Comments on: Practice the ‘puppy theory’ http://www.pivotalsolutions.com/hrblog/2009/practice-the-puppy-theory/ by Pivotal's team of HR Directors Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:25:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Alternatives to the Big Annual Review | Pivotal Post HR Blog http://www.pivotalsolutions.com/hrblog/2009/practice-the-puppy-theory/comment-page-1/#comment-378 Alternatives to the Big Annual Review | Pivotal Post HR Blog Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:43:39 +0000 http://www.pivotalsolutions.com/hrblog/?p=149#comment-378 [...] Quarterly chats – The worst mistake a manager can make it not providing negative or positive feedback to employees throughout the year.  Though I certainly recommend sharing your feedback right away, having a brief 15-30 minute conversation on a quarterly basis is a good way to provide timely feedback and have more meaningful conversation.  This idea has also been called the ‘puppy theory.’ [...] [...] Quarterly chats – The worst mistake a manager can make it not providing negative or positive feedback to employees throughout the year.  Though I certainly recommend sharing your feedback right away, having a brief 15-30 minute conversation on a quarterly basis is a good way to provide timely feedback and have more meaningful conversation.  This idea has also been called the ‘puppy theory.’ [...]

]]> By: Sarah Chapman http://www.pivotalsolutions.com/hrblog/2009/practice-the-puppy-theory/comment-page-1/#comment-350 Sarah Chapman Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:43:51 +0000 http://www.pivotalsolutions.com/hrblog/?p=149#comment-350 I couldn’t agree more with the importance of immediate feedback, both positive and negative. In order for feedback to have any meaning, it must be immediate and specific. Simply saying “good job” does not tell the person what actions you want them to repeat (or not repeat) and why. Instead to increase the chances of having more “meaningful conversations” with your employees try making your feedback specific by re-stating the situation and the action the individual took (how they handled the situation) and the result of their actions (what changed for the better because of the individuals actions or state the role they played in helping achieve the result). If providing developmental feedback, let the individual know what they did that was ineffective and what they could have done differently to obtain a better result. I couldn’t agree more with the importance of immediate feedback, both positive and negative.

In order for feedback to have any meaning, it must be immediate and specific. Simply saying “good job” does not tell the person what actions you want them to repeat (or not repeat) and why. Instead to increase the chances of having more “meaningful conversations” with your employees try making your feedback specific by re-stating the situation and the action the individual took (how they handled the situation) and the result of their actions (what changed for the better because of the individuals actions or state the role they played in helping achieve the result). If providing developmental feedback, let the individual know what they did that was ineffective and what they could have done differently to obtain a better result.

]]>