Upward feedback
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In leadership development and management development, upward feedback (also known as subordinate appraisal, developed by Peter Farey, senior HR manager with British Airways) is a structured process of delivering feedback from subordinates to managers, intended to identify ways to increase management effectiveness and enhance organizational performance. Basic idea: You are only as good a manager as your subordinate thinks you are. Through the mechanism of "upward feedback," employees in an organization can influence the behaviour of managers. The feedback is intended create two-way communication between employees and managers that can assist in developing leadership skills.
Because of the complexity of this process, there are a number of important factors, including:
- Top-level support - Upper management generally provides visible support for the process, communicating its importance to managers and employees.
- Clear purpose - Upward feedback is usually positioned as developmental. It is not a classic appraisal, originally it is not designed to be tied to compensation. That is, the aim of upward feedback is to improve managerial effectiveness.
- Training - Upward feedback is most effective when embedded in a leadership/management development program.
- Backend support - Once managers get their feedback report, follow-up support is usually available for report interpretation, action planning, and follow through.
- Confidentiality - Raters and ratees must be confident in the anonymity. In order for upward feedback to be confidentially facilitated, it can be managed external to the organization.
