Post by Beverly Kaye, Founder, Career Systems International

Talented employees want constructive, developmental feedback, provided on a regular basis throughout the year, which focuses on their strengths and lays out opportunities for growth and development in the future.

This conversation is a two-way street. As a leader, you need to be open and honest about how your employees are performing in their current positions, how they can improve, and what they need to do to achieve their career goals. Employees have a major responsibility too. They need to ask for feedback from multiple sources. When they do, they get a more accurate picture of how they are perceived. They need to ask questions to ensure their understanding and reflect on what is said and on the areas they know they can improve. Your feedback and the feedback of others will help employees make better career decisions and establish more realistic career goals. It will also help employees grow and develop in a meaningful way that is aligned with both their current position and their future career aspirations.

Our research suggests that employees often leave organizations because they have no idea how they are perceived in terms of strengths or development needs or if they are valued as key contributors.

Some questions you might ask to begin this conversation include:

• If you asked three people in the organization to give you feedback on your greatest strengths, what would they say?
• If you were to list your number one strength and number one liability, what would each be? How do you know?
• What would you say are the most critical areas I would select as essential in your current position? How would you rate yourself in these areas?

Want to learn more? Register for our virtual instructor-led training, Feedback is a Gift, on April 5, 2016. Feedback is a Gift provides individuals at all levels a five-step strategy to prepare for and ask for feedback.