AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar --
In the last year, we have seen the emergence of a new Air
Force Feedback Form and release of the new Enlisted Performance Reports. The Air Force developed both of these systems
to improve how we as leaders, provide feedback to our Airman. While I completely agree with changes to both,
I believe real change will not occur simply because we have new forms to fill
out and new policies to shape how we rate individuals. In my opinion, real change will only occur
when we change “how” we provide feedback.
For me, the “how” is broken into two parts: First, leaders must establish
clear standards and expectations.
Second, leaders must hold the individual to the standards by routinely providing
honest unbiased assessments.
The first step to effective feedback begins when you set
clear standards and expectations. We all
know you are required to have your “initial” feedback 60-days after you begin
supervision. I would argue that in most
cases, specifically in deployed environments, waiting 60-days is far too
long. Meet with your Airman within the
first week you supervise them to provide them with the big picture overview of
the organization and where they fit in the group. Take this first opportunity to establish the
standards you will hold everyone to in your organization. This meeting should include items like general
work-place policies, your zero tolerance policies, and your organizational
goals/expectations. Once you have
established this baseline, every individual can at least begin to function in
your organization and understand you as a leader.
After the general overview, you should meet with each
individual you directly supervise to provide them with your specific
expectations. You can take this time to reinforce
your general policies, but it is more important to establish exactly what you
expect them to do while they are under your supervision. At a minimum, this should include job
specific information, professional development goals, and/or personal
goals. Regardless what you discuss, the
intent is to set the foundation of what you want and expect from them on a
daily basis and long-term. Additionally,
I highly recommend you also provide this information to your Airmen in a
written document. Whether you use the new
feedback form or a word document, having a written record of what you discussed
provides you the framework to hold your Airmen to the standard.
The second step to effective feedback is actually holding
the individuals to your standards through constant feedback. Just as we have a requirement for initial
feedback in 60-days, the Air Force has once again provided supervisors specific
timelines when we are required to provide feedback. Just as I did before, I would argue that
waiting to give feedback until the “mid-term” or at the close-out of the
OPR/EPR is too long. To be effective and
meaningful feedback, both positive and negative must occur throughout the
period of supervision.
If the individual is
doing a great job, praise them early and often.
You can provide the praise directly to the individual, in front of the
entire group, or through formal recognition programs such as quarterly awards. No matter how you provide this positive
feedback, always highlight the standard or expectation they exceeded. This will reinforce your standards and
demonstrate that you are aware of what your Airmen are doing.
While it is easy to provide positive feedback, providing honest
unbiased feedback when an Airman is not meeting your standard or expectations
is much harder. If an Airman is not
meeting your standard or expectation, meet with them privately to discuss the
matter as soon as you are aware of the issue.
If it is a hardline standard then immediately correct the action,
provide punishment if required, and inform them of the consequences if it
happens again. If they are not meeting
your expectations, identify exactly what expectation they are not meetings and
work with the Airman to find the root cause of the issue. It may be as simple as they did not
understand your expectation or as difficult as they were ignoring your
guidance. Regardless which it is, you
must first reinforce your expectation, then you must provide the Airman with a
course of action to correct the issue, and then you must provide the Airman with
further consequences if they do not fix the problem. The final and most important step in this
feedback loop is to follow-up with the individual. If they make the adjustment and begin to meet
your expectation, make sure you provide feedback and reinforce the positive
action. If they do not make the change
you must follow-up with them to provide further education or consequences. You must continue this loop until the individual
meets the standard or you remove them from the position. As a side note, if you are following the
negative path, make sure you are documenting every meeting, discussion, and
action.
In closing, I am extremely happy to see the Air Force take strides to improve the feedback process. Especially since I believe feedback is one of the most important, if not the most important component of being a good leader adn supervisor. However, real change will not occur until we, as leaders fix "how" we provide feedback. Start by immediately establishing clear standards and expectations. Then hold the individual to your standards by continuously providing honest unbiased assessments throughout the period of supervision.