Feedback: discussing the work without labelling the person
In a feedback conversation, a few words can turn an observation into a personal label. The managerial question is precise: should feedback characterise the person, or describe what they did and what they can change?
What the literature establishes
Claudia M. Mueller and Carol S. Dweck (1998, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) compared the effects of praising children for intelligence and for effort. Following failure, children praised for intelligence showed, among other differences, less persistence than those praised for effort. These experiments show that praise can change how someone approaches a subsequent difficulty, rather than merely provide immediate satisfaction.
When a comment becomes a judgement about the self
Melissa L. Kamins and Carol S. Dweck (1999, Developmental Psychology) studied praise and criticism directed at either the person or the process in young children. Their findings link person-focused judgements to more helpless responses to a subsequent setback. The proposed mechanism involves self-worth becoming contingent on success: a difficulty may then become a verdict on the self rather than information about an approach.
The premature conclusion
One might conclude that managers should ban all personal descriptors and always praise effort. These studies do not justify such a rule in adult working life, where substantial effort can accompany an ineffective method or an inadequate result. The useful distinction is instead between a global judgement about the person and an examination of an action, its appropriateness and its consequences. (our executive and employee training programmes)
What these data cannot establish
Both articles report experiments with children, not workplace appraisal conversations. They therefore do not demonstrate that changing the wording improves the performance of professionals in financial services, insurance or tech. In an ongoing hierarchical relationship, the history of previous exchanges and the career stakes may also shape the meaning of the same comment.
A practical check in Zurich
As part of SHR's “L'art du feedback” programme, a Zurich team in financial services, insurance, tech or a European headquarters can test a coding framework on anonymised feedback statements collected over two weeks. Two readers independently classify each statement according to whether it contains a global judgement about the person, an observable action and an explicit quality criterion, then calculate the proportion containing both an action and a criterion. Repeating the exercise after practising reformulation makes it possible to verify a change in practice without mistaking it for a demonstrated improvement in performance. To go further: explore the The Art of Feedback training in Zurich, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.
In pictures: The Art of Feedback in Zurich
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