Paul Catmur: Be honest, what do you think of your boss?

Bosses don't always take kindly to feedback. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION:

It's generally accepted that one of the best ways to improve on anything, from designing a nuclear warhead to improving wayward sexual technique, is the feedback loop. This is designed to help the process result in a more satisfying conclusion for everyone. While people happily queue up to let juniors know exactly where they're going wrong and that they come from a generation of slackers, a problem for anyone in management is how to get feedback which is honest, but not vindictive; helpful, but not toadying.

The only feedback I need is agreement

Of course, not everyone wants feedback. Many leaders are thin-skinned, unsurprisingly perhaps, as research suggests they are more inclined towards sociopathy. Another explanation for this reticence may be because those in a position of power are inclined to see their rise as proof of their innate superiority and thus excellent judges of their own performance.

'But that's just the way I am'

Of course, it's not just the psychopaths that struggle with feedback, as some generally calm and reasonable people can react badly to suggestions that they are not perfect. Me, for example. To be fair, while I never lunged at anyone with a stapler (well, rarely) my default position was to treat even the most well-intentioned suggestion as a personal attack.

Like many people my automatic defence would be "but that's just the way I am", ignoring that the whole point of life is to try and get better at it. Luckily my introspective nature meant that even if my immediate reaction was folded arms and a rising of the hackles, over time I learnt to take it on board. Well, sometimes.

360-degree reviews

Rather than just having an uncomfortable solo chat with your boss, the 360 review requires a number of seniors and juniors to feedback on an individual's performance. It's probably a little more valid but that doesn't make it any less uncomfortable. Still, the idea that the feedback will be honest and forthright is unlikely. Anyone asked to contribute their thoughts is probably aware that despite promises of anonymity they will be identified as the source. Natural inquisitiveness drives management to look for speech patterns, historical gripes, and grammatical errors to help pinpoint exactly who said what. It's human nature, unavoidable, and a great parlour game.

Employee engagement surveys

Many big organisations will put out annual surveys to test the mood of their staff. HR departments love these surveys as it keeps them employed for months. If the results go well, then it shows that HR are doing their job. If it goes badly it shows that HR are under-resourced and need more help.

One of the key questions on these surveys is to ask the staff if they feel they are kept informed by management. The general answer is "no" because what the staff want to know is not really the kind of information that management wants to share. For example, how much the CEO gets paid, why the budget for the Christmas party was halved yet the management team spent a weekend in Queenstown, and, most importantly, why Ken from marketing was marched out of the building naked and in handcuffs.

Research tells us that only 42 per cent of companies take any meaningful action as a result of these surveys and that only 22 per cent of the time do they actually work. After all, who needs a survey to tell them that most people think they are undervalued and underpaid? Still, at least they give the impression that management is doing something, even though many staff seem to resent filling in the questionnaires. I guess it's like a general election in that some people will sacrifice their lives for the chance to have their say whereas others find it an impossible chore to tick a few boxes.

Just ask

I don't think I've ever had a boss, however drunk, actually ask me how I thought they were doing. I'm not sure whether this was because they were nervous about what they might hear, or more likely that they didn't actually care. Therefore, as research for this article I asked a number of my ex-staff for feedback on what I was like as a boss. It's a bit late for me to improve now, but it was an interesting exercise.

If I get the right feedback, I'll tell you what they said.