In a culture where success and achievement equal career advancement, many people view negative feedback, even in a constructive context, as throwing a spanner in the works.

In an exclusive interview with leadership and human resource management strategist, Dr Renu Burr of the UWA Graduate School of Management, said that this feedback was often delivered in the form of a performance appraisal.

“An effective performance appraisal process operates like a compass. It helps the organisation and its members to orient themselves in terms of what they are working towards together, ” Dr Burr said.

“It needs to be future oriented while learning from past experience. In other words it is about development rather than blame.”

According to Dr Burr, regular assessment is essential to the success of both the individual and the organisation and constructive feedback can actually provide the next step up the ladder to greater personal achievement. Performance appraisals offer a valuable tool for management to engage in self-reflection and performance evaluation as well as to identify areas for improvement. They are a MAP (motivate, align, plan) designed to align organisational and personal goals, to motivate people by recognising achievement and growth opportunities, and to facilitate planning for the future.

Performance appraisals are also an effective mechanism for engaging staff in an organisation's mission and values. Linked closely with other strategic human resource management functions, an effective appraisal system, particularly at the management level, is critical if organisations are to make the most of the potential residing within their people.

Dr Burr believes it is imperative that managers help set the criteria for their own appraisal in order to understand and be committed to the issues on which they are being evaluated.
To prepare for their own performance appraisals she also advises managers to be open to both positive and negative feedback. 

Negative feedback given in a constructive context should be viewed as verbal gold, providing the impetus for improvement and a ticket to reach one’s highest potential. There needs to be a change in the way constructive, negative feedback is viewed – it is a gift of honesty that can help those who take it on board to achieve their aspirations.