manager recognizes Gabriela for the hard work she did securing a valuable partnership. Recognizing Gabriela in front of her peers makes her feel appreciated, confident, and like a valuable team member, and it shows her that her manager is impressed and proud.

2. Face-to-face

Emails are easy, but feedback is more sincere and impactful when done in person. As a leader, you can take time to sit down with your team members, have coffee, or just take a couple of minutes to give your employees genuine positive feedback. Here, a manager could sit with Sarah over coffee and tell her, “You did an awesome job this week; thank you for being so thorough and insightful in your report.”

3. Specific

You might manage 100 people, or you might manage five. Either way, each employee should feel valued and recognized. It’s easy to extend a “Hey, great job today,” but it’s more impactful when you’re able to say, “Hey, Tom, your presentation today in the team meeting was so informative. I liked the statistics you found on what our target market is drawn to, and the charts you made were so engaging.” Specifics tell your team members that you see and hear them.

Other positive feedback examples are:

• “The way you handled yourself in that meeting really made our entire team look prepared. Good job!”
• “I really appreciate your proactive approach and stepping in with this complex project. It really made a difference! Thanks for going the extra mile.”
• “Good work! I like how you added top-line takeaways to this report. They summarized it well, and I think they will help people understand what’s in the rest of the document.”
• “Thank you for putting forth the extra effort and hitting this deadline. This project was really important, and you helped us get it across the finish line. Great work!”

Why Positive Feedback Matters

Effective feedback in the workplace is essential for several reasons, and good positive feedback results in creating a positive work environment, employee engagement, and overall success of the entire organization. Here are some key reasons why positive feedback is important:

• Boosts morale: Gallup research found that teams that received strength-based feedback were 12.5% more productive than those who received no feedback at all.
• Improves employee engagement: “Fast feedback,” can boost employee engagement by nearly four times, according to Gallup.
• Encourages continuous improvement: Harvard Business Review found a direct correlation between employee improvement and up to a 50% increase in revenue. Higher revenue due to well-performing employees who are staying at their jobs because they’re happy ultimately means business growth.
• Facilitates stronger development: According to a survey by Psychometrics, 69% of employees say they would work harder if they received more recognition for their efforts.

When leaders regularly recognize employee efforts, it creates a positive feedback loop—boosting morale, which leads to higher employee performance and even more recognition.

5 Mistakes Leaders Make With Praise

The willingness and ability to give positive feedback to your team members is rooted in the best of intentions. However, if the feedback is not given properly, it could be far less impactful than you need it to be. Avoid these five pitfalls to make your positive feedback more effective for you and your team.

1. Not offering regular feedback: 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week. Sure, you can offer feedback each quarter and in employee reviews. But when you’re getting your team members engaged, positive and regular feedback is better.
2. Giving feedback too late, when it’s no longer relevant: When an employee receives feedback for an accomplishment they achieved weeks or even months ago, the effect won’t resonate. Plus, if they had received feedback in a timely manner, they could have used that information for things they’ve been working on since then. Weaving positive feedback into regular employee interactions like weekly meetings or everyday office greetings will mitigate this issue.
3. Critiquing character instead of job performance: Sometimes it can be challenging to give feedback strictly based on employee performance, but personal preferences can be blinding. This is a common mistake managers make when it comes to positive feedback. Ensure feedback is on the high-quality work that was done and not commentary on the person. For instance, telling an employee how smart they are doesn’t let them know what they did well, and it also may be crossing a personal line.
4. Giving feedback via email: It’s a good idea to deliver feedback in person. It's a more genuine approach, and it allows your team members to ask questions and be a part of the discussion in real time.
5. Not acknowledging a specific positive behavior: Specifics matter to each one of your employees. Handing out generic pats on the back to your entire team isn’t going to reach the same level of meaning as a specific bit of feedback will.

Effective Praise Transforms Teams and Leadership

When delivered well, positive employee feedback can create a stronger, more pleasant workplace and employee experience, foster personal development, and increase job satisfaction. Those in a leadership role can open up lines of communication using feedback that may have otherwise been neglected until employee performance reviews.

HSI Can Help

Ready to start improving employee engagement, performance, and team morale? Effective feedback training is not only a powerful tool but a must when building a feedback culture. You’ll see employees learning new skills, taking on additional responsibilities, offering innovative solutions, and making a significant difference in your ROI.

Request a consultation and experience HSI’s unique approach to professional development with both video and article-based lessons.

Additional Resources

• Tips for Giving Negative Feedback Across Your Organization
• Increasing Engagement Through a Culture of Employee Feedback
• Using Feedback and Corporate Storytelling to Improve Employee Satisfaction