Providing Performance Feedback: Reactions to Alternate Methods

Subordinate reactions to feedback given in four different ways were assessed. Method one was unilateral, top-down feedback. Method two was supervisory feedback with subordinate participation in the discussion. Methods three and four involved a self-appraisal instrument completed prior to a participative performance discussion. In method three, the self-appraisal was not explicitly discussed, whereas in method four it was the heart of the discussion. All participative methods tended to result in more positive subordinate perceptions than the unilateral method, but no one particular participative technique was consistently superior. The appraisal methods had no differential impact on post-feedback performance.