Effective feedback for millennials in new organizations

Human Resource Management International Digest Effective feedback for millennials in new organizations Prantika Ray, Manjari Singh,

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To cite this document: Prantika Ray, Manjari Singh, (2018) "Effective feedback for millennials in new organizations", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 26 Issue: 4, pp.25-27, https://doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-09-2016-0128 Permanent link to this document: https://doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-09-2016-0128 Downloaded on: 12 June 2018, At: 04:08 (PT) References: this document contains references to 6 other documents. To copy this document: [email protected] The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 41 times since 2018*

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Viewpoint Effective feedback for millennials in new organizations


Prantika Ray and Manjari Singh

he demographic composition of the workforce is changing, as we have more and more Baby Boomers retiring from the workforce and the younger millennial generation entering. It is therefore important to be aware of certain key aspects of this changing demography when designing HRM systems for the current and future workforce. These key aspects include divergence of work values, employee preferred career goals, and their job and organizational commitment.

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As HRM moves toward a well-structured network of practices that strive for the holistic improvement of employee performance, one of the important components is to provide accurate and effective feedback. The millennial generation is generalized to have a sense of entitlement and this is an added challenge for the feedback mechanisms in the organization. This challenge gets manifested in different forms – millennials are perceived to seek appreciation and pampering irrespective of their performance and are over-sensitive to negative feedback (Deal et al., 2010). Because of such stereotypes, feedback is sometimes misinterpreted and its essence is lost. It is therefore imperative to look at the finer aspects of feedback for new generation organizations.

Prantika Ray is Doctoral Scholar at Department of Human Resources Management, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad, India. Manjari Singh is Professor at Department of Human Resources Management, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad, India.

The purpose of the appraisal Though the employees look at the appraisal ratings as a means to achieve status, rewards, recognition, and career advancement (Lam et al., 2002), organizations understand that effective feedback can be the foundation of employee development, and strive to incorporate employee development into the performance management system. Employees need to have complete information about the process of appraisal, the reasons for any ratings given to them, and clarity regarding any administrative decisions related to compensation and promotion based on these ratings. Procedural justice is therefore an essential aspect of the feedback process.

Formal and informal feedback Many supervisors in Indian organizations prefer to give constructive feedback informally because giving such feedback in the formal setting is construed as negative and may be detrimental to the career of the subordinate. However, informal feedback needs a strong interpersonal relationship to be effective. The wider the generation gap between the supervisor and the subordinate, the more difficult to give constructive feedback informally. The millennial generation is considered to be forthright in their responses to their supervisors (Varner, 2011), which may also make the supervisor hesitant to give constructive feedback face-to-face, opting instead to take the easy route of giving formal written feedback. In some organizations, employees might not take informal feedback seriously, thus forcing the supervisor to be more formal than needed while giving the feedback.

DOI 10.1108/HRMID-09-2016-0128

VOL. 26 NO. 4 2018, pp. 25-27, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 0967-0734

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Action-oriented and short-term orientation The millennial generation looks for action-oriented feedback where results can be seen in the short term. Action-oriented feedback can be facilitated by SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) goals. However, the feedback-giver needs to be very careful to provide feedback based on the overall performance of the employee. She/he also needs to make sure that the feedback is free from recency bias and that the employee strives to maintain consistent performance throughout the year.

The frequency of the feedback The millennial generation prefers to receive continuous feedback in real time. This aspect needs to be incorporated in the feedback mechanisms in the organizations. The challenges come in the form of the geographical dispersion of work units, low interaction between supervisors and subordinates etc. However, care should be taken that feedback is not repetitive in content, as this generation exhibits more frustration in such scenarios (Harvey and Harris, 2010). Downloaded by Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad At 04:08 12 June 2018 (PT)

Avoidance of negative feedback Given the fact that the millennial generation is perceived as the entitled generation, there are instances where the feedback-givers do not wish to discuss the performance of the individual in detail, fearing implications on interpersonal and organizational relationships. It is often also seen that feedback-givers tend to gravitate toward central ratings to all, irrespective of the performance, to avoid the difficulties of providing constructive negative feedback even if it is for the benefit of both the individual and the organization (Prowse and Prowse, 2009).

Individual contribution in team performance In many instances, the millennial generation would also want clarity on the individual contribution made in team performance. They would like to be appreciated for their own performance but might resent better rewards or recognition given to their teammates. Recognition and constructive feedback given in such scenarios need to be well-balanced among the team members. Preferably such feedback should be handled in a team setting to reduce rumors and any perception of organizational politics. The increasing trend of the transactional psychological contract also makes the above imperative for organizations.

Understanding the big picture It has been seen in many instances that the gap between the feedback giver and the feedback receiver is due to their perspectives. The feedback receiver might be looking at the detail and missing the big picture. On the other hand, the feedback giver might be looking not only at the current scenario but also at the future implications. There may be instances where the new generation employees want to understand how they have been able to contribute in the task with the input they have provided irrespective of the quantum of input (Ray and Singh, 2016). Thus, the intent, the proactiveness, and the ability of the feedback giver to convey the big picture to the feedback receiver are very important.

Hierarchical relationship with feedback-giver The kind of feedback that needs to be given to the individual is also determined by the hierarchical relationship the individual shares with the feedback-giver. If the feedback-giver is the supervisor or one who is placed higher than the individual on the hierarchical ladder, the dynamics in the relationship play an important role in how the individual would perceive the feedback. Some feedback systems such as 360-degree feedback also consider performance assessments from subordinates, peers, and even clients. Peers would be able to fill in the gaps about the individual’s performance and thus a feedback session with the peers would bring about points that cannot be obtained from the top-down process. Also, the process of being assessed bottom up would actually gauge one’s leadership skills and help in building a healthy team.

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Media for giving feedback The millennial generation is more comfortable with technology and so the use of chats, messages, e-mails, etc. can also be effective for real-time feedback. Geographical dispersions of various units of organizations and flexible working may reduce the physical proximity of the individual with the feedback giver. When the supervisor is not able to physically monitor the work, it becomes crucial for an employee to keep the supervisor updated on the telephone as well as online written exchanges, face-to-face interactions through Skype or video-chats have the human element and may be a more effective medium for some employees. This article considers the specific aspects of giving feedback to the millennial generation, the changing culture of new organizations and patterns in interactions among employees, and the role of technology therein. With the entry of millennials into the workforce and the increasing role played by new organizations in our economy, organizations need to focus on mechanisms and facilitating environments for effective feedback.

Keywords: HR, Performance feedback, Millennials, New organizations


References Deal, J.J., Altman, D.G. and Rogelberg, S.G. (2010), “Millennials at work: what we know and what we need to do (if anything)”, Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 191-199. Harvey, P. and Harris, K.J. (2010), “Frustration-based outcomes of entitlement and the influence of supervisor communication”, Human Relations, Vol. 63 No. 11, pp. 1639-1660. Lam, S.S., Yik, M.S. and Schaubroeck, J. (2002), “Responses to formal performance appraisal feedback: the role of negative affectivity”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 87 No. 1, p. 192. Prowse, P. and Prowse, J. (2009), “The dilemma of performance appraisal”, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 69-77. Ray, P. and Singh, M. (2016), “Exploring HR transformation needed for the new generation in the workforce”, Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 52 No. 2, pp. 336-349. Varner, D.L. (2011), “A phenomenological study of millennial generation cooperative extension educators’ development of core competencies”

About the authors Prantika Ray is a Doctoral Student in Human Resources Management Area at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering (Jadavpur University, Kolkata). She has published in reputed peer-reviewed national journals and her key research interests are recruitment and selection and performance feedback. Prantika Ray is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected] Manjari Singh is a Professor in Human Resources Management Area at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (National Institute of Technology, Bhopal) and doctorate degree in Human Resources (IIM Calcutta). She teaches courses related to HRM and data analysis in doctoral, postgraduate, and executive education programs at IIM Ahmedabad and other institutes. She has published widely in reputed peer-reviewed international journals including Human Resource Management (USA) and Human Resource Management Review. She has done consultancy projects for government and private sector organizations including Seventh and Sixth Central Pay Commissions.

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