Building a feedback culture at Zego
The words ‘I have some feedback for you’ can trigger feelings of dread or fear in all of us. However, at Zego, we are trying to change this perception of feedback. Instead, we are striving to foster a culture where feedback is actually seen as an opportunity for self-development. We want Zegons to view it as a way to understand what they are doing well, how they can leverage their strengths and see where they can improve in order to become more effective and efficient.
Traditionally, feedback is something that is passed down from manager to direct report in an annual or bi-annual review. But we don’t agree with this approach. As long as the intention of the feedback is to develop the recipient, there is no set time or direction in which it ought to be delivered. Any two people in a company should be able to give each other feedback, regardless of function, location or seniority in the business. We also firmly believe that it should be given ‘live’, rather than stored up for months on end until a review meeting. After all, it’s not helpful to hear how you could improve on a presentation you gave 2 months ago!
At Zego, we wanted to make sure everyone understood the importance of feedback and had training to learn the best techniques to deliver it. By organising a series of feedback workshops, everyone was brought up to the same level of understanding, regardless of any previous training they had done. This enabled us to establish a solid foundation upon which we could build our feedback culture. In these workshops, every Zegon was taught about the power of feedback as a tool for development, how people might react to it and how to deliver it as effectively as possible.
In separate sessions, our Management Team were taught techniques to coach people through making changes to improve and develop themselves in light of the feedback they have received.
These workshops were intense, but once we had completed them, Zegons were empowered with the knowledge and the tools to begin giving and receiving feedback as effectively as possible.
The workshops also helped us identify a common theme; people tend to feel that they can’t give feedback to more senior members of the team. Perhaps they don’t think it’s their place or perhaps they are worried about the repercussions. This is called the Hierarchy of Rank and it’s a common obstacle to creating a successful feedback culture.
In order to try to break down this barrier, all of our Leadership Team requested 360 feedback from those with whom they work most closely. This feedback came from peers, direct reports and colleagues in different teams, and it was all submitted anonymously. Once they received their feedback, our Leadership Team shared publicly what they had learnt about themselves and committed to developing in different areas.
By publicly acknowledging the feedback they received and committing to developmental areas, the Leadership Team demonstrated that they are actively seeking feedback in order to develop as leaders at Zego. We are hoping that that this is the first step to giving Zegons an opportunity and the confidence to keep providing the Leadership team with feedback, and that they will also follow their example and start asking for feedback themselves.
In a business where everything moves quickly, it is important that the act of giving feedback is not lost. We’re continuing to work on different ways that we can remind people to give feedback at every opportunity they can. Recently, we designed some prompt cards which remind Zegons about some of the techniques for delivering effective feedback that they learnt in the workshops.
When feedback is delivered in the right way, it provides people with an opportunity to develop and maximise their potential. If we’re all striving to be our best, we, as Zegons, will go on to achieve great things.
