Australian managers are amongst the worst at giving feedback and have the highest level of ‘avoidance leadership’ globally.

Leadership Revelations: An Australian Perspective 2005.

Many Australian managers are uncomfortable about giving and receiving feedback.  They fear that giving feedback on poor performance will upset people and lead to conflict.

They also feel awkward about reinforcing what their people do well. Consequently, Australian employees end up with little or no feedback at all.

Carey understands that:

• well managed feedback produces positive performance outcomes for individuals, work teams and organisations;
• ‘soft skills’ including assertiveness, active and empathic listening are crucial to effectively engaging with feedback;
• many leaders will need to work on their relationships and rapport with staff to have their feedback accepted as genuine; and
• many leaders will need help understanding the options available to them to intervene (firstly on their own and later with assistance from 3rd parties, HR departments etc).

Talk to Carey about how to assist your leaders to step-up confidently to meet the demands of their leadership role and:

• engage with feedback without fear of negative outcomes;
• make timely decisions to address interpersonal and performance problems – rather than deferring action and hoping that problems will go away;
• take action to prevent potential conflict situations before they occur; and
• seek feedback about their own performance and using this to improve the way they work.