The Powerful Role of Ongoing Feedback in Fed Gov Workplaces

To astute people managers out there: Especially in the world of federal government work, fostering a healthy workplace culture is way more than just part of the standard job description. It is now, more than ever, essential to building and cultivating operations and a staff that functions at high productivity and efficiency.

One proven tool to ensure a healthy workplace is the keen leveraging of the awesome power of ongoing staff feedback.

Staff performance feedback — once rigidly etched into the psyche as an immutable, unpleasant annual exercise — has evolved into much more than that. In its ideal state, it has become an interactive, regularly scheduled dialogue between supervisor and staff member, one that both informs and empowers staff to grow and thrive in their work roles.

In the federal government sector, where the spotlight never dims and stakes are perpetually high (which makes sense after all, as the federal government spends the public’s money — enough said), embedding a feedback-rich culture has multiple advantages:

It fuels staff professional growth.

Timely, ongoing feedback allows staff to identify what functional areas of their job they are excelling in today, and what areas present opportunities to improve and develop tomorrow. Staff would no longer need to wait a year to hear feedback necessary to strengthen what they do well, and address what they do not. Ongoing feedback empowers workers to strive to reach their full potential and contribute meaningfully to their employer.

It engenders more transparent communications.

In a work world where collaboration across internal departments and external agencies is absolutely vital, regular feedback sessions provide opportunities for staff to share insights, address concerns, and align their efforts with both department and agencywide objectives and goals. An environment where frequent and constructive feedback meetings are present — and indeed, openly valued — drives operational success and teamwork at all levels.

It nurtures staff engagement and morale.

Staff that feel known and valued are, in general, not spending their lunch hours looking for a new job. Employees who are recognized and appreciated typically are quite loyal to their employers and to their work. Staff who receive regular feedback are simply better employees — more engaged, motivated, and higher achieving. Through ongoing staff/supervisor dialogue, federal agencies can foster a culture of appreciation and support, boosting morale and driving worker satisfaction.

By embracing a feedback-rich culture, federal agencies can fuel communication transparency, champion professional development, and enhance employee engagement. If implemented and shepherded optimally, harnessing the power of continuous feedback can lead to higher levels of operational efficiency and employee productivity and, by consequence, a sustainable agency at large.

Jerry Cooney, “Jer” to his friends, has spent his career serving in various capacities within Human Resources and Talent Acquisition. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in HR from Cornell and is a Senior Certified Professional in HR (SHRM-SCP) and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW). He began his career at a small firm in Manhattan and has since gone on to work with such famous names as Amazon, Siemens, General Electric, and Amtrak. Jer is originally from Islip, New York, but now calls Philadelphia home. He is a huge baseball fan.  

Photo by Kampus Production