Employer feedback was found to be important for employees to understand how they are performing and if needed, how to improve their practice. Negative feedback, however, can be uncomfortable both for the person providing it and the person receiving it, and can impact on employee work performance and wellbeing.
Using affective events theory, researchers in the US evaluated the impact of empathic concern when giving negative feedback on those receiving the feedback, and on the perceived effectiveness of leaders who use empathic feedback in their day-to-day interactions.
In Study 1, participants watched a video of a team leader providing negative performance feedback, with one of two concluding scenarios. The first included statements of empathic concern, and the second excluded those statements, but was consistent in all other aspects of non-verbal behaviour and feedback content. Empathic statements expressed concern for the person’s welfare and an understanding that they were in need of help. The results of the study found participants in the empathic concern condition reported a greater increase in positive affect during the negative feedback episode compared to those in the control condition. Higher positive affect and lower negative affect also correlated with more positive appraisal of the leader’s ability to communicate feedback.
Study 2 used 360-degree feedback on team leaders from actual employees, staff and bosses, in a large sample of organisational leaders. The study found that staff perceptions of their leader’s negative feedback skills and more specifically, their degree of empathic concern when providing negative feedback was related to their promotability as perceived by their boss. The researchers suggest empathy when providing feedback may promote staff growth and wellbeing, and that this translates to better appraisals by a leader’s own boss.
The researchers claim that recognising emotional reactions in staff and expressing empathic concern could be an aspect of communication taught and encouraged in leaders, to improve staff morale and their own leadership qualities.
dx.doi.org/10.1111/joop.12184
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