How to Effectively Give Feedback to Gen Z Employees

You think you delivered constructive feedback. It was actually criticism.

Your old feedback framework just sounds like criticism to your younger workers.

Your GenZ workers want feedback. They thrive on being held to high expectations and knowing you have confidence in them. So when things don’t go as planned, and you deliver feedback, don’t end the conversation by focusing on the problem. Focus instead on how they can perform up to your expectations.

The go-to model for delivering feedback has been SBI.
Which stands for SITUATION - BEHAVIOR - IMPACT.
▪️ Situation: “Chris, last week we established a deadline of October 15th for the budget reports”
▪️Behavior: “You delivered them late on the 18th”
▪️Impact: “This caused the rest of the team to be late on our deliverables and now we are in hot water with the leadership”
❗ What They Hear: “You missed the deadline. We are all in trouble now. Don’t do it again.”
👎 Consider the recipient criticized.

Let’s evolve the model so leaders set clear expectations, support our team members and reinforce our goal for a culture of continuous improvement.
How do you do that? You EARN it.

EXPECTATION - ACTUAL - RESULTS - NEXT
✨ EXPECTATION: What was the expectation that you, the leader, articulated?
✨ ACTUAL: What actually happened with regard to the expectations?
✨ RESULTS: What is the result of the actions, and why?
✨ NEXT: How are we going to work together to ensure you have what you need to be successful?

Let’s try that difficult conversation again:
🔸 EXPECTATION: “Chris let’s talk about the deadline on those budget reports. You remember I set the expectation for everyone on the team to submit them by the 15th …
🔸 ACTUAL: But you sent it this past weekend, on the 18th”
🔸 RESPONSE: “So what happened? [Manager waits for response and listens to explanation].
🔸 NEXT: “Ok, so we have some work to do on this matter right now, to get back on track…But let’s talk about how we can do better for next month. Where can I help you on this?”

The key improvements here benefit everyone:
🥇 You just had a quick conversation instead of delivering one-sided criticism
🏅 Your team is hearing your concern as well as your support
🎖️ This also helps you EARN their trust and respect.

Next time you have to address a performance issue and need things to improve, EARN it!