We must first appreciate the context within which the employee is being evaluated. We must then share our understanding of this context when providing the employee with our appreciative feedback. In this way the employee will not only learn more about his own performance—but will also better understand ways in which his performance is being influenced positively and negatively by the setting in which he is working. Improvements in performance can be made, as a result, by not only increasing the employee’s skills or knowledge, or by helping the employee shift his attitude, but also by changing the setting in which the employee works. We can provide the employee with a good reason to improve his attitude about work that he performs.
A second characteristic of an appreciative appraisal concerns the focus of this appraisal. An appreciative appraisal focuses on the strengths, competencies and successes of the employee: We catch them when they are doing it right! This doesn’t mean that we only provide feedback about what is good, for a fundamental assumption that underlies an appreciative perspective is that an employee has sufficient personal strength and integrity to handle the information being provided during a feedback session. We don’t need to ease in on the feedback we are giving. We don’t need to balance or sequence positive and negative feedback. This balancing process is sometimes called a feedback sandwich: positive feedback coming first, followed by negative feedback, then once again positive feedback to finish it off. The positive feedback serves only as the buffer—the bun. The negative feedback is the meat. It is what really matters.
An appreciative approach suggests instead that we offer the feedback unvarnished. However, we offer it in a manner that invites dialogue rather than one-way conversation. Chris Argyris and Don Schon call this appreciative process: advocacy inviting inquiry. We advocate by providing the recipient of feedback with our own observations and conclusions regarding their performance. We then invite inquiry by asking the recipient to provide a self-appraisal. I encourage the recipient of my feedback to comment on and critique this feedback. I suggest that the two of us engage in a dialogue that will hopefully lead to shared conclusions regarding her performance—and the accuracy and value of my feedback.
